Brendan Flannagan

The church suffers a spiritual crisis. And, the culprit is found in the pew. But, what is the emergency? We don’t pray. Our hands and hearts our all too little clasped together in desperate prayer. We know how to pray, we know why to pray, and we know we should pray, but we simply don’t pray. Our weak hearts make tired the hands of prayer.

A Desire to Pray

A desire to pray remains the most important element of prayer. We may know the doctrine of prayer, but if we refuse to deliver on the notion, we undoubtedly fail the whole system. Prayer without desire short-circuits God’s design for our communication with Him. So, let’s reclaim such a desire to pray and know God as a result.

The desire to pray precipitated Christ’s teaching on prayer. The disciples cast out demons in the name of Christ, healed in the name of the Lord, and preached the Kingdom of Heaven- they did all of this without a single request for a lesson. But, when it came time to pray they were clueless and helpless (Luke 11:1).

Certainly the Jews were praying people; Judaism was a religion of prayer. We can see such behavior manifested in both the disciples of John the Baptist (Matt [9:14]) and the Pharisees (Luke [18:12]). Prayer and fasting was the way of life for the Jew and served to mark a devout believer from the common secular Jew.

So, why did this disciple asked Christ to teach him how to pray? The first clue can be found in this: he witnessed Christ pray! If we ever take our eyes off of Christ in the discipline of prayer, then we lose our desire to pray. Christ must be the center of and the motivation for true prayer. The disciple may not have understood how to pray, but he could recognize true prayer. He possessed enough spiritual sense to recognize the power of Christ’s prayer and reflect on how his prayers paled in comparison.

Look to Jesus

The prayer of Jesus Christ elicited the disciple to ask: “Lord teach us to pray.” He watched Christ, he lived with Christ, and he wondered at Christ. Throughout Christ's entire ministry, prayer served as the mainstay of His life. And, we can't help but wonder with the disciple: Why?

Why did the God-man Jesus Christ need to pray? Why was it so important for him to pray? If we do not ask this question and investigate the prayer life of Jesus, then we will never have a desire to pray ourselves.

We may know everything about prayer, we may pray morning, evening and night; but, if we fail to look to Christ, then we will surely lack the necessary ingredients to ignite our prayer life. We will lack a desire to pray. The tired hands and weary heads of Christians across the nation bow out early from prayer due only to a lack of desire.

The Priority of Prayer

The unique perspective of the disciple allowed him to view the unique prayer life of Jesus Christ in five different ways.

1.The Procedure

First, he viewed Christ’s procedure of prayer. Christ never made a big show of His prayer life. In the beginning of His ministry, He preached in the morning, healed in the afternoon, and casted out demons all night (Mark [1:22]-34). Yet, the next morning he forwent sleep and snuck away to pray (Mark [1:35]).

Despite the busy day prior, Christ immediately sought the Father in prayer. The disciples witnessed prayer as Christ’s modus operandi. George Whitefield says this about prayer: “You might as reasonably expect to find a living man without breath, as a true Christian without the spirit of prayer and supplication.” In short, prayer is breathing for Christ. Prayer is the Christian lifeline- our umbilical cord to life with God.

The mind of Christ was fixed on prayer. The importance of everything else paled in comparison to this event (Mark 1:36-37). Yet, this wasn't his “me time” or a quiet cup of coffee in the morning and a day of long-lost thoughts and meditations. No, this was a business meeting where he deliberated with the Father and kicked-off another day of difficult ministry. Jesus snuck away to pray, not to “sneak it in”, but to hide away in the warm refuge of His Father before confronting the cold despair of this world.

2. The Predicament

By the time the disciple asked the Lord how to pray, he had already witnessed Him navigate through countless high-pressure situations with an impressive presence of mind and Godly conviction of heart. Who wouldn’t want such an attribute?

In the synagogues, when the Pharisees try to entrap Him on the Sabbath, He confronts their hypocrisy outright and defies their coveted laws for God’s glory (Luke 6:6-11). On another occasion, as a prostitute pours perfume over His feet and wipes them clean with her hair, He uses the incredibly awkward situation to deliver a cool-handed rebuke to his Pharisaical host (Luke [7:36]-50). Again, as He preaches to the multitudes, the crowd surges in hopes to establish Him as King, but He resists, sends them away, and departs to pray (John [6:15]).

One can easily imagine why this disciple desired to learn how to pray like Jesus. He had witnessed Christ often withdraw to pray and continued to marvel at the clarity and conviction of His responses in a variety of predicaments.

If we merely look at our lives and our problems when we pray, then we miss out on the full power of God and the possibilities of resolution, existing far beyond our abilities or imaginations (Eph [3:20]). Certainly, Christ suffered all we have suffered, but also much more (Heb [4:15]).

3. The Power

As the disciple observed Christ’s prayer habits and his response to trials, he could not have missed His power. Throughout his ministry, Jesus performed supernatural miracles. But, by what means did His power come?

He asserted dominion over the elements (Luke [8:23]-24), cast out demons with a word (Luke [8:27]-33), and raised men from the dead (Luke [8:52]-55). We can easily attribute such actions to his divinity and move along- nothing to see here, but then we miss a helpful instruction on prayer.

The importance of Christ’s power rests in God honoring His requests. Requests made known by prayer. If we understand Christ’s power as an indicator of His relationship with the Father, then we must further investigate prayer.

Power indicates communion with God. The man born blind understood this concept in his rebuke to the Pharisees, saying,

“We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him.” (John [9:31])

True divine power proceeds from God alone. Only by an unbroken fellowship with the Father was Christ able to exercise His divine power on earth. He spoke and God listened (John [11:41]-42).

Christ asserts the importance of prayer further. When questioned by His disciples, why they could not remove the unclean spirit from a tormented boy, Jesus responds, saying, “This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer (Mark [9:29]).” Jesus Christ relied upon prayer; not as a crutch, but as the only means necessary to achieve God’s will in this fallen world.

4. The Perspective

Perhaps, the number one reason the church fails to pray hinges on the matter of perspective. We think everything is fine and hunky-dory. We are happy, life is good, and our pastor said, “This will be a year of increase!”

Yet, the perspective of Christ differed greatly from our modern day- “sweep everything under the rug”, “all is well”, “I’m doing great”- approach to church problems. He saw the filth of the world. Such a vision drove him to cry over Jerusalem (Luke [19:41]) and caused one ancient to historian to record Him as little known to laugh, but often known to cry.

Such a perspective drove Him to prayer and served to notify His disciples of a greater unseen danger. Certainly, they witnessed the troubling and challenging circumstances of Christ’s ministry, but something was driving Him beyond the externals. Two important realizations informed Christ’s perspective.

i. Christ understood the problems of man originate in the heart of man (Jer 17:9). We often blame outside circumstances for our poor behavior, inability of self-control, and sinful failures. But, Christ knew the defeating blow comes from within. In John [16:33], Jesus says, “In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” The word for tribulation connotes an inward pressure- a trial of the heart. Therefore, we ultimately bear the responsibility of our reactions; according to Christ, we cannot blame our circumstances. We fail because of our depraved DNA. Instead, we must daily resist our fallen desires (Rom [7:15]-24) for we are no longer captives to sin (Rom 6:6). Prayer serves as a great means for us to participate in this promise of freedom and further rest in the power of Jesus Christ (Rom [7:25]). Without this common fellowship with God, we will soon be bond again to our old selves and sins (Eph [4:24]; Col [3:10]).

ii. Additionally, Christ saw our sin nature as Satan most effective lever- one which he presses ever so often. Our sinful desires and poor decisions delight Satan! Christ saw man’s weakness and the power of Satan. He wept because he understood the battlefield. In his hymn a “Mighty Fortress is Our God”, Martin Luther emphasized this difficulty when he wrote, “none on earth are his equal.” Christ prayed because He knew the nature of man and Satan. He recognized the warfare was not visible, but unseen- a spiritual attack of darkness against God’s children of light  (Eph [6:12]).

5. The Peace

Finally, the disciple witnessed the immense peace of Jesus Christ. Despite the tribulations, Christ submitted to the will of the Father. Yet, this peace stemmed not from a definite resolution, but from a decision of heart. Christ’s petition to the Father in the garden of Gethsemane best illustrates this point (Matt [26:36]-46). He wished for His burden to be released, but ultimately submitted to the Father’s plan- “not my will, but your will be done.”

Christian peace exists within the tribulations of life. In prayer, we may possess a peace, which surpasses understanding (Phil 4:7). This exists not because we know the result or we trust God will give us exactly what we want. Instead, this peace fundamentally operates on the guiding principle found in Romans [8:28]- “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” So, as we approach the trials of life and the storms of uncertainty cast us every direction, we may find peace in God. This peace rests, not in the result, but in God’s will for we know He uses all things for our good and His glory (Isaiah 43:7).