Over these past several weeks (October 9 and 16), during the Sunday Morning teachings, we have been looking at Luke 11:1-13. One of Jesus’ disciples came to Him asking Jesus to teach him how to pray. Jesus responds to this question by giving what is typically called the Lord’s prayer and explains to the disciple what his attitude needs to be as he prays. But have you ever stopped to ask what caused this disciple to ask Jesus that question? What prompted this unnamed disciple to ask Jesus how to pray? We will never know for certain, but one thing we do know, especially from the Gospel of Luke, is that Jesus spent a lot of time in prayer. Since we have only studied the Gospel of Luke up to chapter 11, I will only be focusing on chapters 1-10 as we look at Jesus’ prayer life.
The first time Luke tells us Jesus is praying is in Luke 3:21. Jesus is baptized by John the Baptist and Luke tells us that after Jesus was baptized, He was praying and the heavens opened, the Holy Spirit descended on Him like a dove and God the Father spoke.
The next time we see Jesus is praying is in Luke 4:42. After a long night of healing people in Simon’s home, Jesus goes by himself to a solitary place. Now Luke doesn’t tell us explicitly that Jesus was praying, we just assume it because of what Luke tells us in 5:16 that Jesus withdrew often to solitary places to pray.
Luke 6:12 tells us that Jesus spent all night praying to God. When morning came, He named twelve of His disciples as apostles.
In Luke 9:18, again we read that Jesus was praying in private. But this time we also read that His disciples were with Him.
In Luke 9:29, we read how Jesus again was praying on top of a mountain with Peter, James, and John. As he was praying His appearance changed. Moses and Elijah also showed up and were conversing with Jesus.
Then in Luke 10:21, we have Jesus’ actual prayer to the Father recorded for us. Jesus praises the Father for how the seventy-twos’ mission was a success.
There are many other instances that the Gospel writers tell us about Jesus’ prayer life. For instance, the Gospel of John records for us Jesus’ prayer for His disciples, present and future, in the Upper Room (John 17) and all the Gospels tell us about Jesus’ prayer time in the Garden of Gethsemane before He gets arrested.
One cannot read the Gospels without realizing the importance that Jesus placed on praying to the Father. Could it have been that this disciple, as he watched Jesus prayed realized that Jesus’ prayer life was totally different than his own. He came to Jesus asking this question because he wanted to pray like Jesus. I know that over these past several weeks, as I studied Luke 11:1-15, God has challenged me in my own prayer life, especially from Luke 11:5-8. If Jesus was compelled to spend so much time in prayer with God the Father, why don’t we feel that same need? May I, may we be people of prayer that desire to spend time with our Heavenly Father because He desires to spend time with us.
Here are the links for October 9 and 16 morning worship services:
October 9 - "Lord, Teach us to Pray!" (Luke 11:1-4)
October 16 - "How Should we Pray?" (Luke 11:5-13)
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