What we can learn about prayer from Jesus’ statements on prayer……and from his example.
1.) Prayer is expected of believers. Jesus prefaced his instruction on prayer with the words “When you pray…”, not “If you pray…”
2.) Matthew 6:5- Do not pray in order to impress others in public venues.
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.”
3.) Matthew 6:6- Pray privately in your own private and prepared space and commune one-to-one with God, spirit to Spirit. God knows and sees all that we do and say.
“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
4.) Matthew 6:7- Pray with simple, sincere words of faith, not with a lot of words intending to impress God or that lack knowledge, understanding and obedience to God.
“And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.”
5.) Mark 11:25- Pray with a heart that is steadfast, pure and holds no resentments, forgiving and forgiven.
“And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”
6.) Luke 11:2 and Matthew 6:9-13- Instruction on prayer to the disciples- Honor God, acknowledge submission to God’s will. Trust that he will hear your requests and provide your needs each day. Forgive and know that you are forgiven because you have asked God. Trust that he will guide and protect you.
“He said to them, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.’”
“This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
7.) Luke 22:32- Know that Jesus understands the failings of each of us personally and intercedes for our repentance and strengthening of our faith, not for us alone, but for the sake of others, as well.
“But Jesus said, “I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
8.) Mark 11:24- Pray specifically. Believe that it is in God’s will and trust that it has already been provided.
“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
9.) Matthew 26:41. Be vigilant about the devil’s ways and pray for discernment and protection so that you will be strengthened in your spirit, soul, and body.
“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
“10.) Matthew 5:44- Love your enemies (with the love of the Lord) and pray for them.
“ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
11.) John 17:6-26- We see the priorities for our lives for which Jesus prayed in his priestly prayer
Unity with God and one another through believing in God through Jesus
Joy
Protection from evil
Sanctifying righteousness and perfection in Christ through knowing and keeping the truth of God’s Word
Embracing and witnessing to the Truth for their own generation and for the faith of all generations to come
And that we would know God’s love for us and be able to love others as He loves us…….
““I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. 7 Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. 8 For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me. “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.
(Jesus Prays for All Believers)
“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.
“Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”
12.) Luke 6:12- Jesus spent devoted and lengthy times in prayer, sacrificing time and sleep for himself.
“One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.”
13.) Luke 18:1- Be consistent and persevering in prayer.
“Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.”
14.) Matthew 14:17-21- Thankfulness to God in prayer, brokenness, and giving to others multiplies blessings. “But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish!” they answered. 18 “Bring them here,” he said. 19 Then he told the people to sit down on the grass. Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he gave the bread to the disciples, who distributed it to the people. 20 They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers. 21 About 5,000 men were fed that day, in addition to all the women and children!