Andy looks at Jesus Christ as a perfect role model for a life of prayer. Learn Jesus’ habits, demeanor, and desires in prayer here on earth and also in heaven.
These are only preliminary, unedited outlines and may differ from Andy’s final message
Jesus is the perfect role model for a life of prayer, as well as a perfect teacher on prayer in the plan of God. In his various teachings on prayer, he employed parables, commands, promises, and persuasions. He taught what demeanor we should have when we pray (e.g. faith-filled, humble, persistent, bold), and what we should pray for (e.g. the Lord’s Prayer). All of that awaits us in future weeks, God willing.
But today, we look at Jesus as a perfect role model for a life of prayer. We will study his habits of prayer on earth, what he prayed for on earth and what he prays for in heaven.
Before we begin, some words about prayer.
First, we all need to grow in prayer. We are WEAK in this area!
Romans 8:26-27 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.
That verse speaks of our weakness. Paul specifically says we don’t know WHAT to pray for. However, we are also weak in HOW we pray and in UNDERSTANDING prayer in the wisdom and purposes of God. The Spirit helps us in that, especially by the scripture. And no one is better on all these matters than our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Jesus is our role model in prayer:
Luke 11:1 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
Jesus’ apostles saw what his prayer life meant to him, how he prayed, what prayer did for him, what he prayed for… and they realized their deficiencies.
So it is for us today.
LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY!!!
I. The Earthly Prayer Life of Jesus Christ
A. Jesus’ Habit of Prayer
Mark 1:35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.
Mark 1:45 As a result [of the leper spreading the news of his healing], Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places.
Jesus needed to get away from people to pray, and he chose to do so very early in the morning before other people had yet risen.
This shows the need for freedom from noisy distractions.
Yet we also have examples of Jesus praying in and around other people:
Luke 9:18 Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?”
John 11:41-42 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”
Early morning prayer sets the tone for the whole day.
B. Jesus’ Yearning for the Father’s Presence and Guidance
1. God the Father told Jesus he loved him
Mark 1:11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
2. God the Father told Jesus how to counsel people
Isaiah 50:4-5 The Sovereign LORD has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught. 5 The Sovereign LORD has opened my ears, and I have not been rebellious; I have not drawn back.
3. God the Father told Jesus what to do and what to say
John 5:19-20 Jesus gave them this answer: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does.
John 8:28-29 Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the one I claim to be and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. 29 The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.”
John 12:49-50 I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. 50 I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.
4. God the Father told Jesus what men to pick as his apostles
Luke 6:12-13 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. 13 When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles
C. Jesus Comforted in Prayer
The Feeding of the Five Thousand:
Jesus learned that John the Baptist had been martyred. He wanted to get away from the crowds to pray, grieve, and be consoled by his Father. So he got into a boat with his apostles and crossed the Sea of Galilee. But the crowds followed on foot and a large crowd met them. He saw them, had compassion on them, taught them many things, healed them, and fed them. Then he sent them all away so he could get alone and pray:
Mark 6:45-46 Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.
D. Jesus Strengthened in Prayer; Jesus Submissive in Prayer
Gethsemane… the infinite mystery of prayer on display
II. Gethsemane: The Most Significant Prayer Time in History
A. Facts of Gethsemane
1. All Jesus’ life he lived under the shadow of the cross
B.B. Warfield: “The prospect of his suffering was a perpetual Gethsemane to him.”
Luke 12:50 I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed!
2. Clear evidence in the Gospels… Jesus knew EXACTLY what was going to happen to him
Mark 9:31 “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.”
3. Time for a decision
As Jesus comes to Gethsemane on that fateful night, the time had come to face the cross straight on and make a final decision about what he will do
4. The Apostles and their prayer time
a. Jesus strongly urged the Apostles to pray
Luke 22:40 On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.”
b. Sadly they underestimated their dire need for prayer, especially Peter
Matthew 26:40-41 he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. 41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”
c. Amazing that Jesus actually left his own fervent and essential prayer time with his Father to make sure they were praying shows how vital this is
d. NOTE: our prayer lives are vital in our battle against temptation and sin. We have a role to play, and if we don’t play that role—if we are lazy in prayer, look what happens.
5. Jesus’ overpowering distress
Mark 14:33 he began to be deeply distressed and troubled.
Matthew 26:37 he began to be sorrowful and troubled.
Mark 14:34 “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them.
6. God sent an angel to strengthen him in prayer
Luke 22:43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.
Luke 22:44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
7. Jesus’ prayer time
Mark 14:35-36 Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. 36 “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me….”
8. The submission of Jesus
Mark 14:36 Yet not what I will, but what you will.
Matthew 26:42 “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”
9. Jesus’ repeated prayers
Matthew 26:44 So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.
10. The end of the account, and Jesus’ actions after prayer
Mark 14:41-43 Returning the third time, he said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!” 43 Just as he was speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, appeared. With him was a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders.
Jesus has effectively faced his final temptation and conquered it. Now he rises from his moment of greatest weakness and goes forth mightily to conquer sin and death with unflinching courage.
Ok, these are the facts of Gethsemane
B. The Mystery of Gethsemane
1. The Mystery of Jesus’ Incarnation: Weakness, Yet Deity
Martin Luther: “No man ever feared death like this man.”
2. How can the infinite Creator of all things, visible and invisible, need help from an angel? How can the omnipotent God need STRENGTHENING?
3. The Mystery of Jesus’ Amazement: Why Does Mark 14:33 Say Jesus was Amazed?
When Christ entered Gethsemane, he knew exactly what was going to happen FACTUALLY—he would most certainly die on the cross as a ransom for sinners. But apparently there was still a dimension of “knowing” that was withheld from him by his loving heavenly Father.
There is a shocking word in Mark’s gospel, which the KJV accurately translates: And he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy. (Mark 14:33, KJV) The word “amazed” stops us in our tracks! In some sense Christ was amazed at the cross in Gethsemane. The same word is used of crowd reaction to Jesus’ ministry (Mark 9:15) or to the Apostles’ healing of the lame beggar (Acts 3:11). … It is translated in those places “astonished,” and it implies some sense of wonder, as if seeing something they’d never seen before.
But how does that apply to Jesus in Gethsemane?
I believe when Christ began to pray, God revealed to him in an immeasurably more vivid way what it would be like to die on the cross as a substitute for his people, drinking the cup of God’s wrath poured full strength for him. The revelation occurred within Christ himself, within his mind, and it shocked him.
This kind of “showing” from the Father to the Son was essential to Jesus knowing what the Father wanted him to do:
John 5:20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these.
Supernatural spiritual vision is essential to a prophet’s role… God often showed his prophets visions of the future. Though the text doesn’t say the Father showed the cup to his Son, it would explain Jesus’ AMAZEMENT.
So yes, Jesus knew FACTUALLY what it would be like to die on the cross for our sins… but the Father wanted to show him what it would actually be like.
It was akin to the difference between seeing an old black and white photo of the Grand Canyon and seeing a virtual reality display of a helicopter ride through the Grand Canyon. The impression on the soul is much livelier, causing a much more intense reaction. As Christ began to pray, God turned up the intensity in Christ’s mind of what it would be like to drink the cup of his wrath, to absorb the lightning bolt of his indignation, to go through hell in our place, as our substitute. And it literally knocked Jesus to the ground and so increased the pressure in his body that blood began to flow from his sweat pores and fell in great drops to the ground (Luke 22:44).
4. The Eternally Consequential Conversation
The Father did this, I believe, to give Christ the ability to make a more informed choice as to whether or not he would go through with their plan. He refrained from doing it sooner, because the level of suffering would have been too great for his human body to bear for any great length of time.
In effect, an infinitely mysterious conversation went like this:
· God said, “Son… this is what the CUP OF MY WRATH looks like.”
· Jesus answered: “Father, IS IT POSSIBLE FOR ME TO SAVE MY PEOPLE WITHOUT DRINKING that terrifying cup?”
· God: “Son, no… there is NO OTHER WAY… WILL YOU DO IT ANYWAY?”
· Now comes the most heroic moment in human history: “IF IT IS NOT POSSIBLE, MAY YOUR WILL BE DONE.”
At this moment, Christ put his own will completely under the will of his Father. At this moment, he overturned the wretched choice Adam made in the Garden of Eden, and all the wretched choices God’s people have made in their willful sinning since Adam’s first sin. Here Christ showed the proper use of human will: to do the will of the Father.
Bow your head in worship, all generations of Christians! This is the single most courageous decision any human being has ever made!
5. The Mystery of Jesus’ Prayer: Is His Will Different Than God’s?
a. No! But in his humanity, Jesus had a real decision to make
b. He is reacting to the Father’s display of the cup of his wrath and its terrifying power.
C. The Glories of Gethsemane
1. The Free Will of Jesus Properly on Display
a. Jesus made a choice of his own free will
b. In so doing, he taught his people for all eternity the proper use of our free wills
c. AND the role in faith-filled, submissive prayer in helping us not to “fall into temptation” by using our free wills properly
2. The Choice of Jesus and Romans 3:26
Romans 3:25-26 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished– 26 he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
3. The obedience of Jesus and the disobedience of Adam
Romans 5:19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
4. The courage of Jesus: perfect love drove out fear
Romans 5:7-8 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
D. Gethsemane is the Most Significant Case Study of Jesus’ Earthly Prayer Life
Lessons for us:
1. Watch and pray so you will not fall into temptation
2. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak
3. Not my will but yours be done
4. An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him
III. The Heavenly Prayer Life of Jesus Christ
A. Job’s Desires All Fulfilled
1. Mediator
Job 9:33-35 If only there were someone to arbitrate between us, to lay his hand upon us both, 34 someone to remove God’s rod from me, so that his terror would frighten me no more. 35 Then I would speak up without fear of him, but as it now stands with me, I cannot.
2. Intercessor
Job 16:19-21 Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high. 20 My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God; 21 on behalf of a man he pleads with God as a man pleads for his friend.
3. Redeemer
Job 19:25-26 I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. 26 And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God
B. Jesus Constantly Intercedes for Us
Hebrews 7:24-25 because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
Romans 8:33-35 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died– more than that, who was raised to life– is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
C. What Does He Pray For?
1. The Nations as His Inheritance
Psalm 2:7-8 I will proclaim the decree of the LORD: He said to me, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.
2. The Holy Spirit
John 14:16-17 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever– 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
3. That Our Faith Will Not Fail
Luke 22:31-32 Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail.
