How can I improve my prayer life?
Matthew 7:7-8
Jesus was the greatest teacher in the history of the world. He used perfect words combined with the perfect example in every area of life. One of the most vital topics Jesus sought to teach was prayer. As I just noted, he combined remarkable insights through words with a powerful personal example of prayer. His teachings on prayer included several memorable parables on prayer (like the Friend at Midnight and the Persistent Widow), a clear pattern for prayer (the most famous and frequently repeated prayer in history—the Lord’s Prayer, also called the “Our Father”), and a clear example of his own prayer life for his people (the so-called “High Priestly Prayer” in John 17, the longest recorded prayer in the Gospels). Along with this, we have Jesus’ amazing discipline in prayer, for Mark 1:41 tells us, “He arose a great while before dawn and went to a remote place to pray.” Another time he spent all night in prayer before choosing the twelve apostles.
One of the most vital topics Jesus sought to teach was prayer.
After John the Baptist was martyred, Jesus withdrew from the crowds across the Sea of Galilee to seek prayer, only to be met by a crowd that had run on ahead. He felt compassion for them, taught them many things, and fed them miraculously. But then he sent them away so he could pour out his grieving soul in prayer to his Father. Elsewhere, his disciples saw Jesus praying in a certain place and urged him to teach them to pray like that.
Jesus conceived of his role at the right hand of God as one of intercession for his people. He promised the disciples that when he had risen from the dead and ascended to heaven, he would ask the Father to send the Holy Spirit. This is all vital for us, since none of us prays as we ought to. We are like the disciples in the garden of Gethsemane, whom Jesus exhorted, “Watch and pray that you will not fall into temptation” (Matthew 26:41). Then he went away to pour out his own heart in passionate prayer to God. When he came back a short time later, all of them were asleep. This pictures all of us in our weakness. We don’t know what we ought to pray for or how to pray as we ought.
Jesus is our teacher in all things… and our Savior from sinful self-reliance. As we study these themes in the weeks ahead, we will sit at the feet of the Master and learn from him, for he is humble in heart and totally dependent on his Father in all things. As we grow in prayer, we will grow in fruitfulness. For Jesus said, “If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples” (John 15:7-8). Immersing ourselves in Christ by faith and immersing our minds in his words by study and meditation, we are then prepared to pray as we ought to. Only in this way will we bear eternal fruit for the glory of God.
