Let Your Life Drive Your Prayer Part 3 of 6

Let your Life drive your prayer

Jesus prayed.  Jesus allowed his ministry to move him to focused prayer.  

Jesus prayed when life was crowded and draining. After he began his ministry and the demands on his time and energy increased, we're told that "Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." Sometimes seasons of life  that are outwardly most successful are inwardly most vulnerable. 

Jesus prayed when he faced important choices. When it was time to select his closest friends, his disciples, he asked for guidance. "Jesus went out into the mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve . . ." 

Henri Nouwen noted that with Jesus the order was solitude, community, ministry. With me it's often the reverse—I began with my little dreams, and if they don't work, I try to get other people to come help me. And if that doesn't work, I tell God he needs to bless me.  

Jesus prayed when he was sad or frightened. When John the Baptist was arrested and eventually killed, Jesus withdrew to a lonely place to be alone with his Father.  

Jesus prayed when he needed strength for his work. While it was dark, Jesus would go away from the demands of the crowds talk to God.  

Jesus prayed when he was worried about the people he loved.  Just before his crucifixion, he warned Peter about the trials that he would face. Amazingly enough he didn't warn or lecture or fix Peter. He just told him, "I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail."  

Jesus prayed when he faced insurmountable problems. In the garden of Gethsemane, he knelt down to surrender his will to the will of the Father. It puts my struggles with money and unmet goals in perspective.   I often find I feel guilty when I read about those descriptions of Jesus at prayer, but I'm not sure guilt is much of a prayer help over the long haul. An important to ask yourself is , "Do you think Jesus prayed because he wanted to pray, or because he thought he should pray?"

I don't think Jesus had a little journal where he'd give himself a gold star every morning that he said the Lord's Prayer. I think he wanted to pray. I think that for us to pray much, or deeply, we need to move from what we think we should do to what we want to do. But that won't happen if we just tell ourselves that we should want to pray.  

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday’s posts  will explore some ways of praying that can increase your want-to.*  

*excerpted and paraphrased from John Ortberg’s insights for Christianity Today, July 6, 2015. 

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