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Prayer &
The Holy Spirit Part 3 The Prayers of Jesus Luke 5:15-16 The many prayers of Jesus are varied in form and
purpose, but here are a few clear points we must learn and apply to our
attitude towards prayer, in order to grow in the grace and knowledge of
Jesus. Privacy was important to Jesus, when he prayed. Luke
15:15-17 shows that often he would need to refresh himself alone in prayer.
If God in the flesh needed to make private requests of his needs to the
Father, how much more do we? Notice it was not his own personal needs which
he needed power for. It was power to heal the sick and teach the truth,
v17. His prayers were not self-centered, but they were to fulfil
personal needs in order to serve others. Do we pray for power to speak the
truth in love and serve others? Another purpose of private prayer for Jesus was the
attainment of wisdom in making decisions. Luke 6:12-16, is the story of how
he spent all night praying before he chose the 12 disciples which would
become his apostles. Do we pray before we make decisions and commitments? There was also another private prayer, which we do
not have verbatim, but Jesus tells us of how he had privately prayed for
Peter, Luke 22:31-32. This is interesting because it seems to be a
pre-emptive strike in a combatant type prayer. Was Jesus fighting against
Satan while arguing the case with the Father about Satan’s activity against
Peter? Had Peter sinned and put his discipleship at risk? The subject of
greatness and leadership was in view, before Jesus told Peter he had prayed
for him, v27ff. Jesus is our advocate too, 1st John 2:1. The reality of
this is expressed by Paul in Rom. 8:26 by the Spirit of Christ. Jesus did pray for himself, but even then, he
requested assistance in prayer. His disciples were counted worthy of praying
with him to gain strength. If they had prayed with him, would Jesus have been
made stronger? No, but He knew they needed more strength from God in praying
with him. They were overcome with sleep and didn’t pray, so therefore they
all were weak in the day of his suffering and deserted him. Matthew 26:39-46.
Do we neglect prayer to our own peril? Jesus was given the power of God through
his use of prayer, to perform the ultimate sacrifice, which benefits
disciples to this day in our salvation. Heb. 5:7-9. But will we use the power
of God through prayer to help us make our life a living sacrifice? Romans
12:1. When we contemplate making a sacrifice, we usually wrestle with doubt
about our own resources, safety or health. In Gethsemane, Jesus prayed for
God to save him from death. How was his prayer answered? Why do we think
Jesus was able to undergo crucifixion? Jesus had the Holy Spirit without measure, John
3:34, so why did he need prayer? It is a lesson for us to accept that even if
we are mature and consider ourselves to have grown the fruit of the Spirit
beyond anyone’s expectation; we still need prayer because, like Jesus, we are
human. When we humans are in a crisis, we need to pray about God’s desire,
not our own. During the crucifixion, we can learn three truths
from his prayers on the cross. Matthew 27:46, Prayer can be a release of pain, we
must all be willing to cast our care upon Him, because he cares for us. Even
when it feels like he doesn’t. 1st Peter 5:7. Luke 23:46, Prayer is to be used, to place ourselves
into His care & direction. We know our souls are located in Christ, but
do we put our events, behaviour and interests into the Father’s hands? This
is inextricably linked to the process or growth of sanctification. 2nd Peter
3:18. |