PRAYING THE HEART OF JESUS (8)

“AS HE PRAYED, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening” – Luke 9:29

There is a divine and glorious variety to PRAYING the HEART of JESUS: “He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray. AS HE PRAYED, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening” (Lk.9:28b-29). Our Lord Jesus prayed alone as well as in the company of His disciples. He prayed in the face of His personal and ministry challenges, and also to deal with daunting problems in the lives of others. He prayed on some occasions like a sprinter and at other times like a marathon runner. Jesus prayed both spontaneously and in a regular, structured manner. Jesus taught and modelled persistence in prayers, and His prayers were always heart-felt! Although prayer is unique between each person and God, Jesus, the only Perfect Person that ever lived, is our ultimate Model! When we follow His Heart, we’ll experience glorious transfigurations in life!

A typical example of Jesus dealing with the challenges of others was His prayer at Lazarus’ tomb: “FATHER, I THANK YOU that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believer that You sent Me.” Now when he had said these things, He cried with a lud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” (Jh.11:41-43). It is ironic that at such an encounter with the spirit of death, Jesus began with thanksgiving to the Father before switching to issuing a dominion command that death could not resist! Prayer shoud never be such an emergency that we fail to hallow the Almighty God!

Jesus prayed brief prayers like a sprinter and lengthy prayers like a marathon runner. This suggests that the essence of prayer is neither in its brevity nor its verbosity. Prayer doesn’t need to be wordy, impressive or polished; it just needs to be honest and real. The Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-15 and Luke 11:2-4 is full of wisdom, but it is short enough to be easily memorized and exemplifies a sprint rather than a marathon prayer. Jesus also knew how to dedicate long periods of time to prayer, such as: when He “continued all night in prayer to God.” (Lk.6:12). We should learn to offer short prayers as well as dedicate long periods to prayer.      

Jesus prayed both spontaneously and habitually. He seized opportunities to offer spontaneous prayers of thanksgiving. For example, Luke 10:21 describes afterthe seventy disciples who were sent out to preach returned with joy, declaring that the demons were subject to them at His name, “Jesus rejoiced in this Spirit and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes.” On other occasions, Jesus engaged in regular, routine, structured prayers. This insight is gleaned from Luke 5:16: “So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.”

Whether spontaneous or regular however, throughout the Gospels whenever we read of Jesus and prayer, it comes up seamlessly, like breathing. Praying was simply a part of His worldview, integrated into every aspect of Christ’s life. God wants us to be able to say the same about prayer in our lives! Praying should not be an occasional appendage or emergency props to the Believer’s life.

Jesus taught and modelled persistence in prayer: “Then He spoke a parable to them, that menalways ought to pray and not lose heart” (Lk.18:1). This parable is not meant to depict a pestering disciple who finally bugs God enough that He chooses to respond; rather it portrays persistence in prayer and waiting on God and His timing.

The prayers of Jesus were heartfelt. He never prayed in a cold, distant manner, but in heartfelt supplication, filled with compassion, empathy and a genuine love for God and for humanity. In John 17, Jesus prayed for Himself, His closest disciples, and all believers. As we follow fully in praying the Heart of Jesus, glorious transfigurations and transformation shall be our portions, in Jesus name!