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Matthew, Mark and Luke all tell the same sweet, sad story.  The night before Jesus died, He went to Gethsemane to pray.  Though He hungered for human companionship, no one would face this hour with Him.   Alone, He prayed, “Not my will but thine be done.”  This truly is the Lord’s prayer!  His heart-broken and courageous words are the very spirit of prayer.  We know the Father heard Him.  We know by the calm strength that filled His heart as He emerged from this tearful hour.  By His example the Lord was teaching us how to prepare for our own suffering.  All of us have crosses to carry, wreaths of thorns to wear.  If we want the inflowing strength of God in the hard moments of life, we must find it where Jesus did.  When we face loss, we must also go to Gethsemane. Lord teach us to pray!

Some Christians resist the use of the Lord’s Prayer as prayer.  The reasons are too many to discuss here.  One for which I have some sympathy is that the words of Christ may become “meaningless repetition.”  It is not always so but the danger sign will be that we rush through the prayer without careful thought or reverence.  We will “say the prayer”–not realizing that the Lord was not so much giving us words to say as subjects to discuss with our Father.  There are 7 subjects, 7 requests that we make.  His name, His kingdom, His will.  Our need for food, forgiveness, guidance and deliverance.  Today friend, will you consider what you are saying to God?  Ask yourself!  Which of these subjects is more a matter of words than heart for me?  Since it is Saturday, perhaps the Lord will give you time to slow down for the privilege of prayer.

Part of prayer’s purpose is to give us God’s wisdom.  Whenever Christ had decisions to make, He found time to be with the Father, and taught us, by example, to do the same.  (Read James 1:5)  The night before He called the Twelve, “He went out into a mountain to pray and continued all night.” (Luke 6:13)  In this way, He teaches us how we, also,  may get clear insight into the circumstances and choices that we face.  We must bring our plans and our purposes to God’s throne.  We must test our desires against His larger will.  “Do nothing large or new–nothing small or old. . .until you have have asked in the silence of a secret place, ‘Lord what would you have me do?’ ”  (Alexander Maclaren)  Friend, when we pray “lead us not into temptation”, do we realize that we must also commit the time to hear the Lord’s voice when He answers our prayer for guidance?

“In the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out to a lonely place and there he prayed”. (Mark 1:35) Jesus taught us to pray as much by his example as by his words.  Mark records a vivid picture of Christ’s first day of ministry in Capernaum.  It was a busy day, crowded with human need.  He teaches.  He heals a man.  He goes to Peter’s home and heals his mother in law.  There is almost no time to rest.  Then, as night falls, he is beseiged by a new crowd of new needs.  How did he restore His energy?  A few hours of sleep and then up to be quiet with the Father.  Prayer was Christ’s refreshment after toil.  It was His rest.  It was His renewal.  All of us who have busy and stressful days ought to learn a lesson from our Savior.  “He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul”

“After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray.” (Matthew 14:23)  The prayers of Jesus remind us that he was a man.  Just as He sat down by the well because he was tired (John 4), and he wept because he was sad (John 11), Jesus prayed because He needed help.  It was less a religious duty, more a daily source of power and guidance. What an encouragement!  No life is so high or holy that it becomes self-sufficient.  We never outgrow our need for God’s daily assistance.  We “pray without ceasing” because our needs never do.  Today as we approach the throne of God, let us do so with the assurance that it is as the Father intended.  It is not unusual for us to need Him.  Jesus did.

Prayer requires effort.  It is often the hardest job of the day. It is engagement with God.  It requires determination and honesty.  Read Genesis 32.  In verse 11 Jacob prays, “deliver me from Esau, for I fear him”.  Later in the same night (vs 24), he begins to wrestle with an unknown assailant  (identified as God in vs 30).  In some ways,  Jacob was doing what he had always done, fighting for his life.  But this time he was fighting in a new way, he was struggling with God, holding on to God, determined to have his answer from God.  It was hard work, and God could have ended the match at any time.  Instead, the Father  seems to welcome and honor his persistence.  In a few hours we will gather for worship. ( John 20–doubting Thomas).  Would Thomas have been closer to God for not expressing his doubts?  Do we gain anything by not being honest, by not wrestling?  I am praying for you this morning.  See you in a few hours.

If prayer is an expression of helplessness (see yesterday’s blog), it is also an act of assertiveness. If it requires us to admit our weakness, it also, and at the same moment, insists that we recognize our strength, our standing with God,our opportunity to “use” our relationship with God for His purposes.  Read Genesis 18.  Notice how Abraham bargains with God for the salvation of the righteous. ” Will you spare the city for 50 righteous?”  40? 30? 20? 10?  On and on he pushes the argument and each time God grants his request.  It leads us to conclude that God, all along, was looking for an advocate, a human being bold enough to express God’s  deepest intention (mercy).  Prayer is service to others.  Prayer is service to God.  Will you pray today with all your strength?  Will you believe God that He has made you His child and that you have influence before Him that should be used in His service?

“Only he who is helpless can truly pray.”–Ole Hallesby   From birth we aspire to self-reliance.  Adults celebrate it as a triumph when children learn to do something on their own: go to the bathroom, get dressed, brush teeth, tie shoe laces.  We continue this pattern as adults.  We like to pay our own way, live in our own houses, make our own decisions.  Until we meet Christ who challenges the very idea of self-reliance.  “Apart from Me you can do nothing”.  Asking for help lies at the very root of the Lord’s prayer.  The prayer itself is a string of requests.  Admitting that we need help and that we are not spineless whiners to ask for it can be a huge breakthrough for those who want to know God.  “Prayer is our declaration of dependence” says Philip Yancey.  Needing God is not a bad thing.  Jesus knew this better than anyone.

“Forgive us our trespasses.” Real prayer can be painful.  Like an argument with your spouse that moves gradually toward the conclusion that you owe him/her an apology,  one of the ingredients of a quality relationship with God is the confession of sin.  We need to admit wrong, for our own good.   Prayer, after all, is the currency of relationship.  Repressed issues don’t go away.  They get worse.  So even when I am unaware of my selfishness or stubbornness (I often am),  the bible teaches me to to pray, “Search me, O God. . .see if there is any offensive way in me”  (Psalm 139)  “Jesus warned his disciples not to pray like hypocrites. . .instead, they should go into a closet. . .(a place) that fosters complete honesty with God” (Yancey)  Get alone!  Get honest!  These are the Lord’s instructions to those of us who want a quality relationship with Him.

“Be still and know that I am God” (Psalms 46:10) is a real challenge in a modern age that conspires against it.  Mystery, awareness of a spiritual world, even a few moments of quiet do not come naturally in our hectic, buzzing world.  Before prayer becomes “something I say”, it must first be many “things I don’t say”.   Fear.  Resentment.  Ambition.  As I grow quiet before the Lord, I realize that none of them are the things I really want to say to the Lord.  As I wait before Him, better words come.  Praise.  Peace.  Gratitude.  Requests for His help–coupled with the faith to believe that He will answer.   Maybe I am unique in this, but when I am still, my words change.  I am praying for you today.  I am asking God to give you a few moments to be still.