What Prayer did for Jesus
“In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there. Simon and his companions searched for Him; they found Him, and said to Him, “Everyone is looking for you.” He said to them, “Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came for.” And He went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee, preaching and casting out the demons.
There are some very important lessons we can learn from our Lord in this passage regarding prayer. First, if Jesus realized the necessity and importance of spending time alone with God in prayer, certainly His feeble disciples, such as we are, will greatly benefit from the same. Sometimes it is important just to get away from everyone and everything for some uninterrupted time alone with God.
In the passage above, it seems as if Jesus’ praying helped remind Him of His purpose and reason for coming to the earth: to preach the gospel to the lost. We are susceptible to periods of aimlessly wandering through life, getting lost in franticly paced lifestyles, and being distracted by the cares of life, many of which have little to do with God’s will and purpose for our lives. Prayer has a wonderful way of redirecting our minds and refocusing our spirits on what is truly important.
Jesus also seemed to pray in order to revitalize and re-energize His Spirit. In the verses previous to those in the opening paragraph, we find Jesus teaching in the synagogue, confronting and exorcising demons, and healing multitudes of sick people.
Such a workload with incredible responsibilities, along with the constant pressure from those in great need, incessantly approaching, asking, begging, and pleading must take a significant toll on the one who took our sicknesses, suffering, sorrow, and sin. After spending the night alone in prayer, Jesus moves on to other communities and continues His amazing work among men. Sometimes we get tired, discouraged, frustrated, and disappointed in serving others, but prayer can do wonders to renew our spirits and strengthen us for more and even greater service to Him who has so beautifully served us.
In prayer, we communicate intimately with the Giver of life. The concentration of fellowship with God that prayer brings vitalizes and energizes us. Just as being in the presence of certain people energizes us and makes us feel better, our relationship with the true Source of life brings great blessings to us when we interact with Him.
Prayer does so much more for us than we’ll likely ever understand. If the very Son of God needed and desired to pray, we should commit ourselves to much time alone with God in prayer.
There are some very important lessons we can learn from our Lord in this passage regarding prayer. First, if Jesus realized the necessity and importance of spending time alone with God in prayer, certainly His feeble disciples, such as we are, will greatly benefit from the same. Sometimes it is important just to get away from everyone and everything for some uninterrupted time alone with God.
In the passage above, it seems as if Jesus’ praying helped remind Him of His purpose and reason for coming to the earth: to preach the gospel to the lost. We are susceptible to periods of aimlessly wandering through life, getting lost in franticly paced lifestyles, and being distracted by the cares of life, many of which have little to do with God’s will and purpose for our lives. Prayer has a wonderful way of redirecting our minds and refocusing our spirits on what is truly important.
Jesus also seemed to pray in order to revitalize and re-energize His Spirit. In the verses previous to those in the opening paragraph, we find Jesus teaching in the synagogue, confronting and exorcising demons, and healing multitudes of sick people.
Such a workload with incredible responsibilities, along with the constant pressure from those in great need, incessantly approaching, asking, begging, and pleading must take a significant toll on the one who took our sicknesses, suffering, sorrow, and sin. After spending the night alone in prayer, Jesus moves on to other communities and continues His amazing work among men. Sometimes we get tired, discouraged, frustrated, and disappointed in serving others, but prayer can do wonders to renew our spirits and strengthen us for more and even greater service to Him who has so beautifully served us.
In prayer, we communicate intimately with the Giver of life. The concentration of fellowship with God that prayer brings vitalizes and energizes us. Just as being in the presence of certain people energizes us and makes us feel better, our relationship with the true Source of life brings great blessings to us when we interact with Him.
Prayer does so much more for us than we’ll likely ever understand. If the very Son of God needed and desired to pray, we should commit ourselves to much time alone with God in prayer.
Comments
Post a Comment