"And it came to pass in those days, that He went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God."
Luke 6:12
Part 4
Yesterday: Our Prayers are to Have Direction
We pray to God the Father,
through the power of the Holy Spirit,
in Jesus’ Name.
Today: Jesus Prayed before Special Events in His Life
“And continued all night in prayer to God.” (a)
We can learn much from Jesus’ prayer life. And happily, the Bible gives us God’s thoughts about our prayers.
God tells His children to pray.
“Let us, therefore, come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).
Jesus taught us to pray when He said,
“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8).
Jesus said we can pray together for shared requests.
“Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 18:19).[1]
We, believers, are to pray consistently. Always be ready to pray. We hear of the prayer needs of others very often.
“Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving” (Colossians 4:2).
We need the right attitude of prayer, and we are always to be thankful.
“Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:19-20).
God’s Word tells us to pray for:
The bottom line, we can talk to the Lord and pray for everything!
“Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God” (Philippians 4:6).
When we have sinned, we need to pray. We pray when we are confessing our sin to the Lord.
“I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD, and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah. For this shall everyone that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him” (Psalm 32:5-6).
“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us” (1 John 1:8-10).
If we are earnestly praying, it can help us to resist temptation.
“And when He was at the place, He said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation” (Luke 22:40).
We pray when we are in trouble.
“Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me and hear my prayer” (Psalm 4:1, all through the Psalms).
“As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me” (Psalm 55:16).
We can pray to ask for healing from illness, both others and our own.
“Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray. Is any merry? Let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he has committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:13-16).
When we don’t know what way to go, we can pray for God’s guidance.
“That the LORD thy God may shew us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do” (Jeremiah 42:3).
We ought to pray daily to thank God for the way He has provided for our needs.
“And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude” (Matthew 15:35).
We keep on praying, even when our authorities tell us that we are not allowed to pray.
“Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree. Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime” (Daniel 6:9-10).
We need to be praying before and during all of the important events in our lives. Jesus did this.
Before He went to preach, He prayed (Mark 1:35).
Before He chose the twelve disciples, He prayed all night (Luke 6:12).
Before He went to the Cross, He prayed in the garden (Mark 14:34-36).
Our heavenly Father wants to hear the prayers of His redeemed children. As we have seen, we can tell God about anything as we pray. We have no excuse not to talk with Him.
Quote: “As is the business of tailors to make clothes and cobblers to make shoes, so it is the business of Christians to pray”[2] (Martin Luther).
[1] In the context of this verse, it is praying together for a sinning believer to get right with God.
[2] Luther’s quote Downloaded: Tuesday, May 25, 2021. From: https://biblereasons.com/prayer-quotes/.