Teach us to pray-14

When and where do we pray? Is place important? Is time important? Let us see when and where Jesus prayed,

Matthew 14:22  Immediately He made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away. After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone. 

As with last week’s study, prayer is an unique time between you and God. Jesus needed solitude and so do we. Too many times we pray literally on the run or when we are driving. You can’t block everything out if you try to pray and do anything else. Jesus could be the only one who could to this, but instead He found a place of solace and silence.

Mark 11:23  "Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. 11:24  "Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you. 

God can do anything, we cannot. We need to pray for the things most important to Him. His glory, His will, His plan for us, etc. If we can do this, we should pray without doubting. We can’t be full of fear or that we don’t deserve His grace upon our lives of service. We also cannot dictate when something will happen. God is in charge of the times of blessing. We need to also wait on His answer.

Mark 14:32  They *came to a place named Gethsemane; and He *said to His disciples, "Sit here until I have prayed." 14:33  And He *took with Him Peter and James and John, and began to be very distressed and troubled. 

14:34  And He *said to them, "My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch." 14:35  And He went a little beyond them, and fell to the ground and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass Him by. 14:36  And He was saying, "Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will."

The trials and challenges of life and our faith are not to be ignored. Trusting in God is not always easy, especially when we face persecution, physical harm, danger, or circumstances beyond our control. Yet, that is when God can provide comfort and strength to persevere. We will face trials. We will face persecution.

Jon 17:12  "While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled. 17:13  "But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. 17:14  "I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17:15  "I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. 17:16  "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17:17  "Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. 

In Jesus’ high, priestly prayer, He prayed for His disciples. He gave them the truth and asked the Father to keep them from Satan even as they must stay in the world, which is Satan’s kingdom. Jesus guarded them while He was with them and now must leave them, but not alone.

John 14:15  "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. 14:16  "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; 

14:17  that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. 

14:18  "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 

Jesus will not leave us as orphans either. He sends the Spirit of Truth to all true believers. We don’t have God in front of us, we have God within us. We should thank God every day for this marvelous gift.

More next Saturday.