I Want to Pray Like Jesus-How Do I Do It? (Part 2)

I want to be more like Jesus. If you’re reading this, it’s likely you do too. But how

do we do it? More specifically, how do I be more like Jesus in my prayer life? In

part one, we dove into the teachings that Jesus gave regarding prayer, but now let’s

examine His life to see HOW He prayed.

Something I find interesting about the prayer life of Jesus is that He practiced what

He preached. Each of the points in the first section fit perfectly when looking at

how Jesus prayed.

(1) Prayer is personal. Right after Jesus fed the five thousand, Jesus needed some

time alone. Matthew 14:22-23 reads, “Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. And when He had sent

the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there." He was just teaching a multitude of people and fed them in a miraculous way. He could’ve kept showing how great He is by praying this fancy long prayer in front of all of them, but that is not what prayer is about. This was for Him and Him

alone. Even the Son of God needed time alone talking to the Father.

(2) Prayer is meaningful. One of the reasons I know that Jesus wasn’t talking

about repetition as a whole is because of the next passage. Matthew 26:36-44 reads:

"Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the

disciples, 'Sit here while I go and pray over there.' And He took with Him

Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply

distressed. Then He said to them, 'My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to

death. Stay here and watch with Me.' He went a little farther and fell on His

face, and prayed, saying, 'O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass

from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.' Then He came to the

disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, 'What! Could you not

watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.

The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.' Again, a second time, He

went away and prayed, saying, 'O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away

from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.' And He came and found them

asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words."

Jesus was not in the wrong for repeating the same words over and over and over

again. How I know that prayer is meaningful to Jesus is because at this very time,

He was praying so passionately that His sweat was mixed with blood. Luke, the

physician, records this in his parallel account (Luke 22:44). This is not vain

repetition, but even with being repetitive, every word mattered to Jesus.

(3) Prayer Content. In this article, we will not take the time to dive into this for

very long, but the reference for this is John 17. That chapter records a prayer of

Jesus that He prayed soon before His death. I encourage you to take the time to

read it and keep in mind what we have discussed with prayer content. God is

thanked and glorified throughout it and strength is requested. Today, take the time

to read this chapter and pay closer attention to the fact that Jesus practices what He

teaches about prayer content.

(4) Prayer requires a proper relationship with others. Jesus was betrayed. One

of His best friends denied that he ever knew Him. He was whipped, smacked, spit

on, and mocked. Ultimately, He was degraded, torn down mentally and physically,

and was crucified. With all of that in mind, notice what He makes a point to say

while hanging on the cross. Luke 23:34, “Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do. And they divided His garments and cast lots."

Even at a time when He could’ve sent judgement down on them, Jesus lived out

His teaching and forgave His enemies.

Examining the life of Jesus, it is clear that He left behind a great example of how to

pray. Even though we have looked at what Jesus taught and did when it comes to

prayer, that still doesn’t completely answer our question about how we do it. So, in

the next and final section, we will look at some ways we can make personal

applications in our own lives.