Sunday Notes: Jesus and Prayer
As Christians, we need to develop, grow, and mature in our walk with God because that is the manifestation of the changes that God does in our life.
Having a deep connection with God enables us to be used more effectively by Him for the furtherance of the kingdom and for His glory to be revealed through our faith and our actions.
And the way for us to communicate with God and to be nurtured by Him is through prayer.
Jesus, in the time that He spent here on earth, always maintained His communication with God the Father through prayer.
The Bible tells us in Luke 5:16 that Jesus often withdrew from the crowds to lonely places so that He can pray and ask God what His will is for Him in those moments and where He wants Him to go. Jesus' attitude in prayer was more intentional than situational as is the case for many Christians today.
There have been times, and I can attest this as I have done so, that we simply fail to allot quality time to spend communicating with God through prayer.
Our prayers are mostly shallow, empty, and at times, selfish as we only tend to ask for our needs and wants rather than asking God what His will is for us.
Jesus prayed because He needed to hear from God and because God, when we pray and listen to His voice, speaks words of encouragement, fulfillment, instructions or commands that would benefit us and help us to go about our daily lives.
Why Should We Pray?
1. Prayer builds our relationship with God as we constantly communicate with Him.
2. Through prayer, God comes to our rescue in overcoming temptations.
3. As we pray, God speaks to our hearts and helps us determine His will.
4. God moves in our lives and ministers to us and accomplishes His work in our lives.
5. Prayer is a powerful weapon against the evil forces of the world.
Prayer along with a constant meditation on the Word of God gives us defensive resources to deal with the different struggles and persecution that we will be facing during times of crisis and attack by the enemy.
These disciplines in the Christian life would help us to overcome just as Jesus was able to overcome the world.
The Bible teaches us to always rely on God because He is greater than all and only He can win the victory for us in our personal battles in life and even in business, academics, and every pursuit or endeavor that God sets in our hearts. So we need to always fix our eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2).
The passage of Scripture that we tackled was Luke 22:31-34 and this shows a great example by Jesus as he teaches His disciples why we should develop a strong prayer life and a deep personal relationship with God:
"'Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I (Jesus) have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.'
But he (Peter) replied, 'Lord, I am ready to go with You to prison and to death.' Jesus answered, 'I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know Me.'"
We can derive four important concepts from these verses:
1. We have a very determined enemy who wants "to kill, steal, and destroy" our lives so that we would lose everything in our lives and eventually our faith as well.
2. Despite this, we have a powerful friend on our side who is ready and able to fight our battles for us and win the victory in all our struggles and tribulations in this world.
3. However, there is a problem that we face that may cause our downfall.
4. And so, there are times when God has to intervene in our lives to teach us an important lesson.
In verse 31, Jesus says that Satan has asked to sift the disciples as wheat which basically means to go under intense trial and temptation especially with the sequence of events that will come after and would test the faith of the disciples.
Then, however, Jesus said that He has already prayed for Peter so that his faith may not fail. Jesus is our friend who will strengthen and empower us in times of intense shaking of faith so that in the end we will emerge victorious just as Jesus did.
But there are times when our pride hinders us from experiencing the victory that Jesus has already won for us so in these times, God will set for us to fail in those areas of our lives where we boast that we can do things ourselves by our own abilities and strengths so that we can be humbled and learn to trust God in all things and circumstances.
Prayer is an act of humility and submission to God. It is our way of lifting up our needs and requests to God in different areas of our lives and for different people, not just yourself.
Always be ready to listen to God's voice as He speaks to your heart because that message from Him would satisfy whatever needs you have and whatever He has in store for you.
Ephesians 6:18 tells us, "Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."
I pray that we will be able to find praying to God as a fulfilling and vital discipline in our walk with God and not take the time spent in prayer for granted because more than our physical needs, we need God in our daily lives.
I hope that God will show you great and unsearchable things as you call to Him (Jeremiah 33:3). God Bless!
Comments
Post a Comment