Ray Stedman’s book, Talking with My Father, Jesus Teaches on Prayer, is worth the read to prepare for my Prayer Pilgrimage, People @ Prayer, commencing in 3 months time: read of where I am up to in my preparation here: Prayer Pilgrimage – Working draft. Read Stedman’s book, here.
Martin Luther said, “I have so much to do today, I need to spend an extra hour in prayer!”
So, why pray? Because Jesus Christ prayed.
Ray Stedman writes,
For Jesus, prayer was as necessary as breathing. If the Son of God felt such a great need for contact with the Father, how much more do we! …..with Jesus prayer was a necessity…it was a lifelong habit. It was an attitude of mind and heart – an atmosphere, in which He lived, the very air He breathed. Everything He did arose out of prayer. He literally prayed without ceasing…..prayer was not an act of self-discipline or duty—it was always His delight…to Jesus, prayer was as necessary as eating –and just as natural.
The Gospels mention many occasions of Jesus praying in public and taking time in solitude to commune with God one on one. He prayed before choosing his disciples, before and after miracles took place, He prayed to God all night and in the early hours of the morning (Luke 6:12, Mark 1:35), He prayed by himself (Matthew 14:23, Mark 1:35, Luke 5:16) and He prayed prior to his crucifixion. In the garden of Gethsemane Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I go and prayer over there.” (Matthew 26:36). In the book of John, prior to His death, Jesus prayed for Himself (17:1-5), prayed for His disciples (17:6-19), and prayed for all believers – that’s you and me! (17:20-26)
- May prayer to us be a necessity,
- May prayer be the very air we breathe,
- May prayer be a delight,
- May prayer become as necessary and natural to us as it did to Jesus!
See also on prayer, My Pentecost prayer and pastoral letter to Anglicans and Muslim and Christian prayer at Ramadan and To pray or not to pray to the Holy Spirit?
