Praying like Jesus

How do I pray like Jesus?

That's a question I am asking as I search the gospels.

As we know, Jesus was constantly praying to the Father.  He would withdraw to a quiet place and pray - sometimes all night.  He would prepare himself for the next day's huge and needy crowds by seeking his Father's face.

Of course, he left us a model for prayer - the Lord's prayer - in Matthew 6:19-31.  That tells us what Jesus saw as important in prayer - worshiping God, seeking God's will to be carried out on earth, pleading for forgiveness for our sins, and asking God to supply our needs.

But what about Jesus' prayers in the nitty-gritty of messy life?

I believe they illustrate well the priorities he laid out in the Lord's prayer.

Take Jesus' long prayer in John 17, a prayer he offered to the Father in front of his disciples on the eve of his crucifixion.  In a sense, it is a summary report of his work on earth accompanied by a heart-felt plea for his followers.

The prayer begins with God and his glory and how Christ has given glory to the Father through what he has done on earth.  And, in a personal note, he asks the Father to glorify him.

Then, Jesus turns his gaze to his disciples and reveals how much he loves them.  He calls on the Father to protect them from the evil one.  

Next, he prays for believers.  His desire is for them to be one in spirit and heart - a great witness to the world.

He concludes by saying that he will continue making the Father known to the world so that God's love for Jesus will be in them.

That prayer shows me Jesus' passionate commitment to the Father and to the spiritual welfare of his followers.  In those words, Jesus is showing me how to pray for other believers and for those who don't know God.

I ask myself: Am I passionate about God and others?

Another prayer that pops into my mind is Jesus' prayer at the tomb of his close friend Lazarus (John 11:1-44).  It comes with Lazarus already dead for four days.  Jesus has delayed going to see his friend so that the power of God could be displayed and people come to faith.

Lazarus' sisters Mary and Martha and their friends are mourning.  The sisters clearly wonder why Jesus did not come earlier to heal their brother before he died.  Their faith in Christ is being tested.

Jesus is deeply moved by their tears and weeps himself.

He goes to the tomb and asks for the stone to be rolled away from the entrance.  Then, he calls out to the Father:  "Father, I thank you that you have heard me.  I know that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me."

Next, Jesus shouts: "Lazarus, come out!" and the dead man emerges alive from the tomb, still wrapped in his grave clothes.  And many onlookers become believers in Christ.

From this account, I see Jesus' love for people, his tender heart.

My question: Is my heart breaking for others?

Finally, I think of another prayer of Jesus - this time for himself in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before his death (Matthew 26:36-46).  Jesus is in agony - the parallel passage in Luke 22 says drops of blood are falling as he prays.

He asks the Father if God can spare him the catastrophe that looms just ahead - slow death on the cross, the terrible burden of the world's sin on his shoulders, and - worst of all - a brief separation from his beloved Father.  Three times he asks, and then he submits to the Father's will and goes obediently to his death.

My question: Am I prepared to obey God no matter what?

I realize my answer to these questions is "No" if I depend on myself.

But there is hope for me if I depend on Jesus who is within me.