THE BEAT e143 When Jesus Prayed (I call for the Holy Spirit to pray)

This is Faith to Witness 99, motivating us to hear God and share the Shepherd.  

Season 2 Episode 143  

THE BEAT | When Jesus Prayed (I call for the Holy Spirit to pray)

Quick Take

Hey human, let’s consider following Jesus’ prayer life, as the apostle Luke tells us. When Jesus prays, how often, and for what? To whom, and how? We should know this deep in our heart. And who do we summon when we pray? e143 Thanks for listening.

How is God listening to you pray today?

I’m Kathryn Bise, your host.

As I read thru the gospel of Luke I am drawn to Jesus’ prayer life. It’s not the first time. I feel this way every time. While the scriptural references to Jesus’ praying are typically one sentence, we have plenty of context to cue how we pray like Jesus did on earth.

Let’s consider when Jesus prayed throughout this gospel. I end with a prayer Jesus taught his disciples, and us, personalized with a summons. And silence.

Prayer Replenishes Our Warrior Spirit

Luke 4:40-42

 

40 At sunset, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them. 41 Moreover, demons came out of many people, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Messiah.

 

At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people went looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them.

Luke 5:15-16

 

15 Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. 16 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

 

Over and over again, Jesus went from his work to being alone with his Heavenly Father. Strong’s says lonely means solitary, lonely, desolate, uninhabited. Why did he do this? Because he was spiritually and mentally exhausted. He came to his Father for spiritual sustenance. To replenish his warrior spirit.

Prayer Powers Us to Make Major Decisions

Luke 6:12

 

“One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray and spent the night praying to God.”

What did Jesus do the next day? He selected his twelve disciples. No wonder he prayed all night. Maybe you think you do not have any big decisions. That’s just not true. It’s not that we don’t have big decisions. We avoid making them. The daily must-dos fritter away our ability to focus on the more complex decisions we need to commit to.

What happens to our spiritual growth if we start matching our prayer time to the size of a decision? The consequences of the decision? I am not saying that we should play a numbers game, because sometimes the smallest of choices may live large in our lives, but I am asking that we consider giving God our silence, and the Holy Spirit the breathing room needed to shape our innermost thoughts. From prayerful silence God provides clarity.

Prayer Prioritizes Our Questions

Luke 9:18

 

“Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?””

This question embodies the purpose of Jesus coming to live amongst us, doesn’t it? The truth vs humanity’s version of who God is and who they were waiting for. When we read through his life it is easy to see that he was very watchful about this. He told many of those he healed to not tell anyone, he silenced demons who recognized his divine nature, he prayed his way through every day, and every moment that led to the public recognition that he was the Son of Man, the Messiah they had been reading about generation after generation. He knew that as his identity became more and more known, so his purpose: to die on the cross.

Prayer, speaking with our heavenly father, has a way, he has a way of prioritizing our heart’s desires. Though we pray for answers, what God teaches us is the right questions. Because the right questions put us on the path to answers that lead us through our purpose toward peace. And wisdom.

Pray to See God’s Glory

Luke 9:23-29

 

23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? 26 Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

 

27 “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”

 

28 About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. 29 As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning.

 

This is called the transfiguration, when Moses and Elijah appear and were talking with Jesus. It was then said that Peter, James and John “saw his glory.” The sovereignty of his divine nature. The radiant power of his spiritual light.

So, I think we relentlessly seek, we unapologetically find opportunities to go to the mountain top, a private place of solitude, and pray. To pray to see his glory because we are told that everything we do should be to his glory. Romans 11:36!

This is really the be-all, end-all for me. Right here. God’s glory.

But there’s more.

Luke 11:1-4

 

11 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

 

2 He said to them, “When you pray, say:

 

“‘Father,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come.

3 Give us each day our daily bread.

4 Forgive us our sins,

    for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.

And lead us not into temptation.’”

 

So simple. I will circle back to this.

In the final chapters of Luke, we see Jesus praying in his final earthly hours. He wrestles with submission but gives in to transformation. He demonstrates the ultimate love in appealing for forgiveness of all of us. And he demonstrates what I think is the ultimate act of faith. He knew where his spirit was going, he knew where it had come from.

Luke 22:42

This passage describes Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane, where he wrestles with God’s will before his crucifixion. In anguish, he prays,

“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”

Luke 23:34:

 

“Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.””

 

Luke 23:46:

 

“Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.”

Summoning the Holy Spirit to Pray

Prayer is something we need, a non-negotiable spiritual need, to be re-nourished for the work of our God-given purpose. This means that we are spiritually and physically depleted from doing God’s work. Jesus taught, he healed, so many people, to the point of pure exhaustion.

Only God can replenish us. In the solitary place. The desert. The wilderness. The uninhabited place where he alone grows our spirit. Jesus knew this.

If we are not “praying without ceasing”, living with a prayerful attitude continually, we aren’t doing enough of his work to need replenishment. Prayer is not always about asking God for material things, changed circumstances, and relief. In fact, the more spiritually mature we become, I would argue it is less and less about what we need. It is more and more about God’s work, his glory, and what this world of humans needs. It should spiritually exhaust us and cause us to return to our Creator, the source that fuels our purpose.

Prayer yields spiritual growth and a deepening of our desire to be one on one with our Heavenly Father, with Jesus at our side, and the Holy Spirit as our agent. Prayer is where the Holy Spirit pleads on our behalf, seeking God’s will for every breath we take, every action, every moment.

The divine “every” of being in God’s presence.

The apostle Paul helps us understand what happens when we pray. His wisdom comes from being a prayer warrior. His life exemplifies this.

Romans 8:26-27

 

26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

 

Paul affirms:

We don’t know what to pray for.

We don’t know what God’s will is.

But when God searches our hearts he knows the mind of the Spirit.

So here is a prayer I wrote with a silent section to wait for the Holy Spirit who knows our hearts. This is now a practice in my prayers. A literal summons, and space for silence, for calling on Holy Spirit to advocate, to guide, to comfort, to align God’s will in my life. Some days this silence is a long time.

When I let go of words, God comes closer. I can feel humility flooding my heart.

And gratitude anchoring my soul.

I have to say, it is such a spiritual relief to give the words to Holy Spirit.

So, let’s finish today with this simple prayer, framed by how Jesus taught us to pray.

Father,

Your name is holy.

I pray that what I desire is for your kingdom to come.

Let me live my day by the bread of life, your Son.

I ask for forgiveness.

I commit to forgiving people who sin against me.

Like your Son, my Lord and Savior.

Lead me far, far away from the depravity of my sin nature.

I give my silence, and this sacred space to release my free will to your will.

I summon the Holy Spirit to speak for me, Father.

(silence… however long)

Your name is holy, heavenly Father.

Your kingdom come. With Jesus reigning on your right.

Your will be done. With Holy Spirit working in my life.

Through the blood of Jesus.

Amen.

God’s Faith to your witness. Go find the one.