As a child, I remember waking up early some mornings to find my father kneeling by a chair in the living room with a blanket over his head. He was there for all-night prayer or up very early. My father was a man who had a passion for praying to God, seeking, asking, and learning as he spent quality time with the Lord. He followed this pattern throughout his life. There are many things I can say about my father and his relationship with God, but the one area that stands out the most to me is his heart and passion for prayer.
In my last post, we saw how Jesus mentored his disciples. He called them, led them, spent quality time with them, and taught them. We look at several areas of mentoring that Jesus engaged in with his disciples. In this blog, I want to delve deeper into the role of prayer that Jesus modeled for his disciples and how it relates to a missional movement. Before we look at Jesus’ model of prayer, we need to take a quick look at the Bible’s understanding and use of prayer.
If a person did a word search in the Bible on the word “pray,” they would find approximately 100 words in both the Old and New Testaments, and if they searched for the word “prayer,” they would find approximately 90 words in the Old Testament and 50 times in the New Testament.[1]
The terms are used in noun or verb form. As a noun, they are seen within the context of the contents of a prayer, a vow or petition, a place set aside for prayer, or an act of reverently petitioning. As a verb, they can be used to address or say a prayer, to make a request, to be moved or responsive to a prayer, or to pray to God seeking something indispensable or necessary. The following are some definitions of prayer:
- Prayer: Dialogue between God and people, especially His covenant partners[2]
- Prayer: Communication with God, primarily offered in the second-person voice (addressing God directly). It may include petition, entreaty, supplication, thanksgiving, praise, hymns, and lament.[3]
- Prayer: Any form of communication with God by believing people in response to situations that may arise.[4]
- Prayer: ‘Prayer, properly speaking, is a petition which we make to God for the things which pertain to our salvation; but it is also taken in another, broader sense to mean any raising of the heart to God’[5]
A few glimpses into the prayer life of Jesus can be found in the Gospels. Jesus went to the mountain to spend the whole night in prayer with God (Luke 6:12; Mark 6:46; Matthew 14:23). Jesus prayed to the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:42; Matthew 26:39). Jesus withdrew to a quiet place to pray (Luke 5:16). We find him giving thanks before meals at the feeding miracles, the Last Supper, and Emmaus. Jesus offered prayers with loud crying and tears. Some translations use emotional or intense crying (Matthew 27:46–50, Mark 15:34–37, Luke 23:46). He interceded for those around him and all future believers (John 17).
We also find Jesus’ teaching and modeling prayer for his disciples. Jesus instructs the disciples to pray for those who persecute them (Matthew 5:44–45; Luke 6:28). Pray privately and humbly (Matthew 6:5-8, 15:8–9; Mark 7:6-7). He gives them instructions on how to pray (Matthew 6:9–15; 7:7–11; 8:19–20; Luke 11:1–13). He instructed them to believe in their prayers (Matthew 21:21–22; Mark 11:23–26). He instructs them to pray earnestly for laborers in the harvest (Luke 10:2; Matthew 9:38). He tells them to pray, not lose heart, and stay strong amid temptation (Luke 18:1–14; 21:36; 22:40).
Prayer is a vital part of what it means to be missional within the body of Christ. Prayer, in essence, is communication with God. It is vital to our building a relationship with God. E. M. Bounds (1835–1913) is one of my favorite writers. Bounds was born in Missouri. He trained as an attorney but decided to enter ministry early in his young adult life. He was ordained in the Methodist Church and was a chaplain in the American Civil War. He became known for leading weekly prayer sessions after leaving the Army and writing numerous books on prayer.
Today, his work continues to be reprinted and well-read among those who desire to deepen their understanding of prayer life.
In Bound’s book Purpose in Prayer, he is confident that we all need a spirit of prayer more than any other grace. He believes God values fervent prayer so highly that he won’t bestow upon us many rewards without it. He adores such prayer because He loves us and knows it is essential to prepare us to receive the bountiful rewards he is waiting and eager to bestow.[6]
Bounds’ insights that we all need a spirit of prayer more than any other grace stand out. I need a consistent prayer life beyond the casual 5-minute prayer time of lifting names up. When I think of what Jesus taught and modeled for His disciples, I must ask myself the following questions.
- How am I doing?
- Where am I?
- Who am I praying for?
- Do I pray?
- Do I pray with passion?
- Do I believe that God hears my prayers?
- Do I trust God enough to listen to his voice and follow?
And many more questions come to mind.
How about you?
Here are some things for us to consider regarding our prayer time:
- Do we pray in a quiet place where we can be away from distractions and hear the voice of God when we stop speaking and listen?
- Do we pray fervently, passionately, believingly, and trustingly through intercession for others and situations?
Here are some tips on how to pray:
- Pray, seeking to connect with God.
- Pray with a humble heart.
- Pray from our hearts.
- Pray with thanksgiving and with repentance.
- Pray with faith and hope.
- If you find your mind distracted, write down your thoughts on paper so you will remember them when you finish praying.
- Start small and slowly increase. Try 3 minutes, then 5, then 10, etc.
- Use a list of names, situations, etc., when you pray.
- Set a time and seek to be consistent as much as possible.
- Set the time on your calendar or to-do list.
Here are a few ways you can pray:
- Pray with a list.
- Pray using scripture.
- Pray through singing.
- Pray as an intercessor.
- Pray for wisdom, strength, and direction.
- Pray for forgiveness.
- Pray for the sickness of others.
- Pray for the salvation of others.
- Pray for the spiritual growth of others.
- Listen for the voice of God.
- Listen for direction and wisdom from God.
- Listen to the teachings of God.
When we pray and earnestly seek and listen to God, we will find ourselves seeking after the mission of God. We will want to pray for others and seek to be transformed into the image of Christ. We will seek to reach out to those about the good news of Jesus Christ. We will seek to encourage, uplift, and strengthen fellow believers and allow them to do the same to us.
Prayer will transform us to become more missional for the Kingdom of God in many areas of our life and the life of others if we allow it to do so.
What are other ways you can pray to God?
Remember, prayer is seeking to talk and listen to God.
[1] Note: various translations will result in different counts for the terms according to a search with the Logos Bible Program.
[2]Randy Hatchett, “Prayer,” ed. Chad Brand et al., Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003), 1320.
[3] Leslie T. Hardin, “Prayer,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).
[4]Allen C. Myers, The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1987), 846.
[5] F. L. Cross and Elizabeth A. Livingstone, eds., The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), 1324.
[6] E.M. Bounds, “Purpose in Prayer: 1920.” The Complete Works of E. M. Bounds. Baker Books: 2004, Kindle.
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