(6) Jesus prayed before He faced the greatest crisis in His life. The Bible says, “Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place…He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, ‘Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.’
An angel from heaven appeared…and strengthened him” (vv. 39-43 NIV). Jesus didn’t wait until the hour of His greatest crisis before He prayed. For three-and-a-half years during His earthly ministry, He had built a life of prayer. Before He raised Lazarus from the dead, “Jesus looked up and said, ‘Father, I thank you that you have heard me…that you always hear me’” (John 11:41-42 NIV).
Jesus had such an intimate relationship with His Father that in times of pressure and pain He could go to God, confident He would receive His sustaining grace. Can you do that? Until you do, you’ll be vulnerable to people and situations beyond your control.
Consider this question: do you think Jesus prayed so much because He wanted to or because He thought He should? The answer is—He wanted to! And if you want to follow in His footsteps and enjoy God’s richest blessings, you need to move from “should” to “want to.”
Here’s a truth that people who pray know: the less you pray, the less you want to pray. And the more you pray, the more you want to pray. The power behind Christ’s amazing success in life was the power of prayer. Starting now, commit to praying each day.
When Jesus Prayed (5)
“He…prayed…‘Not my will, but yours be done.’” Luke 22:41-42 NIV
July 30, 2017 • Bob Gass
Spend Time Alone With God
July 31, 2017 • Bob Gass
God can speak to you anytime, anywhere, through anybody, by dropping a thought into your mind (see 1 Corinthians 2:16). But because that thought can be crowded out by busyness, He says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” In stillness you can hear God more clearly. “Jesus used many…illustrations to teach the people as much as they could understand…but afterward, when he was alone with his disciples, he explained everything to them” (Mark 4:33-34 NLT). In High Call, High Privilege, Gail MacDonald wrote, “The ancient desert fathers used to commit themselves to a disciplinary creed: silence, solitude, and inner peace. Only after adequate amounts of time listening, did they consider themselves ready to speak…Today there’s a strange logic that spiritual resource and renewal are found in constantly seeking new voices, attending more meetings…to exchange half-thought-out opinions… We fall into the trap of believing God is most pleased when we’ve maximized our information, our schedules, and our relationships. Disengagement means silence before God…a time of heavenly discussion during which we listen more than we speak. And silence demands solitude.” In waiting quietly before God, your spiritual ear is trained to know His voice. Sylvia Gunter wrote, “I understand why David had to command his soul to be still…Being quiet is difficult…almost impossible for some of us. But I’ve discovered that my soul and spirit have been starving for stillness for a long time, and now that I’ve given my soul a taste of stillness again it will not be satisfied unless it’s a regular part of my day.”
When Jesus Prayed (4)
July 29, 2017 • Bob Gass
(5) Jesus prayed when He was concerned about the people He loved. He told Peter, “Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you…that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” And Peter did turn back. The disciple who denied his Lord in a moment of weakness eventually stood before a crowd of thousands and preached the gospel to them, and three thousand were won to Christ. Jesus not only taught His disciples, He warned them of danger. But ultimately He realized that the greatest thing He could do was pray for them. Unfortunately, that’s a truth we tend to arrive at later rather than sooner. We promise, we rescue, we threaten, and only when all our other efforts have failed do we pray. Prayer shouldn’t be your last resort, it should be your first response. Prayer takes the situation out of your hands and puts it into God’s. Do you remember the four men who carried their sick friend and laid him at the feet of Jesus? (see Mark 2:3-5). That’s what you do when you pray for someone. It’s not easy to pick up the weight of another person and carry them to God each day in prayer. But it’s the most effective thing you can do for them. The old-timers used to say, “Prayer moves the hand that moves the world.” And they were right! When a loved one disappoints or wounds you, instead of lashing out, lift them up in prayer. Invite God into the situation, then stand back and allow Him to work.
When Jesus Prayed (3)
July 28, 2017 • Bob Gass
Let’s look at another point at which Jesus prayed: (4) When the pressures and expectations of others threatened to derail God’s plan for His life. The Bible says, “While it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: ‘Everyone is looking for you!’ Jesus replied, ‘Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.’ So He traveled throughout Galilee, preaching” (Mark 1:35-39 NIV). The lesson here is this: unless you get God’s plan and stick with it, others will try to plan your life for you. Given the success Jesus enjoyed in every town He visited, many preachers would have stayed and built a church and enjoyed the accolades and rewards of their ministry. Not Jesus; He marched to the beat of a different drum. As you look back on some of your mistakes, you find decisions made in response to pressure instead of prayer. When you’re prayerless, you get careless. God has a plan for your life and a schedule. To stay in sync with both, you must pray regularly. Jesus realized He had only enough time to do what His Father wanted done, and that gave Him the ability to say no to other things. You’ve been called to love people—but please God. And your confidence in prayer comes from knowing you’re operating within His will (see 1 John 3:21-22 NIV).