In his hymn “O Master, Let Me Walk with Thee,” Washington Gladden expresses this request: “Tell me thy secret.” Prayer, I believe, was the secret of the life of Jesus Christ, God’s Son. On one occasion, after he had finished praying, one of his disciples said, “Lord, teach us to pray.” This is the only record we have of a request by the disciples to be taught of Jesus. Scripture nowhere indicates that the disciples asked him for instruction in how to preach or visit, how to organize, or to sing, or to play, or even to cook. But they did ask him to teach them to pray. The disciples knew that Jesus had spiritual power; the secret of that power they believed was his prayer life.
Jesus did not give us many rules about prayer, but he gave us a life that demonstrated the practice and power of prayer. Let me suggest that you read the four Gospels to discover what Jesus’ experiences were in regard to prayer.
Jesus prayed when he was baptized by John the Baptist (Luke 3:21).
Jesus prayed at the Mount of Transfiguration. “And as he prayed,” we read, “the fashion of his countenance was altered …” (Luke 9:29). Hours of prayer do indeed change the fashion of one’s countenance.
Jesus prayed on the occasion when Peter confessed faith in him as “the Christ of God” (Luke 9:18).
Jesus performed his miracles in the power of prayer. One day the Pharisees witnessed a strange thing. They had seen a man sick with palsy brought by some friends to Jesus. Because of the multitude these friends could not enter the house where Jesus was teaching. So they lowered the sick man into the dwelling through the tiliing of the roof. When Jesus saw their faith he healed the man. To those who witnessed the scene this was a strange occurrence. Luke precedes his account of this miracle by giving us this fact about Jesus: “He withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed” (Luke 5:16). No wonder unusual things happened. If the Church today prayed in greater power people would see strange things.
Ministry Steeped In Prayer
Early one morning when Simon Peter and others sought Jesus they found him praying in a solitary place (Mark 1:35). “All men seek for thee” (Mark 1:37), they told him. Jesus answered, “Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also: for therefore came I forth” (Mark 1:38). The Jesus who prayed in the solitary places went out to bless the multitudes.
In the Garden of Gethsemane he agonized: “O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matt. 26:39).
And he prayed as he hung on the cross: “Father, forgive them”; he said, “for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).
Christ’s entire ministry was steeped in prayer.
Not Many Rules
Our Master’s rules about prayer were few.
He told us to pray for laborers (Luke 10:2). He himself prayed for Simon Peter. “Simon, Simon,” he said, “behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren” (Luke 22:31, 32).
In the high-priestly prayer offered on the eve of his crucifixion, Jesus said, “I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for those whom thou hast given me; for they are thine” (John 17:9, ASV). Jesus knew that his laborers would witness with their very lives in a needy but hostile world.
Jesus also admonished his followers: “… tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:49), thereby pointing to an essential factor for effective service. Both laborers and spiritual power come from our prayer-hearing and prayer-answering God.
Jesus tells us the manner in which to pray. He said, “… enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly” (Matt. 6:6).
Jesus never prescribed long prayers. In fact, he advised against using vain repetitions, and reminded us, “… your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him” (Matt. 6:8).
The prayer Jesus gave his disciples is recorded in Matthew and Luke. It is a revolutionary prayer. To pray “Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” will change our lives, our homes, and our churches. We say this petition many times a day, but do we really pray it?
Jesus said, “… pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matt. 5:44). Here is a good place to put specific persons in your prayer list. I guarantee that if you pray for them lovingly and sincerely, God will change you. I know this truth by experience.
Jesus said, “If you ask anything in my name I will do it” (John 14:14, NEB). I have discovered that one cannot ask for spiritual power if it is to be for one’s own glory or even for the glory of the Church. If spiritual power will bring glory to Christ, then ask for it in his name.
Jesus illustrated that “… men ought always to pray, and not to faint” (Luke 18:1) by means of a parable. No matter what the difficulty, problem, or trouble may be, we need not be fainthearted nor defeated. We still have the presence of the Holy Spirit to comfort and buoy us. God has sent us the Holy Spirit that he may abide with us forever.
Plea For A Prayer Table
Jesus had a certain place to pray. I know it is possible to pray anywhere at any time. But Jesus had a certain place. As I visit in numerous homes, I often see a certain place for prayer, namely, a table. On this table are a Bible and devotional books, and sometimes a picture of Christ.
In our homes, we have a table for eating, for cooking, for sewing, for games, even for beauty preparations. Why not a prayer table?
Some years ago a Mr. Brown lived in Meridian, Mississippi, who was known as Praying Brother Brown. One day he took me to a closed door in his home. “Brother Harry,” he said, “I do not let many persons go into this room, but I am going to let you enter. This is Peniel.” Jacob, you remember, had given this name to a place where, he said, “… I have seen God face to face” (Gen. 32:30). What a blessed room to have in a home!
“And it came to pass, that, as he [Jesus] was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples” (Luke 11:1).
