For many of us, our understanding of prayer has been taught through school or perhaps through ‘traditional’ Sunday school, passed down from generation to generation. We were told to put our hands together, close our eyes, bow our heads, sit still etc… I guess the reasoning is to stop people (usually children) from fidgeting and getting distracted. I understand this premise, but the problem is it becomes so ingrained in our thinking that we adopt this approach to prayer as the only way to pray, even in church, some may even think that unless we do this we aren’t praying!! Maybe for some this isn’t an issue but for others (like me) it can then become stagnant, an unhelpful ritual even boring – rather than the life-giving connection with the living God that it should be.
The Bible reveals many different stances of prayer with bowing, kneeling, lying with faces to the ground, lifting our heads, lifting our hands, lifting our voices, crying out and being silent to name just a few. Hands together and eyes shut isn’t mentioned! Alongside this the Bible mentions loads of different places people prayed like a garden, the wilderness, a mountain, an upper room, a rooftop, the riverside, the seashore, a ship, a palace and even more extreme places like the battlefield and the belly of a fish!
Obviously the most important part of any discussion or reflection on prayer is that it leads us to PRAY!!! Otherwise, it’s just pointless words, the where and the how are not necessarily hugely important but I do think it’s helpful to free ourselves from thinking of prayer in a limited way just because of our tradition.
In the fourth and final part of our series on ‘When Jesus Prayed…’ and what we can learn from His example, we are looking at a passage from Luke’s gospel. So far, we have reflected on the following regarding prayer: It opens heaven, accesses the Holy Spirit, the Lord speaks, the importance of it in our busyness, when to pray, withdrawing to pray, and places to pray!
Let’s look at the passage:
“One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night. At daybreak he called together all of his disciples and chose twelve of them to be apostles. Here are their names:
Simon (whom he named Peter), Andrew (Peter’s brother), James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James (son of Alphaeus), Simon (who was called the zealot), Judas (son of James), Judas Iscariot (who later betrayed him) …
”
Luke 6:12-16 – NLT
Jesus never wasted time. The last line of these verses (v16) tells us much about how Jesus used his time. Here are two observations:
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Prayer – Creative / Creation
Here we see again Jesus going up a mountain to pray, we looked at this a little bit last week, that finding your secret place was important, that place where there is no distraction and gives an opportunity to focus. The mountain appears to be one of Jesus’ favourite places to go. It would have taken some effort to get up, to find a particular spot, but I sense the freedom that Jesus must have experienced in doing so, I can imagine him standing on a high spot, the wind taking his breath away as he looked down upon the world below.
There is something creative and freeing about it, I’m sure Jesus didn’t close his eyes up there. In the Bible, mountains often speak of God’s creation and people would marvel at them, often turning focus onto the creator God rather than the creation itself.
I wonder if Jesus being upon this magnificent mountain (that he had been a part of creating – being present at the beginning of creation) found it a deep way of connecting with his Father.
And so, what about you? How do you connect with our Heavenly Father? Maybe marvelling at creation, perhaps it’s making something, drawing, music, walking / running or something else.
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Prayer – All Night & Ready
We read that Jesus prayed all through the night, he was about to choose his twelve disciples, an important decision. I am convinced this was a large part of why he spent all night praying, he was preparing himself for all that was about to unfold as he called his disciples.
Clearly for Jesus, spending a long time in prayer was needed and important to him. We read as he came down from the mountain (verses 17-19) that many people were waiting for Jesus so they could be healed and everyone was, that healing power went out from him, another reason to have spent longer praying, to be ready for what awaited him.
When we have big decisions or important things ahead, do we stop to pray?
Not just a quick arrow prayer but a concentrated period.
God loves it when we talk to him.
Read that last sentence again! Whether that’s for 8 hours solid or 30 seconds but engaging with him is what He loves. However, the reality is the longer we spend with God in prayer, the more likely we are to begin to recognise his voice, to understand his will, to know his ways more deeply, that is true in any relationship. The more we pray, the more we are changed, the more God can impart his power to us.Over the last few weeks, we have reflected on much concerning the times Jesus prayed, his example is always the best one to follow. He demonstrates the need for prayer, for connecting and communicating with God. However that is for you, wherever that is for, may we keep in mind the importance and the significance of prayer.
As 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says
“Keep on praying”1 Thessalonians 5:17
Never stop – even if we feel like our prayers aren’t answered, even when we are struggling, even when we are busy, even when we can’t find the secret place or the creative space to do so. Even when we are feeling downhearted or demoralised, even if life is full of happiness and joy.
My simple prayer is this:
“Dear God, make prayer so important to me that I can’t live without it. Help me make the time, find the place and the way to connect with you. In Jesus Name, Amen.”
– Mark.
