Deuteronomy 6:4 – “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”
Mark 12:29-30 – Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’”
Mark 1:35 – And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.
Now that we’ve dug into some examples of Jesus’ prayer life, let’s explore how to practically build a prayer life like His. Praying like Jesus means praying for just about everything: all needs, all situations, all people. If you want to pray like Jesus, it means you must also pray without ceasing. For disciples of Jesus, there is no acceptable prayerless time. Therefore, it’s good to pray daily and pray early as Jesus did.
Jesus prayed daily
Jesus prayed every day. The Jews prayed the Shema daily–“Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God, the LORD is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4)–and as a devout Jew, Jesus would have done the same. This explains why he could quote it freely from memory in Mark 12:29-30.
As God incarnate, Jesus was a man who was perfectly integrated with the will of the Father, and maintaining conformity to the Father’s will meant maintaining communication with the Father. Not a day went by that Jesus didn’t pray, because every day He was faced with new temptations, trials, and tribulations that He needed to talk to the Father about.
Jesus prayed early
This is tough for the night owls to handle, but praying early in the morning is not only something Jesus did, it is something we should do too. Before the phone rings, before the inbox fills up, before the day gets hectic and busy, dedicate your day to the will of God before it starts running roughshod all over you.
Mark 1:35 tells us, “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.”
While it was still dark. That’s early.
Praying early, while your environment is still and quiet, gives you alone time with God without distractions. Such focus sets the tone for the rest of the day, preparing you for when your environment is frantic and loud.
Praying early calibrates us for all that lay ahead that day. And, it’s a good way to spend the time devoted on our commute in preparation for the day ahead.
Reflection:
- How often do you pray?
- What is your most common time of the day to pray?
- Are there any changes you need to make in these two areas?
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