##
When we look at the prayer life of Jesus, something surprising emerges.
Much of our prayer life revolves around our needs, our problems, and our circumstances.
Jesus certainly cared about people's needs, but when we examine His prayers and the prayers He taught, we discover a much bigger picture.
Again and again, His prayers were focused on God's Kingdom, God's mission, God's will, and God's people.
### Before His Ministry
Before Jesus began His public ministry, He spent forty days in the wilderness fasting and seeking His Father.
Before preaching.
Before miracles.
Before gathering disciples.
Before changing the world.
There was prayer.
The ministry was built on dependence upon God.
### Before Choosing Disciples
Luke tells us that Jesus spent an entire night in prayer before selecting the Twelve.
Think about that.
One of the most important multiplication decisions in history was preceded by all-night prayer.
Before Jesus chose the people who would carry His message to the nations, He prayed.
### Prayer for the Harvest
One of the clearest instructions Jesus ever gave concerning prayer was:
"Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." (Matthew 9:38)
Notice what Jesus asked His followers to pray for.
Not bigger buildings.
Not better programs.
Not greater comfort.
Workers.
People who would go.
People who would share.
People who would make disciples.
People who would multiply.
The harvest prayer is one of the most multiplication-focused prayers in the entire Bible.
### Prayer for Lost People
Jesus wept over Jerusalem.
He longed to gather people to Himself as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings.
His heart was for those who were far from God.
His concern was not simply for His current followers, but for those who had not yet believed.
### Prayer Before Major Kingdom Moments
Again and again, prayer appears before significant moments in Jesus' ministry.
Before major decisions.
Before miracles.
Before public ministry opportunities.
Prayer was not an emergency response.
Prayer was a way of life.
### Prayer Before the Cross
In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed one of the most powerful prayers recorded in Scripture:
"Not my will, but yours be done."
The same theme He taught His disciples in the Lord's Prayer now became His own prayer in the darkest moment of His life.
God's will above personal comfort.
God's mission above personal preference.
God's Kingdom above everything else.
### Prayer for His Disciples
In John 17, Jesus prays for His disciples.
He asks the Father to protect them.
Sanctify them.
Unify them.
Keep them faithful.
But then something remarkable happens.
Jesus expands His prayer beyond the disciples standing in front of Him.
He says:
"I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message." (John 17:20)
Jesus was already praying for future generations of disciples.
He was praying for multiplication.
He was praying for people who had not yet heard.
In a very real sense, Jesus was praying for us.
### Prayer and the Great Commission
Before the disciples launched into their mission, they gathered together in prayer.
Before Pentecost.
Before preaching.
Before baptisms.
Before church planting.
Before the Gospel spread across the Roman Empire.
There was prayer.
The mission began in a prayer meeting.
### The Pattern
When we step back and look at the big picture, a clear pattern emerges.
Jesus prayed before launching ministry.
Jesus prayed before choosing disciples.
Jesus prayed for the harvest.
Jesus prayed for lost people.
Jesus prayed before major Kingdom actions.
Jesus prayed for future generations of disciples.
Jesus prayed for God's will above His own comfort.
The early church prayed before the mission exploded.
Everywhere we look, prayer comes first.
### The Bigger Vision
This is why prayer is so much bigger than simply presenting our requests to God.
Prayer is joining God's mission.
Prayer is aligning ourselves with His purposes.
Prayer is participating in what He is already doing.
The Lord's Prayer begins:
"Your Kingdom come. Your will be done."
The Harvest Prayer asks:
"Send workers."
John 17 prays:
"For those who will believe through their message."
The Great Commission begins with disciples praying together.
The entire disciple-making movement of the New Testament is surrounded by prayer from beginning to end.
Jesus did not merely teach His followers to pray.
He prayed for a movement that would outlive Him, multiply through His disciples, and eventually reach us.
And perhaps the next great movement of God will begin the same way all the others have:
With ordinary believers praying,
"Your Kingdom come. Your will be done."
Comments