If you could ask Jesus to teach you one thing, what would it be?

            “Lord, teach me to multiply food to feed the hungry.”

            “Lord, teach me to heal the sick.”

            “Lord, teach me to preach like you preach.”

            “Lord, teach me to stay humble and silent before false accusers.”

            “Lord, teach me to raise the dead.”

But when His disciples had the chance to ask Jesus to teach them something, there was only ever one thing they wanted to know.

            “Lord, teach us how to pray.” (Luke 18:1)

This means that the single most unique characteristic about Jesus in the eyes of His followers was His prayerfulness.  It is definitely worth stopping to let that sink in…Jesus’ praying made a deeper impact on His followers than His miracles or His preaching. Most of us would pay money to see someone multiply food; the disciples just wanted to know how to pray like Jesus did. That is amazing.

What was it about Jesus’ prayer life that was so impressive?

One part is likely just the frequency of his praying. Leonard Ravenhill once pointed out that when Matthew, Mark and Luke record the same events, Luke typically adds a remark about Jesus praying. For instance, in Mark and Matthew Jesus chooses 12 apostles, while in Luke Jesus spends the whole night praying, and then appoints 12 apostles.

Why did Jesus need to pray? He was the Son of God. He was God incarnate. Why does God need to pray to God?

Some might say Jesus did this as an example for us to follow. We should pray because Jesus prayed. But this is too simple. This would indicate that prayer was primarily for our own soul’s benefit, as in “It’s good for your soul to pray.” This is no different from any other meditation religion. Simply put, meditation is always good. Being quiet and still, and clearing the mind is just good for you. But then what makes Christian prayer different from Buddhist meditation?

The other problem with saying Jesus prayed simply to give us an example is that it leads to a kind of spiritual legalism. It  makes a duty or law out of praying which leads to feelings of unworthiness or failure for not praying enough. “Oh, no, I forgot AGAIN!” This kind of thinking can frequently make God out to be a rigid schoolmaster who gives bad grades to those who don’t study hard enough. That is not what prayer is for.

My question to those who feel a sense of obligation or duty—and therefore self-disappointment for not praying enough—is this: Is it obligation or duty or a rule that drives you to talk with the person, or people, you care most about in this life? Is it obligation or duty that makes you talk to your wife, husband, dad, mom, children? Jesus prayed because God is His Father, and speaking to His dad was far more important than anything else going on here on earth.

Here’s an example of this…. The evangelist Luke tells us in his Gospel a story about Jesus curing a man of leprosy. This healing, and other miracles, gave Jesus a reputation He couldn’t contain. He requested those healed not tell others, “Yet the news about him spread all the more, so the crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sickness.” (Luke 5:15)

(and by the way, isn’t this normally what we spend most of our prayers on… sickness?)

Imagine if you had a crowd of people around your house begging you to help them. They are knocking on your door, looking in your windows and pleading with you to help them. Assuming you’re not concerned enough to call the police, you’d probably do what you could to help them.

But Jesus has a totally different response to these requests for help. Verse 16 says, “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”

We really should find this jaw-dropping. Jesus’ miraculous healings earned him a reputation as a healer, and when crowds gathered for healing, He slipped out the back door to be alone, and to be with His Father.

Long thinking on this really should do a work to re-prioritize some things in our lives.

Why should we pray? It’s not a duty. It’s not obligation. It’s not just good for us. It’s the most vital connection our hearts will ever know. God is our Father, a greater Father than any of our earthly dads who raised us. This Father made this world as an arena to bless us in, and He actually wants to talk with you, to hear from you. Our souls need that connection, more than we need even to help other people.

We must pray, not because we are told we must, but because we must.

Another quote from Rev. Ravenhill:

“The more self-reliant we are, the less we pray. The less self-reliant we are, the most we find we have to pray.”