February 21st, 2023
We could never fully understand all that Jesus accomplished when He walked the earth. John said in his gospel that if everything Jesus did were to be written, “the world itself could not contain the books” (John 21:25). However, out of everything He did—multiplying food, healing the sick, raising the dead—there is only one recorded thing that the disciples asked Him to teach them. In Luke 11:1, they said, “Teach us how to pray…”
We know from the Word of God that Jesus lived a life of constant prayer. His ministry only began after 40 days of fasting and prayer in the wilderness. We know He spent His time praying on mountains and desolate places (Matthew 14:23, Mark 6:46, Luke 5:16). There were times He would pray through the night and then minister through the day (Luke 6:12). Before the greatest difficulty He would face, He cried out to God in the Garden of Gethsemane with such fervor that great drops of blood fell from his pores like sweat (Luke 22:39-46).
The power that Jesus carried as He walked the earth wasn’t just because He was the Son of God, but because He was devoted to prayer. He modeled for us exactly what a life of prayer looks like—and what a life of prayer produces. His prayer life didn’t lead Him out into the wilderness, forever. He fasted and prayed for forty days, led by the Spirit, but then He came out and carried such great power that for three years, He had to hide from the crowds to pray.
Prayer produces power.
James 5:16-18 says,
“The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.”
The prayers of those made righteous by the blood of the Lamb have great power. We have countless examples from the Bible, but here are just a few from the New Testament:
Jesus said that as we abide in Him, we can pray anything according to His will and we will be heard (1 John 5:14). It is impossible to know His Word and commune with Him in prayer and not know His will. He delights to reveal His goodness to us, and His Spirit helps us pray according to His will (Romans 8:26). Many believers get bound up in the lie that we can’t ask God for the things His word says we can have, because “we’ll have them in His timing.” However, the Bible tells us that we “have not, because we ask not” (James 4:2). What don’t you have that God has promised you?
When the disciples asked Jesus how to pray, He gave them a pattern in the Lord’s Prayer, but then He taught them a principle in a parable. Luke 11:5-8 says,
“Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.”
In this story, Jesus revealed the need for persistence in prayer. Is this because we should think of God like a stingy friend who doesn’t want to get up from His bed to give us what we need? Of course not. Jesus went on in Luke 11:9-13,
“And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
How much more will God give His Spirit to those who ask Him? When God gives His Spirit, all of His goodness comes with Him. We know that “He who did not spare his own Son will also with him graciously give us all things.” When the Word of God says He will graciously give us all things, that means every good thing a Father would want His children to have—health, joy, freedom, purpose, hope, and life. When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He showed them a pattern; He taught them the principle of persistence; and then He gave them the truth of God’s goodness—His willingness to give. In order to pray rightly, we must be persistent and understand God’s willingness, or we’ll pray wrong. If we are persistent without understanding His willingness, we’ll pray without faith and see nothing. If we aren’t persistent, but believe God is willing in His timing and whatever He wants to happen will happen, we still won’t see God’s desires come to pass on the earth. The purpose of prayer is to unite heaven and earth. He said to pray “thy kingdom come; thy will be done.” In prayer, God’s willingness meets His people’s persistence and power is the inevitable result.
A prayerless person will be a powerless person. A prayerless church will be a powerless church. A prayerless nation will be a powerless, godless nation. However, God said in 2 Chronicles 7:14,
“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
If Elijah could pray with such power that it didn’t rain over a nation for years until He prayed again, what could we see in our nations as we pray in the name of Jesus? John 16:23-24 says,
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”
We know from the Word of God that Jesus lived a life of constant prayer. His ministry only began after 40 days of fasting and prayer in the wilderness. We know He spent His time praying on mountains and desolate places (Matthew 14:23, Mark 6:46, Luke 5:16). There were times He would pray through the night and then minister through the day (Luke 6:12). Before the greatest difficulty He would face, He cried out to God in the Garden of Gethsemane with such fervor that great drops of blood fell from his pores like sweat (Luke 22:39-46).
The power that Jesus carried as He walked the earth wasn’t just because He was the Son of God, but because He was devoted to prayer. He modeled for us exactly what a life of prayer looks like—and what a life of prayer produces. His prayer life didn’t lead Him out into the wilderness, forever. He fasted and prayed for forty days, led by the Spirit, but then He came out and carried such great power that for three years, He had to hide from the crowds to pray.
Prayer produces power.
James 5:16-18 says,
“The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.”
The prayers of those made righteous by the blood of the Lamb have great power. We have countless examples from the Bible, but here are just a few from the New Testament:
- The Holy Spirit came upon the believers as they devoted themselves to prayer in Jerusalem (Acts 1:14)
- As the believers prayed, the building they were in physically shook and then they were sent throughout the region with the power of the Gospel. (Acts 4:31)
- An angel broke Peter out of prison as the church prayed fervently for him. (Acts 12:6-7)
- When Paul and Silas prayed and praised God in prison, there was an earthquake and they all walked out freely.
Jesus said that as we abide in Him, we can pray anything according to His will and we will be heard (1 John 5:14). It is impossible to know His Word and commune with Him in prayer and not know His will. He delights to reveal His goodness to us, and His Spirit helps us pray according to His will (Romans 8:26). Many believers get bound up in the lie that we can’t ask God for the things His word says we can have, because “we’ll have them in His timing.” However, the Bible tells us that we “have not, because we ask not” (James 4:2). What don’t you have that God has promised you?
When the disciples asked Jesus how to pray, He gave them a pattern in the Lord’s Prayer, but then He taught them a principle in a parable. Luke 11:5-8 says,
“Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.”
In this story, Jesus revealed the need for persistence in prayer. Is this because we should think of God like a stingy friend who doesn’t want to get up from His bed to give us what we need? Of course not. Jesus went on in Luke 11:9-13,
“And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
How much more will God give His Spirit to those who ask Him? When God gives His Spirit, all of His goodness comes with Him. We know that “He who did not spare his own Son will also with him graciously give us all things.” When the Word of God says He will graciously give us all things, that means every good thing a Father would want His children to have—health, joy, freedom, purpose, hope, and life. When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He showed them a pattern; He taught them the principle of persistence; and then He gave them the truth of God’s goodness—His willingness to give. In order to pray rightly, we must be persistent and understand God’s willingness, or we’ll pray wrong. If we are persistent without understanding His willingness, we’ll pray without faith and see nothing. If we aren’t persistent, but believe God is willing in His timing and whatever He wants to happen will happen, we still won’t see God’s desires come to pass on the earth. The purpose of prayer is to unite heaven and earth. He said to pray “thy kingdom come; thy will be done.” In prayer, God’s willingness meets His people’s persistence and power is the inevitable result.
A prayerless person will be a powerless person. A prayerless church will be a powerless church. A prayerless nation will be a powerless, godless nation. However, God said in 2 Chronicles 7:14,
“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
If Elijah could pray with such power that it didn’t rain over a nation for years until He prayed again, what could we see in our nations as we pray in the name of Jesus? John 16:23-24 says,
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”
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