Aligned in Prayer

March 22, 2023

Once Jesus was in a certain place praying. As he finished, one of his disciples came to him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray...” Luke 11:1 NLT

If you want to know what it looks like to have a prayer life aligned as it should be, with Jesus FIRST and preeminent, there’s no better place to look than Jesus Himself. The disciples were all Jewish boys, raised in the synagogues, so they technically knew how to pray. That is, they knew how to pray in the manner of their religious leaders, largely Pharisees. A simple read of the gospels illustrates how different their prayers were from those of Jesus. They saw relationship, not routine and rigidity, in the prayers of Jesus and wanted that alignment with God.

Jesus prayed for others. Jesus prayed for the sick. He prayed for the children. He prayed for those who hurt Him and even killed Him. He prayed for the ones who were close and those faraway. In His prayer recorded in John 17, He even prayed into the future. He prayed for all who would come to believe in Him, including us.

Jesus prayed regularly, alone and with others. He frequently took disciples, especially Peter, James, and John, to pray with Him, besides the times He prayed with the whole group and publicly. This underscores the need for intercessory prayer. Luke 5:16 is one of numerous places recording that He often withdrew to lonely places to pray alone and feed His relationship with the Father. In the press of all the people who wanted Him, the many demands, He didn’t let it crowd out prayer.

Jesus prayed short prayers and long prayers. He prayed prayers aloud and prayers inside His heart. The Lord’s Prayer is short enough to be easily memorized and prayed from the heart. Jesus prayed even shorter ones, yet still dedicated long periods of time to prayer, sometimes all night. He prayed aloud often enough that His disciples heard and recorded quite a few of the prayers, but He also prayed with “unspoken groans” and thoughts.

Jesus prayed from the heart and mission of the Father. He said repeatedly that His own desire was to do the Father’s will. His prayer in the garden before He went to His death was the heart of ALL His prayers, “Not my will but yours be done.”

If we follow Jesus, we will align with Him in prayer, regularly and naturally. We will be like Him—talking to God will be central to our worldview. Jesus is FIRST, and communication with Him is integrated into every part of life.

• Is there any area where you feel prayer is not saturating your life normally and naturally? Begin a conscious practice of turning thoughts to prayer, some aloud and some in your heart and mind.