The Praying Life of Jesus

Jesus tells the parable of the prodigal son which is, among other things, a story of the Father’s provision. We know well His stunning display of lavish love as He welcomed home the prodigal son. My heart is captured, though, by the words He spoke to the elder son: “‘“My son,” the father said, “you are always with me, and everything I have is yours”’” (Luke 15:31).

Do you see that? “Everything I have is yours.” Any time the elder brother wanted a robe on his shoulders or a ring on his finger or sandals on his feet—any time he wanted to celebrate and eat a fattened calf—it was his for the asking. He just never asked.

Everything the Father has is ours. “All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God” (1 Cor. 3:21-23). Just ask.

We see Jesus, when He had needs either big or small, simply reaching out and taking hold of the Father’s provision. Did He need money to pay His taxes? Did He need a donkey on which to ride into Jerusalem? Did He need a room in which to observe the Passover with His disciples? The provision was always waiting.

Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors (Matt. 6:12). When Jesus took on the weight of our sin and carried it to the cross, at the same time, He carried the sins committed against us. When we insist on holding on to the hurts inflicted by others, we are denying the power of His crucifixion.

He died for sinners, for the ungodly. “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly….But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:6,8).

Is your offender a sinner? Christ died for his sins. Is your offender ungodly? Christ died for her ungodliness. The praying life extends grace—the same grace that was extended to us.

There is more good news. Not only did He carry our sin but He also bore the weight of our grief and sorrows. He bore the hurt of the sins committed against us.

By bearing the weight of our own hurt, we are allowing the offense to continue and to multiply its effect on us. “See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many” (Heb. 12:15).

As we pass the hurt along to others in our life, the offense grows and spreads. If bitterness is allowed to take root, it will begin to grow fruit. It will create bitterness in those who are exposed to it.

As you live the praying life, let the Spirit of the Son in you cry out: “‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing’” (Luke 23:34).

Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one (Matt. 6:13). During the emotionally charged hours before His arrest, Jesus urgently reminded His disciples to strengthen themselves—through prayer—against the onslaught of testing headed their way. At least twice during His prayer vigil Jesus admonished His disciples with these words: “‘Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation’” (Luke 22:46).

The Greek word for “temptation” also means “testing, trial, proving.” A fierce spiritual battle was taking place in which Jesus’ mission was tested and proven. As Jesus agonized in prayer, He received from the Father the strength, assurance, endurance, courage and confidence to successfully face not only the temptation but also the trial.

Jesus’ mental, emotional, and spiritual serenity throughout His crucifixion experience was birthed in the hours of prayer and the life of prayer that led up to these events. It was that openness to the flow of God’s power and provision that would provide the victory in the moment of testing for Jesus.

His example shows us that, in a praying life, the battle is won before the attack even occurs. In the moment of battle, the praying person simply stands his ground and enforces the victory.

In his book The Secret of Believing Prayer evangelist Andrew Murray’s words echo why and how the praying life takes place in the believer: “We do this because we are partakers of His life—‘Christ is our life’; ‘No longer I, but Christ liveth in me.’ The life in Him and in us is one and the same. His life in heaven is an ever-praying life. When it descends and takes possession of us, in us, too, it is an ever-praying life—a life that without ceasing asks and receives from God.”

We can live the power- and peace-filled praying life because it isn’t a thing; it’s a Person. Jesus lives in us—and is longing to express His praying life through us.

Jennifer Kennedy Dean is an author, speaker, conference leader and executive director of the Praying Life Foundation. This article is adapted from her upcoming release, He Leads Me Beside Still Waters (Broadman & Holman). To visit her online, click here.