LIVING LIKE JESUS: Praying to the Father

One day a disciple came to Jesus and said, “‘Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught His disciples,’” (NASB, Luke 11:1). In a sense this disciple was speaking for all of us. Many people pray, but often do not know how or why they are praying. Even Christians, at times, find their prayer lives to be weak and inadequate. In the Gospels we see that prayer was an important part of Jesus’ life. We might wonder why the Son of God would need to pray, but while He was on earth, Jesus was separated from the Father and must have often felt the need to pray to Him.

The most poignant example of Jesus prayers was in the Garden of Gethsemane as He struggled emotionally with His impending death on the cross. Even in the last minutes of His life, as He hung on the cross, we see Jesus praying, not for Himself, but for others.

If we are going to live like Jesus, then we, too, will often need to be in contact with the Father through prayer. Looking at Jesus, His teaching, and His example can help us to accomplish this and make prayer a more important part of our lives.

Jeff