We are beginning the year with a focus on prayer and fasting – 40 days to focus on a deeper walk, to seek Him for direction for individual and corporate ministry and for a greater harvest.

So I will begin the year with a series of messages on prayer. A part of my  study has naturally taken me to the prayer life of Jesus. As I looked at various passages, it seemed to me that the Father ministered to Him in several different ways.

I have a friend who writes on wordpress (levite) who is very good at creating lists to think about and it is almost always a list of 8 so here is a list of eight related to prayer:

  • Prayer is a place of affirmation – as Jesus prayed at his baptism, He heard his father say, “you are my son whom I love; with you I am well-pleased.” Luke 3:21-22
  • Prayer is a place of sanctuary – In Luke 5 Jesus had taught from a boat because of the pressing crowds, called his first disciples, healed a leper and in spite of attempts to keep the news quiet – word spread. In Luke 5:16 it says that Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. Like most of us, He sometimes needed to get away.
  • Prayer is a place of expectation – It is the place we go expecting that God is going to hear and answer prayer. Jesus spent an entire night in prayer before choosing the 12 – I assume asking the Father who He should choose. – Luke 6:12
  • Prayer is a place of regeneration – Jesus had been training the 12 – had sent them out with authority over demons and power to heal the sick. He received word of the beheading of John the Baptist and though he tried to get away to the mountains the crowd followed. He healed their sick, fed 5,000 and then sent the disciples and the crowd away while He went to a place of prayer. When evening came He was still there alone. – Matthew 14:22-23.
  • Prayer is a place of transformation – Luke 9:29ff – while this is the story of the transfiguration, I think it is also a story of transformation for Peter, James and John. There can never been true inner transformation apart from prayer.
  • Prayer is the place of adoration – When the disciples wanted to learn to prayer, Jesus began with adoration and praise of the Father. – Luke 11:1
  • Prayer is the place of intercession – John 17 is perhaps the longest recorded prayer of Jesus. It is here that He pleads with the Father on our behalf.
  • Prayer is the place of petition – the place where we bring our personal desires to Him. In Luke 22:39ff Jesus is praying in the garden – asking, if possible that this cup pass from Him. Petitions are those requests we leave in the Father’s hands and trust Him for the right answers.

Obviously much more could be said. Prayer is as complex and as simple as the relationship we have with God. It is simple to approach Him and yet there is so much He wants to do in this place of prayer.