February 2, 2025
How many of you would say you believe in the power of prayer? A lot of us! You believe God hears your prayers, and that prayer can be effective. But you would say, you probably don’t pray as often as you should?
Or here’s another question, how many believe in the power of prayer, but don’t think your prayers are effective?
We’re in a message series called, “A Better Way.” Looking at Jesus, not just the truth he spoke, but the way he did things. The way he lived his life.
One thing Jesus always prioritized was prayer, being in God’s presence. Did that work? Was Jesus’ prayer effective? Well, it helped him stand firm against the devil’s temptation. Prayer helped him know what the Father wanted him to do, and to be completely obedient to God. Prayer helped Jesus love and forgive people who were unloving to him. And so, if I want what Jesus had: a strong faith and a rich relationship with God the Father, I should probably pray like Jesus prayed.
Prayer can be hard to do! Have you ever decided, I’m going to read the Bible, all the way through, and pray every day! You get started, but it’s rough! There’s a lot of distractions: I need to remember to get the oil changed…let me just check the weather. The distractions can derail our prayer. Or when I try to pray, sometimes I get bored. Is that ok to say? It’s hard to stay focused.
Another reason we don’t pray, we don’t have confidence that we can pray. We get the feeling you’re supposed to pray with formal words like, thee and thou, and Jehovah Jirah, Yahweh, or Yahoo, whatever all that means! We feel like we have to impress God. Do you know someone who is an inspirational pray-er? And you feel you’re just not good enough at praying. I confess I get intimidated. When there’s a group of pastors and someone asks, who will say the prayer? There can be a LOOONNNGG pause. We’re thinking, I don’t want to pray, these people will think my prayers are silly. We can lack confidence.
A third reason we don’t pray is we lack faith. We’re not really sure God listens to our prayers. He listens to other people. But maybe he doesn’t care about me. Because I pray and nothing happens. I prayed for my grandma to get better, and she didn’t. I prayed God would take away my weakness, and he didn’t. We lack faith.
So, today we’re going to look at the way Jesus prayed.
In the gospel of Mark, chapter 1, Jesus is in a synagogue, and he casts a demon out of a man. The people who witness are amazed and excited that Jesus has a power to heal.
Immediately after that, Jesus and his disciples go to Simon Peter’s house. Simon’s mother-in-law is sick, so Jesus heals her. That’s Jesus second healing that day.
That evening, people bring to Jesus everyone who is sick or needs a demon cast out. The whole town comes. And Jesus heals and casts out demons. Jesus heals a crowd!
After a long day working miracles, you would think Jesus would want to go home and take it easy, watch some TV, put up his feet and have a refreshing beverage. It was a very busy day! Jesus probably wants to sleep in.
But instead, Jesus sleeps a little while, then gets up very early, while it’s still dark, and goes off to a solitary place, where he prays.
Jesus spends a lot of time with his disciples in the gospels. But when he goes off to pray, it’s often by himself. Jesus would seek out a solitary and quiet place. When he wanted to connect with God, he would often disconnect from other people and the noise of life.
Distractions can make it hard to connect with God, and we have a lot of distractions! People can be a distraction. If you try to get alone with God, especially if you have little kids: they will find you! So, Jesus would get away from people to connect with God. He would get alone. Jesus prized solitude. You might think solitude is lonely. But you’re not alone in solitude. You get away to be WITH God. Solitude and silence help you focus on God and pray.
There’s power in a time every day with God; when you have a place, and routine to be with God. You can breathe easier, read scripture, and pray.
In Mark chapter 1, Jesus had a very busy day. But it doesn’t keep him from praying. He feels an even greater need to pray when he is busy. Jesus is always getting away for prayer. Jesus teaches us, we’re never too busy to pray. We need God, he helps us find peace, calm, and encouragement in a crazy world. The fact that Jesus was always seeking out a solitary, quiet place tells us, don’t be afraid to be alone and in silence, God is there.
In our lives there’s a lot of noise, and I like to turn on the radio, TV and internet. But the car I’m driving now, has a radio that doesn’t work. Kevin and I have been debating fixing it. Do we want to pay to get it fixed? Kevin says, he thinks he can do it. I asked, have you ever put a radio in a car? No. But I watched a video. So, we are debating! Meanwhile, yesterday, I had to go to Limerick, PA. That’s a three-hour round trip. But I’m surprised, I didn’t miss the radio much. What if you turned off the noise, put aside the phone, TV or radio for a little while? Because we can miss out on God if we never experience quiet. In solitude and silence, we find God. Without the radio, sometimes I pray while driving, which I didn’t do before.
Solitude and silence help you to have a good prayer time. But, if you still find it hard to sit still, Jesus prayed on the go as well. He prayed all through the day. In the gospels, he prayed in the morning, but he also prayed at night before choosing his disciples. He prayed after healing people. He prayed before raising Lazarus. He prayed for little children. He prayed after being nailed to the cross.
Prayer was not just something he did. It was a way of life! Jesus sought out time with God throughout the day!
Max Lucado is a pastor and author. He talks about a way to pray I think you might find helpful. He said, during your day give God your waking thoughts, your waiting thoughts, your whispering thoughts and your waning thoughts.
In the morning you give God your waking thoughts. You wake up and you might pray, “Good morning God! Thank you for the day, I am glad for it. Direct my steps. Help me see needs, speak words of encouragement. Show me when I’m out of line. I’m devoting my day to you.”
You also give God your waiting thoughts; whatever you’re waiting for. You’re praying for a miracle, or for God to provide. You’re praying for a breakthrough. You pray, giving God your waiting thoughts.
Then at work you pray for your whispering thoughts. Cause people might thing you’re weird if you’re praying out loud. Whispering thoughts such as, “Would you help me know what to do, God? Would you give me the words to say during a difficult conversation I need to have? Would you help me be a voice of encouragement to someone.”
Then at the end of the day you give God your waning thoughts. You look back at your day and say, “This is when I saw you today, God. Here’s what I’m thankful for today.” And you take whatever burden is on your mind, and you say, “God, I’m giving this to you. I trust you to handle it.” Good night God!
Prayer isn’t just something you do. It’s a way of life. Throughout the day, you pray! First waking thoughts. Later waiting thoughts, maybe you turn the car radio off for a little while to pray. Then at work whispering thoughts. And at night, waning thoughts.
Maybe you’ve given up on prayer because it’s hard to focus, or you lack confidence, or you think God doesn’t answer your prayer. We look at Jesus and see the way he lived. He used solitude and silence to focus on God. Jesus said when you pray, don’t use empty phrases. God isn’t looking for fancy words. Jesus said your father will give good things to you if you ask.
And if you have ADHD, you can pray as you move through your day, giving God your waking thoughts; waiting thoughts: the things you are praying and waiting for; giving God whispering thoughts, asking for his help during the day; and finishing the day with waning thoughts of thanks and trust.
My challenge for you is to give God a few minutes of your day this week, either a devotion time with solitude and silence. Or praying waking, waiting, whispering and waning thoughts through the day. Try to pray every day this week! Start a habit.
Let us pray, God, we’re trying to live the way Jesus did. Help us to want to be with you, especially when we’re busy. We need your peace. We want to talk to you like a friend, the way Jesus did. We’re grateful you’re with us right now, and that you’re always with us. Help us turn off the noise, lift our hearts to you, so we’ll see you more clearly and experience you more powerfully. Amen!
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