The Overcomer Trust

THE EXAMPLE OF OUR LORD.

By Andrew Murray.

The connection between the prayer-life and the spirit-life is close and vital. It is not merely that we receive the Spirit through prayer, but the Spirit-life requires a continuous prayer-life. We can only be led continually by the Spirit as we continually give ourselves to prayer.

This was very evident in the life of our Lord, and a study of His life will give us a wonderful view of the power and holiness of prayer.

It was when He was baptized and prayed that heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit came down on Him. God desired to crown Christ’s surrender of Himself to the sinner’s baptism in Jordan, which was also a surrender of Himself to the sinner’s death, with the gift of the Spirit for the work that He must accomplish. But this could not have taken place if He had not prayed. In the fellowship of worship the Spirit was bestowed on Him to lead Him out into the desert to spend forty days there in prayer and fasting.

“That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon possessed. The whole town gathered at the door . . . Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed” (Mark 1 v32-35). The work of the day and evening had exhausted Him. In His healing of the sick and casting out devils power had gone out of Him. While others still slept He went away to pray and to renew His strength in communion with His Father. He had need of this, otherwise He would not have been ready for the new day. The holy work of delivering souls demands constant renewal through fellowship with God.

Think of the calling of the Apostles as given in Luke 6 v12-13, “One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He designated apostles”. It is clear that if any one wishes to do God’s work, they must take time for fellowship with Him, to receive His wisdom and power. Dependence and helplessness open the way and give God the opportunity of revealing His power. How great was the importance of the choosing of the Apostles for Christ’s own work, for the early Church, and for all time. It had God's blessing and seal, the stamp of prayer was on it.

“Once when Jesus was praying in private and His disciples were with Him, He asked them, . . . ’But what about you ?’ . . . Peter answered, ‘The Christ of God’ ” (Luke 9 v18-20). The Lord had prayed that the Father might reveal to them who He was. It was in answer to that prayer that Peter said, “The Christ of God”, and the Lord then said, “This was not revealed to you by man, but by My Father in heaven” (Matt. 16 v17). This great confession was the fruit of prayer.

“He took Peter, John and James with Him and went up onto a mountain to pray. As He was praying, the appearance of His face changed . . . a voice came from the cloud, saying, ‘This is My Son, whom I have chosen, listen to Him’ “ (Luke 9 v28-36). Christ had desired that, for the strengthening of their faith, God might give them an assurance from heaven that He was the Son of God. Prayer obtained for our Lord Jesus Himself, as well as for His disciples, what happened on the Mount of Transfiguration. It becomes clear that what God wills to accomplish on earth needs prayer as its indispensable condition. And there is but one way for Christ and believers. A heart and mouth open towards heaven in believing prayer will certainly not be put to shame.

“One day Jesus was praying . . . When He finished, one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray’ “ (Luke 11 v1-13), and He gave them the prayer, “Our Father in heaven”. In this He showed what was going on in His heart. He prayed that God's Name might be hallowed, His Kingdom come, His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. This prayer has been uttered through the ages by countless millions to their unspeakable comfort. Do not forget, it was born out of the prayer of our Lord Jesus. He had been praying and therefore was able to give that glorious answer.

“I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter” (John 14 v16). The entire age of the New Testament, with the wonderful outpouring of the Holy Spirit, is the outcome of the prayer of the Lord Jesus. In answer to the prayer of the Lord Jesus, and later of His disciples, the Holy Spirit will surely come, but it will be in answer to prayer, like that of our Lord, in which He took time to be alone with God and in that prayer offered Himself wholly to God.

In John 17 we have the high-priestly prayer. Here the Son prays first for Himself, that the Father will glorify Him by giving Him power for the Cross, by raising Him from the dead and by setting Him at His right hand. These great things could not take place except through prayer. Prayer had power to obtain them. Afterwards He prayed for His disciples, that the Father might preserve them from the evil one, keep them from the world and sanctify them. And then He prayed for all those who through their word would believe on Him, that all might be one in love, even as the Father and the Son are One. This prayer gives us a glimpse into the wonderful relationship between the Father and the Son, and teaches us that all the blessings of heaven come continually through the prayer of Him who is at God's right hand and ever prays for us. But it also teaches us that all these blessings must in the same way be desired and asked for by us. The whole nature and glory of God’s blessings will be obtained in answer to prayer, by hearts entirely surrendered to Him, and hearts that believe in the power of prayer.

Now we come to the most remarkable instance of all. In Gethsemane we see that our Lord, according to His constant habit, consulted and arranged with the Father the work He had to do on earth. First He begged Him, in agony, to let the cup pass from Him. When He understood that this could not be He prayed for strength to drink it, and surrendered Himself with the words, “Your will be done”. He was able to meet the enemy full of courage, and in the power of God give Himself over to the death of the Cross. He had prayed.

Why is it that God's children have so little faith in the glory of prayer as the great power for subjecting our own wills to that of God, as well as for the confident carrying out of the work of God in spite of our great weakness? Oh that we might learn from our Lord Jesus how impossible it is to walk with God, to obtain God's blessing or leading, or to do His work joyfully and fruitfully, apart from close unbroken fellowship with Him, who is ever a living fountain of spiritual life and power.

Let us think over the prayer-life of our Lord Jesus, and endeavour from God's Word, with prayer for the leading of the Holy Spirit, to learn more of the life which the Lord Jesus Christ gives us and supports in us. It is nothing else than a life of daily prayer. Let each recognize how entirely vain it is to attempt to do the work of our Lord in any other way than that in which He did it. Let us begin to believe that we are set free from the ordinary business of the world, that we may have time in our Saviour’s name, with His Spirit and in oneness with Him, to ask for and obtain blessing for the world.

From, “The Prayer Life”.

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