Why Did Jesus Pray? (Part 2)
Greg Stiekes | November 15, 2019
New Testament
Read Why Did Jesus Pray? (Part 1)
I’m investigating the Gospels for answers to thequestion, “Why did Jesus pray?” as a heuristic means of encouraging our ownprayer lives. We know that Jesusprayed. But why did he pray?
One answer is found in the “place” that Jesus prays. We read Jesus’s teaching on the place of prayer in Matthew 6:5–6.
“And when youpray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand andprayin the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when youpray, go into your room and shut the door andprayto your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
This example is one of threecontrasts that Jesus draws between attention-seeking hypocrites, who go throughthe motions of worship to glorify themselves, and those who genuinely worship.Jesus refers to those who give alms (Matt 6:2–4), those who pray (Matt 6:5–6),and those who fast (Matt 6:16–8). In each example, Jesus teaches that we canguard against our urge to be noticed when we worship by regulating the manner in which we seek to honor God.Namely, we should worship God in secret.
Note the contrast between thehypocrite and the genuine worshiper in terms of the manner in which they pray.The first prays in a very public place, the other in a very private. The firstin the open air where people are milling about, the other out of sight, in hisown room. Jesus even instructs, “Shut the door!”
The result of praying in private,where nobody sees, nobody knows, is that it forces the worshiper to have noother motivation than to talk to the Father, to spend time with Him. That iswhy Jesus prayed.
We see an example of Jesus’steaching on secret prayer in his own life. Jesus is not praying in a closedroom, but he is in essence praying while shutting himself off from everyoneelse. Matthew 14:22–23 says,
“Immediately hemade the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself topray. When evening came, he was there alone.”
Notice how emphatically Matthewpaints the portrait of Jesus’s solitude. First, Jesus urgently compels hisdisciples to leave him for the other side of Galilee: “Immediately, he made the disciples get into the boat.”The word “made” is a verb of force. Jesus was not taking “no” for an answer.Second, Jesus set aside his busy ministry with needy people: he prayed “after hehad dismissed the crowds.” Third, we went to a deserted place: “he went up onthe mountain.” Fourth, he took no one with him: he went “by himself.” Fourth,he continued in solitude for some time: “When evening came, he was therealone.” Most definitely, Jesus wanted “alone” time with the Father.
The seclusion of Jesus is even more strikingwhen we note the contrast Matthew is drawing between what was happening inJesus’s life at that moment, and what his disciples were going through. Matthew14:24 explains that the disciples were “a long way from the land” and that theywere having a rough time of it. The boat was “beaten by the waves, for the windwas against them.” In parallel accounts, John describes the “strong wind” thedisciples were fighting (John 6:18), and Mark literally says that the rowingwas torturous (Mark 6:48).
So here is a picture of Jesus inquiet solitude up on a mountain and his disciples packed together in a smallboat, sweating and pulling against the elements in a dangerous place whereJesus himself had sent them. Of course, Jesus knows what he is doing, and heeventually comes walking to them on the very waves at which they strained (Matt14:25–27). But what would allow Jesus, knowing the needs of the people, knowingthe situation of his own disciples to send everyone away in order to be byhimself? To put it simply, Jesus hungered for communion between himself and theFather. He wanted to pray to the Father who is “in secret” (Matt 6:6).
Perhaps one way to critique our owntime of prayer, therefore, is to question our motivation by means of the testof solitude. When we are with other people and prayer is expected of us, wewill not disappoint. We will endeavor to lead in strong, biblical prayers,being careful to follow the pattern of exalting God, thanking God, and askingfor needs. Or we will get in our prayer circles with others and help to leadthe group to the throne of grace when it is our turn.
But non-corporate prayer is a matter of privacy, “getting alone with God,” where nobody sees and nobody knows. And this simple fact strips away any other motivation for prayer other than our desire to commune with the Father. How quick or eager are we to pray to the Father in secret? Are we really no better than the hypocrites who pray only when there is a crowd? Or do we, like Jesus, have a developing life of private prayer, because of a deep and genuine affection for true communion with our heavenly Father?
5 responses to “Why Did Jesus Pray? (Part 2)”
Richard Nathan Leher says:
January 29, 2022 at 9:55 am
I believe Jesus prayer was so pure, in relation to his moral standing and his righteous alignment with his father as a human, that the same holy spirit that led him to the wilderness ,summoned Jesus every time he prayed into the presence of his father to wittnes what his father was doing in heaven, so he could accomplish his father will obediently on earth. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, our father who art in heaven, thy kingdom come. The first four charactors of the Lords prayer are actions that are continually in heaven. Jesus said I only do what I see the father doing.
In our prayers the holy spirit prayers for us, filtering ,coding our prayer to the heavenly father, in groans and emotions, he that knows the hearts of men knows the mind of the spirit. Something to think about.Reply
Carlos Flores says:
March 12, 2022 at 12:25 am
Prayer allows us to be with Jesus. In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus wanted the Apostles to join in prayer. Prayer grants me this blessing.
Reply
Oagile Mofokeng says:
May 30, 2023 at 12:06 am
Prayer allow us to entertwine our spirit with the spirit of God,thereby fully focusing on the need to glorify God through his Son Jesus Christ.
Reply
glenn strawder says:
June 3, 2023 at 10:13 pm
This was needed, thank you.
Reply
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