The prayer life of Jesus,
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DODD, a.b., d.d. ii Author of “Jesus is Coming to Earth Again , the Lion ” etc. >> « NEW YORK GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY & m+j Jesus, COPYRIGHT, 1923, BY THE SUNDAY SCHOOL BOARD OF THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION GIFT PUBLISHER OCT H /gg THE PRAYER LIFE OF JESUS. II PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO EMMA SAVAGE DODD WHOSE PRAYER LIFE HAS BEEN A SOURCE OF UNFAILING BLESSING / INTRODUCTION Prayer is a most engaging subject. The possi¬ bilities of prayer are beyond enumeration. We are encouraged to pray for our temporal needs. “Give us this day our daily bread’ ’ is a temporal as well as a heart cry. “Our Father” is the long¬ ing for companionship and paternal comradeship. The hunger of the soul is satisfied. Eternal praise is on our lips; humbleness of spirit is wrought within us; boldness of approach is en¬ couraged; ideals are inspired; and walking with God is cultivated by prayer. It is the one uni¬ versal appeal which our Father never denies. What Jesus said about prayer and how He en¬ couraged His followers to pray, have been the theme of His people in all ages. This theme has cultivated the atmosphere of prayerfulness. His¬ torians have lingered to record His words; exe- getes have expounded His teaching; human experi¬ ences have attested His meaning; and here poets have raised their loftiest hymns. But our Brother Dodd has, with great spiritual intuition, emphasised a phase of our Lord’s prayer life which has generally been overlooked. Others have told how our Lord prayed and what He said about prayer. Dr. Dodd enters the Holy vii Vlll INTRODUCTION of Holies and brings to our understanding how prayer reacted upon the Lord Himself. These hours when Jesus prayed, whether in the lonely mountain or in Gethsemane, touch the most inti¬ mate scenes of His earthly life. No other book touches this phase of the prayer life of Jesus. It was with thrilling delight that hundreds heard Dr. Dodd lecture on these themes. His coming to the Baptist Bible Institute to lecture on this subject was keenly anticipated. His gra¬ cious and spiritual words met every expectation and not only satisfied his numerous hearers but likewise marked a distinct high place in the most exalted month the Baptist Bible Institute has ever known. This book is sent forth in its mission of love with the expressed hope that it will quicken others and lead to more devout communion with the Father as the Spoken Message did for those of us who were fortunate enough to hear these lec¬ tures. Baptist Bible Institute, New Orleans, La. John T. Chkistian. FOREWORD This series of studies is the substance of ad¬ dresses which have been given to various Young People’s assemblies, Bible Conferences, and Gen¬ eral Assemblies throughout the country. It is not intended to cover all the subject of prayer; not even all the phases of prayer that Jesus Himself touched. Neither the Model Prayer which He gave His disciples in the sixth chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, and which has been the subject of many volumes, nor anything else that He said about prayer, is touched. It has been my purpose to discover what Jesus did, what He said, and what happened in His own personal private and public prayers. It appears to me that the greatest need of the Kingdom of God and of the world to-day is more intercessors, more of God’s remembrances who give Him no rest day or night. But the need is just as great that those who pray shall know how to pray. There is too much prayerless pray¬ ing. . " ~ ~ If this little look into the prayer life of our Lord shall help anywhere in increasing the num¬ ber of those who pray, and increasing the power of those who have been praying by virtue of their ix X FOREWORD following the example of Jesus, then I shall be abundantly repaid for this humble effort. I am indebted to many friends who have en¬ couraged me in this work, and to the many inter¬ cessors who constantly buttress me about with their prayers.- I am especially indebted to Rev. Finley W. Tinnin for helpful suggestions and corrections of the manuscript. M. E. Dodd. Pastor’s Study First Baptist Church  • 31 hi HIS APPROACH IN PRAYER • 37 IV THE LENGTH OF HIS PRAYERS 43 SECTION II: THE PRAYER LIFE OF JESUS AS KING . 51 I HIS PRAYER OF PRAISE - Matthew 11:25-26 . 51 • ii grace at meals — Matthew 14:19 . 55 III BLESSING LITTLE CHILDREN - Matthew 19:13 . 58 ^ IV HIS PRAYER OF PERMISSION - Matthew 2 6:39 . 71 SECTION III: THE PRAYER LIFE OF JESUS AS SERVANT . 85 i his morning watch — Mark 1:35 . 85 ii his prayers for the sick — Mark 7:34 90 III HIS PRAYER IN THE SINNER’S PLACE - Mark 15:34 ..... 102 xi CONTENTS PAGE • • Xll SECTION IV: THE PRAYER LIFE OF JESUS AS MAN . Ill I HIS PRAYER AND PLAIN DUTY - Luhe 3:21-22 . Ill II HIS PRAYER AND PLAIN LIVING - Luke 5 : 16 ; 6: 12 . 118 III HIS PRAYER AND TRANSFIGURATION GLORY Luhe 9 : 28-29 ..... 123 iv his prayer for forgiveness — Luhe 23:34 . 130 V JESUS AT PRAYER IN GETHSEMANE - Luhe 22: 39-40 . 137 SECTION V: THE PRAYER LIFE OF JESUS AS GOD’S SON . 147 I HIS PRAYER AT THE GRAVE - John 11:41-42 . 147 II HIS INTERCESSORY PRAYER - John 17 . 156 THE PRAYER LIFE OF JESUS THE PRAYER LIFE OF JESUS “Behold He Prayetli” No man ever accomplished so many tasks in so brief a span of time as did Jesus. And yet no man ever spent more time in prayer than did He. Perhaps it would be better to say it this way: No man ever accomplished more than did Jesus because no man ever devoted as much time to prayer. Luther was wont to say that “ Prayer and provender hinder no man on his journey.” The more a worker for God prays the sharper will he his tools. Only a casual reading of the Gospels will im¬ press one that a great part of Jesus’ life must have been given to prayer and meditation. Prayer to Him was no mere formality nor per¬ functory performance. It was a most vital and real experience. The repetition over and over of meaningless phrases by the hypocritical Pharisees on the street corners was to Him an object of con¬ tempt. It was not real prayer. Prayer, to Jesus, meant fellowship with the Great Father. Prayer was the means of “get¬ ting things from God.” Prayer was the refuge from life’s storms. Prayer planned the Kingdom movements, selected the apostles, established the 15 16 THE PRAYER LIFE OF JESUS church. Prayer warded off the fiery darts of the enemy until the fulness of time for their final fury to burst on Him, and then prayer prepared the Lord for the worst. Prayer was His safety valve which released the pent-up passions and gave vent to the smouldering fires within. Jesus began His public ministry with a prayer at the holy ordinance of His baptism (Luke 3: 12) and closed it with a petition in the midst of the agonies of the cross. And all in between He was constantly borne upward and onward upon the wings of prayer. Prayer consumed much of His time and energy. Jesus met every onslaught of the enemy with prayer. Prayer sustained Him from the desert wilderness, where the battle raged fierce and furious for forty mortal days, until in hunger and loneliness and weariness of body, it seemed He must yield. It was by prayer that He was supported clear through to the final attack in Gethsemane, when, bowed and bent and almost broken with the weight of the world’s sins, He cried: “Let this cup pass.” He ever found one unfailing resource in prayer, and through its power met and engaged and conquered the arch fiend of all darkness, devilishness and doubt. Prayer to Jesus was both an act and an atmos¬ phere. In it He lived, moved and had His being. He met every emergency, faced every difficulty, conquered every foe by the power of prayer. Oftentimes “He retired into aloneness with God, 17 THE PRAYER LIFE OF JESUS and spread out His Spirit before the Father, as Gideon spread out his fleece on the plain of Jez- reel to be filled with the heavenly dew. ’ ’ There is no greater need among us to-day than that we shall enter for a season into the school of prayer with our Lord. The most casual and superficial observer of our times cannot fail to be impressed with the prevailing prayerlessness of this modern age. There is even prayerlessness in our prayers. It is noticeable among deacons, ministers and members. Too many of God’s peo¬ ple are committing the sin from which Samuel craved deliverance, of failing to pray for one an¬ other and for the world (I Samuel 12:23). In the midst of the earth’s most tragic and trying times the thing at which God marvels is ‘ ‘ that there is no intercessor” (Isaiah 59:16). Church people work and toil and strain and strive until nerve force is almost exhausted, and in desperation wonder why more is not accom¬ plished. God explains it, “Ye lust and have not; ye kill and desire to have, and cannot obtain; ye fight and war, yet ye have not because ye ask not” (James 4: 2). Dr. John R. Mott reminds us that “an alarming weakness among Christians is that we are pro¬ ducing Christian activities faster than we are pro¬ ducing Christian experience and faith; that the discipline of our souls and the deepening of our acquaintance with God are not proving sufficiently thorough to enable us to meet the unprecedented 18 THE PRAYER LIFE OF JESUS expanse of opportunity and the responsibility of our expansion.’ ’ Ours is a machinery age and we are attempting to make up in the Kingdom of God for the lack of spiritual power by mechanical force. It is easier to organise than to agonise and we extol “pep” above power. There is no force within the reach of man so vitally necessary to meet the impending dangers of the day as that of believing prayer. And there is no one who can teach us to pray as does our Lord. We shall, therefore, walk with Him through the Gospels from His baptism to Cal¬ vary, observing His ways and words, His con¬ duct and character, His place and posture, His meaning and accomplishment while at prayer. The source of our information for this study is, of course, the four Gospels; or rather the Gospel as revealed by the four writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The composite picture of the four gives us the perfect Christ, and we are to look for the perfect Christ at His highest ex¬ ercise as seen in the act of prayer. “Praying is the very highest energy of which the human soul is capable.” The masterpieces of art are reproduced in all their beautifully blending colours by a process of photography and printing which gives to us in prints a magnificent and perfect reproduction of the original. The photographic instrument is so arranged THE PRAYER LIFE OF JESUS 19 with certain coloured glass and lenses that when placed before the painting it allows only certain rays of light to penetrate, for example, the pur¬ ple. From that film a photograph is made, then a half-tone cut, and from this the first impression of the painting is produced. Once more the cam¬ era is changed by transfer of the coloured glass so that other certain rays of light are permitted to penetrate, for example, the blue. From this the cut is made and thus the second impression is printed over the previous piece. This process continues through just as many times as there are different colours to be reproduced. When the last impression is made we have a perfect reproduc¬ tion of the painting. This is the process followed by the writers of the Gospel in their work of reproducing the Mas¬ terpiece of all time, the Lord Jesus Christ. Mat¬ thew turned his camera upon that matchless Man and drew forth the royal rays of His Kingship and stamped that in his part of the Gospel. Mark came with his camera and drew out the blue rays of loyal service as Jehovah’s servant and stamped that on the print. Luke drew forth the pure life of a perfect Manhood and made this impression with his Gospel. John’s instrument penetrated the Eternities and photographed the Christ who was and is and is to be, the Pre-existent, Eternal Son of God, and stamped that upon the print. And these four give us the perfect picture of the perfect Man and of the perfect God. 20 THE PRAYER LIFE OF JESUS We shall follow His footsteps through the Gos¬ pels with the writers as guides, not to hear what He said about prayer, nor what He taught by word of mouth concerning prayer ; but to see what He taught by example and to observe what He himself said and did while at prayer. May the Holy Spirit open our eyes to understand what it all means and give us a like mind and heart with Him. “Lord, teach us to pray.” SECTION I: PRELIMINARY CON¬ SIDERATIONS THE PLACE, POSTUEE, APPEOACH AND LENGTH OF HIS PEAYEES ' SECTION I: PRELIMINARY CON¬ SIDERATIONS I HIS PLACE OF PRAYER Jesus had preferred places of prayer. It is said of Him 4 ‘that He went into a certain moun¬ tain to pray”; “He went into the wilderness to pray.” It was His habit to go into the garden for the purpose of prayer. So fixed was this habit that it became known to all of His disciples. When Judas would be¬ tray Jesus into the hands of the enemy he knew exactly where to find Him, because “He often re¬ sorted thither 4o pray.” These places were sacred, not because of some special service, or consecration, or dedication ; nor because of some priestly incantations over them, but because of some personal experience had at them. Peniel was a sacred place because Jacob there saw God face to face. Abraham’s desert tent be¬ came precious in his memories because of the heavenly visitor that came to him there. Moses recognised the ground as holy at the burning bush because it was there that he heard the still, small 23 24 THE PRAYER LIFE OF JESUS voice of God. The Isle of Patmos was a dedicated temple of worship to John because he was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day at that holy place. The Mamertine prison will forever be a sacred spot because in that the passionate Paul received from God his marvelous revelations of Divine truth. Thus did Jesus find the Mount of Olives a place particularly sacred and lending itself in a gra¬ cious way to the spirit of prayer. It was on this place that God was wont to be worshipped in ages gone by (II Samuel 15:32). It was here that God appeared to Ezekiel (Ezekiel 11:23). From the brow of this hill branches were gathered for booths at the rebuilding of Jerusa¬ lem (Nehemiah 8:15). And some of the most sacred experiences of our Lord Himself clustered around this place. Descending its sunny slopes He made His tri¬ umphal entry into the city. From its crest He wept over the fate of Jerusalem. When the stormy end was approaching, from this hill He prophesied the city’s destruction. It was this place that furnished Him quietness and rest fol¬ lowing the last Passover and the establishment of the Lord’s Supper. From this hill He was also to pass out from among the disciples, step into the chariot of God and ascend to Glory on High. When He comes to this earth again His blessed feet will touch it first on Olivet (Zechariah 14:2). What historic interest, what holy memories, what HIS PLACE OF PRAYER 25 glorious anticipations are associated with this place. No wonder that He oft resorted thither to pray. No wonder prayer was easy and sweet and power¬ ful in this place. What a lesson for us poor mor¬ tals, teaching us that if prayer is to he real and vital and intimate there must he certain spots to which we can hide ourselves away from the storms of life’s temptations and trials for a season with the Good Father. To us it may be some quiet spot on the old farm ; some little country church house ; some in¬ valid chair; some attic comer in our own home; some closet in our place of business ; some secluded corner in the church house, some par¬ ticular pew; some place — any place where 4 ‘God comes down our souls to greet, and glory crowns the mercy seat.” A great business man, a friend of mine in New York City, invited me to pay him a visit. I had been a happy guest in his lovely Christian home in the South many times. I had some misgiv¬ ings about his going to the great city and looked forward to this first visit with him there with keen anticipation, and yet with some anxiety as to what I should find concerning his progress or backslidings in his Christian life. When I had run the gamut of office boys and secretaries and found him in his private office I found the same plain fine Christian business 26 THE PRAYER LIFE OF JESUS man that I had known in the South. Just before going out to lunch he said, “I want you to see this little room just back of my private office.” He never shows it except to most intimate friends. In that little room was a table with an open Bible and one window. The great business man said quietly to me : “This is where I always consult the Senior Partner of our business about all of its greatest problems. When I started in the business world twenty-five years ago as an office boy at a salary of three dollars a week I took the Lord Jesus as my partner for life. From then until now with this colossal business on my hands and the great salary I am drawing Christ has been con¬ sciously real and practically helpful in a thou¬ sand ways. When in distress I come into this place and never fail to find help. For example: We had engaged a vessel for some export service, but the Government having gotten into the Great War requisitioned this vessel. What was I to do? I came in here to ask Him who knoweth all about all things. I said to Him: ‘Now, Lord, this is your business and my business ; if I prosper your cause will get the benefit of the prosperity; if I lose, your cause loses also; you know whether it is best for me to have a vessel for this export and you know where I can get one ; show me now the way.’ In less than one hour I had a propo¬ sition on my desk for another vessel at several thousand dollars less than the former one would HIS PLACE OF PRAYER 27 have cost me. These thousands of dollars saving I figured belonged to the Lord. I had my own legitimate profit from the business itself.” It works! My friend expressed doubt as to wbat we preachers might say about an experience of that kind, but declared that to him, a plain business man, it was a very profound reality. Why not? Furthermore, if one is a partner with Christ why should not this be the ordinary experience of life rather than the unusual ? Is not the failure due to the fact that we do not consider it an ob¬ ligation to share with Christ the successes which He assists us in achieving? A beloved physician whom I know, and a faith¬ ful deacon, was showing me through his private sanitarium. “This is the guest room; here are the offices; this is the dining-room; yonder is the X-ray room; here is the operating room, and these are the patients’ rooms. “But chief of all,” said he, “here is the best room in the building, my prayer room,” and he ushered me in. It was in the roof of the build¬ ing, with no light except that which came in through a small skylight. “It is well, deacon,” said I, “that all of your light comes from above.” “Indeed it does,” he replied, “because I never perform an operation without coming to this- room and asking the Great Physician in His Supreme 28 THE PRAYER LIFE OF JESUS wisdom and strength to clear my mind that I may think properly; to steady my nerves that I may operate cleanly; and to guide my hand that I may make no mistake.’ ’ It is no wonder to me that in his town this “ beloved physician” has as much practice as any other half dozen physicians and does more than half of the entire surgical work of the city. Such a physician has tremendous advantages over all others. He is the only kind who shall ever pre¬ scribe for or operate upon me or mine. To me personally there are certain places where, when praying, heaven comes a bit nearer and the Lord seems a hit dearer. One of these is a country roadside in Tennessee, along which I trudged a barefoot thirteen-year- old boy for many weary nights to the little coun¬ try church house during the revival meetings in search of salvation. Twenty-five years afterward when I had gone through school and college and had become pas¬ tor of a great city church I was invited back there to hold a meeting in the same little country church. At the close of the first service the pas¬ tor said: “We are going to Brother Butler’s for dinner — have you any preference as to the road we shall take f ” I expressed the desire to go along a certain way, and arriving at a certain spot I asked him to stop while I should find as nearly as possible the place of that great experience of a quarter of a century ago when such a great HIS PLACE OP PRAYER 29 change had been wrought in my heart. Finding the very tree by the side of which on that won¬ derful night I had knelt in prayer, I knelt down once again. A flood of memories swept through my soul. I remembered the burden I had felt for sin, the terrible consciousness of guilt before God. I remembered how in desperation I had sought peace a thousand ways to find; and how at last on that wonderful night I had stopped on this roadside to commit myself to Christ. There I had lifted up my despairing cry for mercy; and there had seen the tendernesss and compassion of that sweetest of all faces; and there had heard the sweetest words that ever fell on mortal ears, the words — “Thy sins be forgiven thee.” There I had found the peace of God that passeth all understanding, that peace which the world can never give nor take away. It was a holy place; it was a sacred place. And now, twenty-five years afterward, it was a Bethel to my heart. Prayer seemed more real. God seemed nearer because of this sacred place, my shrine of prayer. When I started overseas with our soldiers I passed again through Tennessee and Kentucky to say “good-bye” to my friends. I visited the town of my first pastorate after leaving college. After a public service and a few personal calls on some real old friends I asked that I might go to the little village cemetery. I did not know how a journey over the seas in the midst of war’s deso¬ lation and destruction would end. I needed more 30 THE PRAYER LIFE OF JESUS of the assurance of Divine power and help. I did not know where I could find it so quickly as on one sacred little spot of earth out in that ceme¬ tery. So I went there. Some kind friends had anticipated the visit and had carried fragrant flowers to the little grave. Arriving there the other friends, with keen spiritual perception, knowing that I desired to be left alone, passed on. There alone in the quiet place “I met the Master face to face.” Kneeling beside the little grave under the sob¬ bing cedars, memories of that Christmas time, a dozen years before, returned. There with the falling. snows we had put the little one in the cold earth. There came also memories of God’s glori¬ ous hand and marvelous grace which in infinite love came upon me that sad time. And prayer at this sacred place was made more real. Call it mere sentiment if you will; sentiment is the thing that brings God close to us. Man by the road of reason alone cannot find God. II HIS POSTURE IN PRAYER "And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down and prayed.” — Luke 22 : 41. “And He went a little farther and fell on His face and prayed.” — Matthew 26 : 39. “And Jesus lifted up His eyes and prayed.” — John 11 : 41. Jesus never prayed while sitting. He always stood , as at the grave of Lazarus, or Jcneeled down , or fell on liis face. Prayer is too sacred and holy and divine to be so lightly dealt with as to sit in one’s seat while talking to the King. The posture one assumes in prayer may appear unimportant to some. “It is not so much the physical attitude as the spiritual condition which counts,” we are told. And to confirm this the Scripture is quoted, “Man looketh on the out¬ ward part but God looketh on the heart.” This really is tragically true in regard to prayer. For what man sees of irreverence and disrespect in one’s physical posture in prayer God sees in the heart as their cause. It is the old law of cause and effect at work. The flippant, irreverent heart produces a thoughtless disre- 31 32 THE PRAYER LIFE OF JESUS spect for Deity. And nowhere does it more ac¬ curately express itself than in prayer. Whether one has been so taught or not, there should be sufficient native instinct to bring him to his feet or knees when God is approaching or being approached. When a British soldier hears the call — “Soldiers, the King!” he suddenly rises to attention. When the President of the United States appears in public the audience, both by instinct and by training, rises to its feet. Oh, how much more reverence and respect does the King of Kings and Lord of Lords deserve than these earthly rulers! And why do not men bow down before Him, kneel in His holy presence, or at least stand in dignified respect? When Jesus stood or kneeled down or fell on His face in prayer, He was obeying the deepest impulse of His own pure heart and at the same time following the best examples of all the past. The wisest man of all Christ’s ancestors came to God for the solemn dedication of the great tem¬ ple and “stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven.” This was not only the practice of the past and the method of Jesus but He also taught it. “And when ye stand praying.” There are two little things connected with these examples of standing in prayer that may be quite insignificant within themselves, but to which at- i HIS POSTURE IN PRAYER 33 tention is here directed for whatever they may mean to any one. In Solomon’s prayer as he stood he “ spread forth his hands.” With arms outstretched and palms upturned as if open and ready to receive whatever blessing the good God would pour into them, he stood in devout reverence and poured forth one of the most passionate prayers of all the Bible (I Kings 8:22-53). It is one of the mysteries of permissive Providence and one of the enigmas of human history that the “spread forth” hands and upturned palms, which in the glorious past of Israel was expressive of the deep¬ est humility, devoutest reverence and most wor¬ shipful spirit, should now be the expression of ridicule and the butt and jest of a great people. But such seems to be the “wonders of prophecy” and the exigencies of time. It is the ebb and flow of the tides of time for men and races. The other item to which attention is drawn is that when Jesus stood to pray He “lifted up His eyes.” This was done at the grave of Lazarus, at the feeding of the five thousand, and on other occasions. “He lifted up His eyes.” Whether He ever closed His eyes while at prayer or not, we do not know, for it is not said. We close our eyes in prayer in order to shut out all sight of material things and to shut our¬ selves in to the vision of God by faith. This is very good and is not to be criticised, but our 34 THE PRAYER LIFE OF JESUS Lord’s example does not require it. We might with as much reason stop our ears while praying in order to shut out all earthly sounds and to shut ourselves in to the voice of God. But kneeling is the most natural posture in prayer. Not only did Solomon stand in prayer, but upon the brazen scaffold which he had built for the purpose “he kneeled down upon his knees before all the congregation of Israel” (II Chroni¬ cles 6 : 13). The Psalms in which we find more of real prayer and the spirit of prayer than anywhere else in the Bible, exclaim, “0 come, let us wor¬ ship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!” A child kneeling beside the bed at his evening prayer must be a joy to God and angels. A whole household kneeling in family prayer is a crown of glory to national life. A congregation of de¬ vout worshippers upon their knees in prayer is earth’s most glorious gathering. A convention of Christian people planning for the performance of Christ’s Kingdom work, if upon its knees, need not fear devils nor demons, for “Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees.” Though in no sense a formalist or a literalist or a ceremonialist, I cannot find it in my heart to object to those churches which provide kneel¬ ing benches in the pews for those who wish to kneel down in prayer. But the posture which expresses the deepest HIS POSTURE IN PRAYER 35 devotion and the most heart-rending anxiety is for one to prostrate himself upon his face in the very dust. The congregation of Israel had sinned griev¬ ously “And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron saying, Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment. And they fell upon their faces , and said, 0 God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?” (Numbers 16:20-22). When Joshua met the unseen captain who had in his hand a drawn sword, he fell on his face to the earth and worshipped and said unto him, “What saith my lord unto his servant?” (Joshua 5:14). “And David lifted u(p his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord” (I Chronicles 21:16). If one’s consciousness of sin be deep enough and his vision of God’s holiness be clear enough, and his realisation of the need of Divine help be strong enough, he will then fall upon his face with broken heart and contrite spirit and pray. Only once have I seen one thus prostrated in prayer. It was a heart-broken mother, who in tor¬ turous agony of soul over a wayward son fell upon her face and cried out, “If Thou save him not then blot my name out of the Book of remem¬ brance.” Only once did Jesus fall upon his face. It was in Gethsemane when he had gone “a little 36 THE PRAYER LIFE OF JESUS farther.” It is this “ little farther” that counts in character and conquest. When he had gone “a little farther” and fell upon His face the bloody sweat sanctified the earth and a shriek, more terrible than earth had ever heard, rent the midnight air and reached unto heaven. Oh, what praying was that! How cold and formal and flippant and irreverent is the most of our praying in comparison! “Lord, Teach Us to Fray” m HIS APPROACH IN PRAYER Each prayer of the Lord’s always began with the word “Father.” There may have been quali¬ fying words, such as “0 Father”; “Holy Father”; “Our Father”; but the word “Father” was never absent from the prayers of Jesus. There is great significance in this fact. We hear some prayers begin with such expres¬ sions as “Almighty God,” “Eternal God,” etc. The difference between this and the method of Jesus is the difference between law and grace. They are as far apart in meaning as night and day. Under law we are servants; under grace we are children. Jesus, having become the end of the law for righteousness to all that believe, would teach us that our approach in prayer, from the moment of that experience of having accepted Him as personal Saviour, is the same as His. Furthermore, to begin our prayer with “Al¬ mighty God” sets Him too far off and too high up for us to reach Him. It may be all right for the guilty sinner to smite his breast and cry, 4 4 God be merciful to me.” But God’s child should say 4 4 Father,” and may say 4 4 Father.” Indeed this is the only approach which the 37 38 THE PRAYER LIFE OF JESUS sinner has, for God will not hear a sinner’s prayer (John 9: 31). The only acceptable prayer an un¬ regenerated sinner can offer is a prayer for mercy and forgiveness and salvation. There is one exception to be made to the state¬ ment above, “that Jesus always began His prayers with the word ‘Father.’ ” This is the prayer uttered on the cross recorded in Mark 15:34: “My God, My God, why hast Thou for¬ saken me?” But this exception confirms rather than confutes the above proposition, because this prayer of Jesus was the sinner’s prayer. “For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteous¬ ness of God in Him” (II Corinthians 5:21). Christ became sin, but not a sinner. Sin was on Him, but not in Him. He took the sinner ’s place, and having taken the sinner’s place He must pray the sinner’s prayer. Therefore He could not say: “Father,” but must say “My God.” Unregenerated sinners are the children of the devil (John 8:44). If God were their Father they would love Jesus (John 8:42). Then they could pray as Jesus prayed. But being the chil¬ dren of wrath by nature (Ephesians 2:3) and condemned under the law they must pray as Jesus prayed on the cross, “My God.” But we who are the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:26), having been re¬ deemed from the curse of the law because He was made a curse for us (Galatians 3:13) have the HIS APPROACH IN PRAYER 39 privilege and the right of approaching God as He did, viz., on the basis of childhood. We, too, can say “Father,” “Holy Father,” “Our Father.” Jesus not only taught this by His example, but He gave the explicit word to His disciples — but to the disciples only — “When ye pray say ‘Our Father.’ ” That is to say, “your Father and my Father,” the Father of our regenerated spirits. This can be appropriately said only by those who have been born from above, born again. We say “Our Father,” which means “My Father,” be¬ cause I have been born again, and “the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ,” His only Begotten Son. This approach makes prayer powerful. It ful¬ fils the sublime condition of all prevailing prayer, that it may be in the name of the Lord Jesus. To pray in the name of the Lord Jesus means more than simply saying, “for Jesus’ sake” at the close of the prayer. It means that through His merit, by the right which He has purchased because of His atonement wrought out in my be¬ half, by virtue of the shed blood and my own cleansed soul, thereby, I can come saying “Our Father.” The privilege of thus approaching God in prayer also makes prayer very intimate, very sweet and very simple. If He is my Father through Christ, and He is, then I can come into His presence unafraid and speak to Him with the 40 THE PRAYER LIFE OF JESUS assurance that He will hear with a sympathetic ear. I can surely come to my Father joyfully, happily, and as a little child, climb upon His knee and whisper into His ear the deepest secret of my soul, with the assurance that He understands. Mr. David Lloyd George was sitting in a coun¬ cil at 10 Downing Street one morning conferring with representatives of other great nations over tremendously important affairs of State. Into the midst of this council bounded his cherub-faced little girl, unceremoniously, joyfully, and un¬ afraid, and ran at once to the knees of her father. Like the great man he is, he looked down at her sympathetically and leaned over to hear what she had to say. She whispered something into his ear, probably of some broken doll or of some childish desire, and he patted her on the head, smiling his sympathy of approval, and with sat¬ isfaction she bounded out again. How beautifully this illustrates what in a finer and higher and holier way is that relationship be¬ tween us and our Heavenly Father. God, our Father, has the care of worlds on His heart and the responsibility of upholding the universe in His hands. But with all that, His ear is always open to the cry of the child and we never fail to find that understanding heart and sympathetic smile when He is thus approached. I have seen large groups of children playing on the lawn while the mothers sat to themselves HIS APPROACH IN PRAYER 41 talking, and suddenly some mother would leap from her seat and start when no one else present was conscious of anything unusual. But in the midst of all the noise and din of children’s play her keen mother ear had caught the sound of a distressing cry from her own child’s voice. God’s ear must be marvelously keen to hear in the midst of the world’s clamour and clanking the voice of His child, but He has never yet failed to hear and to respond. His arm is not shortened that He cannot save, neither is His ear heavy that He cannot hear (Isaiah 59:1). In Mark 14 : 36 it is recorded that in the Geth- semane prayer Jesus said “Abba, Father.” This is the only Gospel which uses that word “Abba.” I am grateful that Mark put it in. The word “Abba” belongs to the child language of the Saviour. It is the babe’s prattle. It goes back to childhood’s golden hours when He once nestled in the Father’s strong arms and looked up into His face and stroked His cheek and said “dear Papa.” Oh, how blessedly tender and sweet and glorious this makes prayer. Prayer is fellowship with the Father. One who has a strong, noble Christian father in the flesh can appreciate this illustration. God pity those whom the doctrine of the Fatherhood of God through faith in J esus Christ has no help¬ ful meaning, because of the wicked waywardness of an earthly father. Blessed be those children 42 THE PRAYER LIFE OF JESUS who can find in their earthly relationship a step¬ ping-stone to the Heavenly relationship with the Heavenly Father. If men everywhere are to pray as Jesus prayed then the unsaved people must say “My God, why hast thou forsaken me,” while the redeemed may tenderly call, “0 my Father.” “Lord, Teach Us to Pray.” IV THE LENGTH OF HIS PRAYERS The private prayers of Jesus were very long. His public prayers were very short. In private He spent hours upon hours in prayer. It is said many times that He spent a whole night in prayer alone. In the desert temptation He no doubt had many such nights with the Father. When the time arrived to choose twelve apostles He must needs spend an entire night in prayer. When the multitude would have forced an earthly crown on His unwilling head He retired into a loneliness with God and prayed. His private praying was marked by the length of the prayers, but His public prayers wTere very brief. Any one of the recorded public prayers of Jesus can be repeated in from three to five seconds. This excepts the seventeenth chapter of John, and it is doubtful whether that prayer should be con¬ sidered as public or private. Certainly there were very few earthly ears, if any at all, which heard it. And the prayer which He told His disciples to say, as found in the sixth chapter of Matthew, can be repeated in twenty seconds. I wonder if there is any special significance in these facts : Is it true that in proportion as one 43 44 THE PRAYER LIFE OF JESUS prays long in private he prays short in public? Or conversely, in proportion as he prays a short prayer in private he prays a long one in public? If this is true, then it is evident that some be¬ loved brethren who are honoured by being called upon for prayer at public functions are very far behind in their praying, even weeks, possibly months, and they seize this opportunity to catch up. Jesus’ public prayers, which were so short, are characterised by having just one definite thing at a time for which to pray. He did not ramble over the universe, but mentioned that one thing and was done. 