(Luke 3:21-22) Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased. (KJV) We might wonder why Jesus would pray on such an occasion as this. As we have already established, Jesus was a Man of Prayer. He did not face any crisis without first having prayed. It is not known exactly what transpired during the period of time in His life between the age of twelve and this particular event. That He already was in the habit of praying frequently cannot be doubted. This seems to be the first public prayer offered by Him; at least this is the first known record of any prayer by Him. For the last eighteen years of His life He had been growing up and maturing into a well-rounded human being. This is evident from the Scripture for Luke 2:52 reads, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” The question might be asked, “How could Jesus increase in favor with God and man if He had not been a Man of Prayer?” Of course, it stands 12
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to reason that if Jesus always did something in public, then He most certainly did the same in private.
Thus, if Jesus began to pray at the beginning of His public ministry, then it stands to reason that He developed the habit of prayer early in His life. One cannot please God without having a mature prayer-life with Him.
(Galatians 3:11) But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. (KJV)
(Hebrews 11:6) But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (KJV)
These two verses reveal to the Bible student that a child of god cannot expect to live for the Lord without exercising faith and that faith cannot come about without prayer. It has been stated before that prayer is communication with God. God wants to communicate with His children but unless His children pray to Him, there can be no communication. Prayer is only one side of the coin.
Prayer must come from the child of god in order for God to communicate with that child. The child of God has to live by faith and that will be impossible to do unless that child of God develops a mature prayer life.
“How do I develop a mature prayer life?” you ask. The first and major way to begin the development of a mature prayer life is to get into the habit of praying. We must pray every day. Many of us go for manly days without ever once going to the Father in prayer. Without prayer we will soon grow cold and indifferent. When we do that, we become backslidden and get away from the Father. We will become unthankful. We will no longer be responsive to the dealings of the Holy Spirit. We will soon develop habits that are unbecoming to a child of God. The list could grow quite long, the results of neglected prayer.
A mature prayer life means that we engraft I Thessalonians 5:17 into our very being. It means that we are constantly in the attitude of prayer so that we can pray “at the drop of a hat.” It means not just only praying when there are troubles and trials but also when everything seems to be going well.
It means being constantly aware that He is present and able to understand and help. It means being able to communicate with Him without having to be verbal. It means walking hand-in-hand with Him.
It must be considered that Jesus was about to begin His public ministry which would last for only a short, burdensome time. Even though His public ministry was only to last for approximately three years, those years would be filled with burdens, problems, many miracles, much teaching, much distress, severe trials, extreme agony and yes, much prayer. Being part of the Trinity, Jesus knew very well what lay ahead of Him, and yet even knowing those things, He started with prayer. Jesus knew that He would be rejected by His own. He knew that He would die for mankind. He knew all these things and many more, and He chose to start with prayer. He, knowing all things, knew that His prayers would present examples for all His disciples for hundreds of years to come—
examples until He chose to come again.
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We might wonder why the Only-begotten Son of God, being part of the Trinity, would need to pray.
Strictly speaking, He did not because He was God-Man. He was God incarnate in human flesh. At the same time, He was all Man. Man has the need of prayer in his life. He has not just the need but the desire to communicate to some deity during his life-span. Thus, Jesus prayed. He presented an excellent example for us to follow. In fact, He should be the only example that should be followed.
It seems from the text of this chapter that Jesus waited until all the other people John was baptizing were gone and then presented Himself to John. This is indicated in verse twenty-one, “…when all the people were baptized,…” That the people were there to witness the event is not indicated by the Scriptures. Whether they were or not is not pertinent to the question at hand. One of the reasons that Jesus was praying, I feel, was to present an example of prayer. If this example were not presented for those present, including John the Baptist, then it certainly was presented for all those who would follow Jesus later. Those followers would include those of us today who read the Scriptures and attempt to follow the pattern that Jesus present for all believers.
Jesus was at the cross-roads of His life. He knew which direction His life would take, but still He prayed. We do not always know which direction our lives will take. We may be setting out on a life of service for the Lord, but still not know exactly which direction that service will lead us. We may find ourselves going to the utter most parts of the earth or maybe just sitting right at home serving the Lord in some undramatic and seemingly insignificant way. Not every man is called by God to the ministry. Not every man or woman is capable of teaching. Not everyone is able to sing or to do many other things for the Lord, but the fact remains that everyone has faced, or will face, the cross-roads in life where a choice will be made, or maybe already made, of service to the Lord. Such a choice is a very important one; one that should not be made without much prayer.
(Romans 12:4-8) For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; Or he that exhorted, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness. (KJV)
(1 Corinthians 12:14-25) For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Nay, much more those 14
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members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked: That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. (KJV)
These passages teach there are many aspects of the Lord’s service and no two people will always have the same abilities. The point is, each child of God must spend time in prayer before he decides what type of service he will be performing for the Lord. (When I say “he” I also mean the “shes”.) Some may not like this statement, but it is true nonetheless: we are to be full-time servants for the Lord regardless of what occupation we choose to follow. If Jesus started out His public ministry with prayer, then it certainly stands to reason that we, as children of God, should start out our lives for the Lord with much prayer. We will not only make this particular decision for the Lord, but also, we will face many difficult decisions along the road of life that should be prefaced with much prayer.
We cannot make a rational decision without first having consulted the Lord in prayer about the matter. That may not make the decision any easier to make, but certainly we will be more inclined to make the right decision, if we are in harmony with what God’s will is for our lives.
Prayer meant much to Jesus when decisions were being faced. If this was the case with Him, and it certainly was, then prayer should be of the utter-most importance to us.
We have previously indicated that the great crises of our Lord’s ministry were accompanied by prayer. Do you never wonder what kind of prayer Jesus prayed between His thirty years’ seclusion and the three years’ of public ministry? This first mention of Him at prayer found Him facing the forty days and forty nights’
fast in the wilderness among wild beasts and His encounter with “the roaring lion”
with his subtle temptations to secure an empire bought without blood. Perhaps His prayer after the baptism was taken up with a plea for strength to face a dread ordeal.
It might have been His act of “putting on the whole armor of God” for the conflict
“in the evil day.” This we do know, His prayer had an instant answer, for the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit came upon Him, and with the Spirit’s empowerment, the benediction of His Father….1
Most certainly the question could be rightly asked, “What did Jesus pray on this occasion?” That is a question that cannot be completely answered. The reason is, we do not have a record of this prayer in God’s Word. It is stated only that He prayed. The circumstances and conditions surrounding the occasion are given, but nothing else. As was stated in the quotation above, Jesus was facing a great crisis. He not only was facing the start of His public ministry but also, even much closer, were the forty days and nights to be spent in the wilderness. Did He indeed pray for strength to endure the ordeal that was facing Him? I believe that He did. Did He pray that He would be glorified at this time? If so, why would He pray for such a thing at this particular time? I believe that Jesus probably did pray for the Father to glorify Him at this time because to do so would be for God to 15
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put His stamp of approval upon Jesus. We know, of course, that this indeed did happen. What immediately transpired is one of the few times that the Trinity cam together at the same time. Verse twenty-two gives what happened.
(Luke 3:22) And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased. (KJV)
This was an answer to the prayer that Christ prayed. Seemingly from this, we can deduce that Jesus asked the Father to show to the people present that He was indeed the Son of God. What an introduction of Jesus, the Son of God, to the world for whom He was going to die!
1 Hebert Lockyer, All the Prayers of the Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervon Publishing House, 1978), p. 212.
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