THE PRAYER-PRIORITIZER

THE PRAYER-PRIORITIZER

The calm morning silence was gently broken by the voice of the One whose mercies are new every morning. The lonesome mountain was occupied by the One who fashioned it in the beginning. And no one could hear Him in this desolate place, except for the God who hears everything. Jesus started His day by starting to pray: "And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed" (Mark 1:35).

This portrayal of Jesus' prayer life is as mystifying as it is magnificent: after all, why did Christ pray if He was God in the flesh? Certainly, Jesus prayed to please God. Christ knelt to pray because the Father delights in prayer, and Jesus always did that which brought His Father divine delight (John 14:31). Jesus did not need to pray any more than He needed to be baptized, yet He did both to "fulfill all righteousness" (Matt. 3:15). Because of this, He set an example for all of His followers to emulate. Thus, walking as He walked entails talking as He talked to God (1 John 2:6).

Christ sitting on the mountain to pray also foreshadowed His future position of being seated at Father's right hand, where He now makes eternal intercession for His saints. Jesus' prayers on earth were a shadow of His prayers in eternity on behalf of His beloved children. As Paul assured, "Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died--more than that, who was raised--who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us" (Rom. 8:34). And, as the author of Hebrews encouraged, "Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them" (Heb. 7:25, KJV). Thus, Jesus is the record-holder for the "longest prayer" because He prayed on earth and continues to pray for His followers throughout eternity.

But arguably, the greatest reason why the God-Man prayed to the Father is because He loved Him. Communication and communion with those whom you love is normal and natural. You can even converse with loved ones for hours on end, whether you are well-rested or worn out, simply because you cherish them. The same was true of Christ, who loved God with all of His heart, soul, mind, and strength. As Jesus declared, "But I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father" (John 14:31).

Therefore, the real question is: why wouldn't He pray? And, since we are fleshly, weak, and sinful, why wouldn't we? Why would we do anything other than pray, since Christ has made it possible to approach the Father through His atoning death and mediatorial intercession?