Pray Like Jesus Christ

How to pray like Jesus

Jesus’ teaching about praying and not giving up

Prayer is one of the most essential elements of the Christian life. Our Lord Jesus Christ exemplifies its significance by modelling a life of prayer. He starts His day with prayer and ends it with prayer. We can see Him sneaking out from the multitudes to say a word to His Father. His disciples knew His whereabouts every time He is out of their sight for surely, He is in a secluded place having communion with His Father. There was not a single minute that He wavered in His commitment to pray not even when He was about to be arrested and die on the same day. At the garden of Gethsemane, He fervently prayed that the cup of the wrath of God be taken away from Him. He knew that He is certainly to die for the sins of the world but He still asked His Father to save Him from the excruciating pains of crucifixion. Oh what an example we have in prayer!

In this post, I will be talking about Jesus’ encouragement about praying from the parable of the poor widow found in Luke 18:1-8. In this text, the Lord Jesus Christ told a parable about a poor widow who seeks for justice from an unjust judge. Jesus used 3 contrasts to encourage us to pray and not give up.

Three contrasts to encourage us to pray and not give up

Praying contrasted with fainting. Jesus teaches us that if we will not pray we will surely faint. Christians who do not pray are vulnerable against temptations. A fainting believer would be tempted to give up and is prone to lose heart. The reason why troubled people contemplate on taking their own life is they don’t have anybody to place their trust anymore. But this will be avoided when you pray. Prayer renews our strength and increases our faith in what God can do even in the midst of seemingly hopeless situations in life.

The widow contrasted with the believers. The widow faces many obstacles. She has no children to accompany her or a friend at court to vouch for her case. She has no money even to hire a lawyer.  All she can do is to keep on pleading for the judge to hear her case while going around the tent where the proceedings are taking place. In contrast, we don’t need money to plead our case before God. We even have a lawyer to vouch our case before Him. Christ Himself who died and who always lives is now interceding for us. He is our High Priest who entered the Holy of Holies and opened the way for us to the throne of God. He is our perfect advocate to the Father for He understands what we are going through for He Himself has gone through all the pains and struggles of humanity. Why faint in prayer when we have all the means for God to hear our case?

The unjust judge contrasted with the loving God. What a contrast we have here! The text says that the unjust judge was moved by the persistency of the poor widow. This unjust judge doesn’t fear God nor regard any man. But because of the poor widow’s persistency, he finally said to himself “because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!” God is unlike that unjust judge. The Scripture teaches that God treats all men equal. He is a benevolent God who is merciful to all who come to Him in faith. Be persistent in prayer for if the unjust judge granted the request of the poor widow, certainly our loving heavenly Father will never put off those who cry to Him day and night. Be persistent in prayer and cast all your anxieties on Him for He cares for you!

Use an Orthodox Prayer Bracelet as a tool to keep concentrated during prayer. It will really help you focus.

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• Jesus Prayer – Prayer of the Heart
• A modern day Judas, How to deal with betrayal
• How to pray effectively

Photo Attribution:

• By Vasilispavlatos (Own work) [CC-BY-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons