Let's turn our Bibles to the book of Luke to start us out tonight. Luke chapter 3. Luke chapter 3 to get us going tonight. I want to preach on the prayer life of Jesus. Brother Randy Starr that I was preaching with just a couple of weeks ago, he has written a book on the prayers of Jesus, and he found that there are 20 different prayers that Jesus prayed. But I don't want to preach on his prayers tonight. I want to preach on the prayer life of Jesus. It's interesting that the disciples never asked him how to preach, but they did ask him to teach them to pray. They saw some things in his prayer life that they wanted in their life, realized they needed. Let me ask you a question tonight. How is your prayer life? Where is your prayer life? Is it what it used to be? Is it what it should be? Because we can't do anything without Him. We need Him. And just an observation, if Jesus needed to pray, how much more do we need to pray? I mean, really. He is our example that we should follow in His steps. So if he prayed as much as the scripture says that he prayed, how much more should we be praying? The power is in him. Jesus said, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Well, in Luke chapter 3, read a couple of verses to get us started. Notice verse 21. Now, when all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also being baptized, underline this, and praying. Let's pray. Father, we come to you in the name of the Lord Jesus. And I pray tonight you'd teach us some things about the prayer life of Jesus. May we allow the Spirit of God to show us some things in our lives that we need to incorporate. that need to be part of our prayer life. And Lord, we'll thank you for what you do in our hearts and lives, for we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. A few years ago, you'll remember we had a prayer revival. And the prayer revival with Brother Rick Flanders, he came down from Michigan to preach on prayer. The whole revival was on prayer. Everything was on prayer. For the next six months, I preached on prayer every Wednesday night. Six months, that was quite a few messages right there, just preaching on prayer. You can't have too much prayer. You can have too little prayer, but you can't have too much prayer. I have listened now probably for the seventh time through to the book called Revival Praying by Leonard Ravenhill. And some of those older gentlemen like that, Leonard Ravenhill and others of his time, which is back in the 1960s, 70s and 80s and so on, they really pushed this matter of getting a hold of God, getting alone with God, allowing God to really speak to your heart. And it doesn't happen always. Matter of fact, very seldom does it happen in just a few minutes of prayer. Need to spend time with God in prayer. But we don't wanna give God that kind of time. After all, we've got a lot going on in our lives. We are busy. But if we're too busy to pray, then we're just too busy. If we're too busy to pray, then we're just gonna have to be satisfied with little power. Because little prayer brings little power. Great prayer brings much power. It's gonna take time in prayer, and we can see that in the prayer life of Jesus. We see how his ministry commenced, how it began with prayer. Right here, he went for his baptism, and the Bible says it wasn't just being baptized, and praying, and the heaven was opened, and the sign that was showed with the Spirit of God coming upon Him, according to John chapter 1, we find that that was God's sign that this was His Son, the Lamb of God, was taking away the sin of the world. Now, that came in response to prayer, but it didn't end there. If you go over to chapter 4, it says, And Jesus, being full of the Holy Ghost, returned from Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. And then it says in verse 14, this is after the temptation now, that statement was before the temptation, and then in verse 14, And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee, And there went out a fame of him through all the region round about. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all." So he began his ministry with prayer, went for baptism, prayed. Now, I doubt that he prayed whether or not he should be baptized. He knew he should. And so he followed through and he did exactly that. But we need to understand prayer at the beginning of his ministry, this is something that would be carried on through his ministry and should be a mark of our life. It shows an attitude of total surrender to the will of God and a heart to accomplish his will and a heart to accomplish his work. Now I know we got a lot going on in this country. But we've got our eyes looking at the wrong King. If we don't have time to look at our true King, our Lord Jesus, and spend time with Him in prayer. We need Him. Prayer is a sign of our faith. But without faith, it's 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. You see, it shows our faith. that we trust in him, we believe in him, and if we want God to do a great work, then we're gonna have to have that kind of a hard attitude in prayer. So he commenced his ministry in prayer. Secondly, his ministry continued in prayer. Go over to Mark chapter one. Mark chapter one, beginning in verse 35. Mark one, verse 35. We're looking at the prayer life of Jesus. And here the scripture says in verse 35, and in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, departed into a solitary place, and there prayed. And Simon and they that were with him followed after him. And when they had found him, they said unto him, all men seek for thee. And he said unto them, let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, for therefore, Came I forth and then he preached in their synagogues. We find him getting up a great while before day to pray. How's your morning prayer life? The Psalmist said, early will I seek thee. How is your prayer life? You know, it's one thing to get up and pray a beautiful prayer before the congregation at the beginning of the close of a service or beginning of a message or whatever. It's another thing to get up when nobody else sees you and you just spend time with the Lord. And it's something that you look forward to. Not time that's just a drudgery necessary time, but a time where you're alone with God and you're not praying to impress anybody. You're praying to talk to the Lord. And by the way, prayer is not all just talk. Sometimes it's listening. Sometimes it's waiting on God. Unfortunately, too many times our prayers are made up of, Lord, forgive me, now give me. That's our prayer life. We got things we want. And yet there are an awful lot of things that we seem to pray for today that they never did pray for in the New Testament. Things that are so important to us usually have to do with things that we want. Some conveniences that we'd like to have. And boy, we spend our time. After all, we don't want to find out when we get to heaven that we had not because we asked not. So we wanna make sure we get all our prayers and asking for all the things that we want to have. Prayer is a time of communing with God. Prayer is a time of worshiping God. Prayer is a time of demonstrating to our God our faith and our trust in him. Prayer is a time when we get filled up with power. You know one of the big problems of course with the EVs, that's those electric vehicles that are out there. And you know there's a trauma with those things. People actually have a phobia about them because they're so afraid that suddenly the battery's gonna drain. Well, they're out on the road someplace. And of course, for a lot of people, it scares them because if they do go into a place where they can get charged up, they've got to sit there and wait a couple hours to get charged up. And then you don't know for sure, as the battery gets older, how long they're going to be able to go on a charge. They're finding out that this wonderful invention isn't all that wonderful. And it ends up being kind of scary, boy, to get recharged, to take all that time. Well, spiritually speaking, I know it doesn't run on some kind of meter that's gonna show you where you're at spiritually, but you need that time with Him. We are so bombarded by the world, I confess, I confess, that before the election, I've tried to ignore the news. But before the election, when I got up every morning, and I spend time doing my respiratory exercises that I'm supposed to do, I would sit and listen to some different newscasts while that's going on. And I'm hacking, coughing up all that stuff I have to cough up every morning so that I can keep breathing during the day. And I'm doing that, and you know what? None of that eased my mind. I mean, I found myself listening to that stuff every day for two weeks before the election, and I just found myself being more troubled. By the time I got done, there's no peace. You want some peace? You got to go to the Lord. You got to go to the King of Peace, the Lord Jesus Christ, and spend time with him because he is the one that's in control. And so now I've got to wean myself off all that again. Man, I want to hear it because me hearing it doesn't change anything. But I do believe me spending time in prayer can change everything. Getting a hold of God, I let myself get sucked into that stuff, and I feel bad about it. So his ministry continued in prayer. By the way, in this chapter, verses 21 and 22, he taught in the synagogue. In 23 through 27, he cast out demons. In 30 and 31, he healed Peter's mother-in-law. And I was going to make a comment about that, but I don't think I ought to. Verses 32. By the way, for the first pope, I asked a Catholic about that one day, and the Catholic said to me, well, just because he had a mother-in-law doesn't mean he had a wife. And I said, what idiot would go ahead and have a mother-in-law without having the benefit of a wife? Anyway, 32, 34, ministered to Mary, I'm sorry, to many who were sick. Now you'd think that he would need extra time to sleep. No, he spent time in prayer. Got up a great while before day. The Bible says, matter of fact, turn over to Isaiah chapter 40. Isaiah chapter 40, this great verse. Now many don't look at this as a prayer verse, but I think it's, I believe it's there. Notice he says in verse 30, even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint. It is refreshing. to spend time alone with the Lord in prayer. Now I am for prayer list. I am not against prayer list, but there is a danger in prayer list. And the danger in prayer list is you're just mentioning a bunch of names and you're not really praying. Not like talking to an individual. You realize when you're talking to God, you're talking to the person of God, the creator of the universe. And unfortunately with prayer list, we get more caught up in getting through all the names, mentioning them out loud than we are actually talking to God and making an honest request for those individuals. So I'm not saying give up your prayer list, I'm just saying be careful about that, unless it takes over your old prayer time. So it commenced in prayer, his ministry continued in prayer, and his ministry counted on prayer. Go over to chapter five of the book of Luke. Chapter five in the book of Luke. And notice verse 15. But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him, and great multitudes came together to hear and to be healed by him of their infirmities. And he withdrew himself into the wilderness and prayed. We find Jesus often doing this. He withdrew himself. After we have accomplished some things for God, we think about, well, we need to take a day or two off. No, perhaps you need some time just prayer. Perhaps you don't need some time just doing a bunch of stuff. You need some time in prayer, the priority of prayer in our lives. It was obvious in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he is our example. We need to get it. We need him above all things. For Jesus said, without me, he can do nothing. We need to pray so that we can get going again. When we get going again, we need to pray even more. We need time with him. And time with Him needs to become special to you and guarded. It's not an interruption. It is a necessity. You must have it. Jesus had it. Too many times we allow fame to occupy us. You know, after all, people need to know we're busy with all kinds of activities. Are you busy? Are you known for your busyness in prayer? alone with God, realize our ministry counts on Him. As a matter of fact, there's an interesting verse. Turn over to 2 Chronicles. 2 Chronicles chapter 26. And this has to do with Uzziah the king. Uzziah the king was a good king. He didn't end good, but he was a good king for the most of the 52 years that he was king. And notice what the Bible says about him in verse 5. And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God. Now look at this. And as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper. As long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper. Yeah, we can preach. We know how to do that. We know how to teach a Sunday school class. We know how to, the basics of running a bus ministry. We know how to do junior church. But if we don't know how to get ahold of God in prayer, we're going to be, it's going to be like trying to cut down a tree with just the axe handle. and no sharp axe to bring it down. We need Him. He is our power. He is our might. His workers were chosen in prayer. Luke chapter 6. Go back to Luke chapter 6. Notice verses 12 and 13. Luke chapter 6, verses 12 and 13. And it came to pass in those days that He went out into a mountain to pray. and continued all night in prayer. And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples, and of them he chose 12, whom also he named apostles. His workers were chosen in prayer." Why all night? I mean, why did he spend all night before choosing these people? I mean, he's Jesus. Didn't he know who he was gonna pick? Or did He spend all night in prayer to teach us something about His wisdom? After all, the Bible says, trust in the Lord with all thine heart. Doesn't say trust in yourself. Doesn't say trust in your heart. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart. Lay not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths. You know, in Acts chapter 13, we find the church spending time, church at Antioch, spending time in prayer and fasting before they chose Paul and Barnabas. Prayer and fasting. Why wouldn't you just choose the guys you thought were the best guys? No, you want the ones that God thinks are the best guys. The one that God wants for that particular job. It's not always the people with the qualities that we think that they ought to have. God knows who they should be. Now, we live in such a world today that if you don't pick certain people, they get mad. But if they get mad at not getting picked, then they never should have been picked to begin with. That just tells you why God didn't allow those people to be picked. God decides for that and we want God's wisdom, whether it be for missionaries, for deacons or whatever. So we're gonna have to pray. Jesus spent time in prayer. As we said in the New Testament, they used his example and his example is always right. Fifthly, his miracles were consummated in prayer. Over in Matthew chapter 14 and verse 19, let's go over to there. Now we have the account of the feeding of 5,000 in all four of the gospels. Matthew chapter 14 and verse 19, the scripture says, and he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass and took the five loaves and the two fishes and looking up to heaven, he blessed and break and gave the loaves to his disciples and the disciples to the multitude. He blessed and break. We find that here he is praying again. Note especially verse 23, and when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray, and when the evening was come, he was there alone. He spent hours in prayer. A great miracle's done, and yet again, he's finding his strength in praying. We need to not only show our dependency on him by praying when we start, but also finding a spot to pray when we're done, to give him praise as for his strength and his might and his power and see what God will do. We find him praying again, go over to John chapter 11. John chapter 11, the prayer life of Jesus, John chapter 11. He's at the graveside of Lazarus. I want to begin at verse 41. Scripture says, Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always, but because of the people which stand by, I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. Yeah. He prayed at the raising of Lazarus and he prayed out loud, not so people would think of his great oratory, but so that they would understand that he was doing God's work and he was relying on the Father's power in raising Lazarus from the dead. I'm reminded of the story of a church that had a bar that was not too far from their church. I mean, it was within like a half a mile And they had been praying for it to close. They had written letters, but that didn't touch any of the politicians' hearts to get anything done. So they just started praying. They made it very public. They were praying for the bar to burn down. One night, it did. The owner of the bar, now this is a true story. The owner of the bar sued them. for their church burning down. What'd I say? Oh, the owner of the bar sued the church. I'm trying to think ahead to how the story ends, because I was forgetting it there for a minute. I really got it twisted now, don't I? But so he sued them. They went before the court and denied that it was their prayer that caused it to burn down. In other words, before the court, the bar owner believed in their prayer more than they did. Isn't that sad? I'll tell you what, I've seen the Lord do some amazing things over the years, and it actually has scared me. I told you the story about a young man and his wife. We had reached them. They'd gotten saved. They were in the church. They'd been with us for about six weeks. That was all. Now, this couple, they were country. And I realized we live in a city, and there aren't a whole lot of people that understand country. They were country country. They were redneck, Jeff Foxworthy country. You understand that? And he was looking for a job, and he got a job in Missouri being a sharecropper. And so he called me up, told me that he was going to be leaving the next day. So I went over to their house and I said, listen, you just got saved. You're in church. You don't even know if there's a church where you're going. I don't believe this is God's will for you. You need to stay here. And he said, no, no, I believe God's provided this. We need to go. I said, well, I don't believe God did. And I'm going to pray that God will give you a flat tire before you get out of Tennessee. Now, of course, up there in Tennessee Ridge, we weren't all that far from the Kentucky line. And so easily, within 45 minutes, they'd be out of the state. And so I prayed right there. I mean, we're sitting on the couch and the chairs, and I prayed for God to give them a flat tire before they got out of the state. Well, they left. Didn't see them. They were gone for a couple months. And then somebody told me that they were back into the area. And I asked them if they knew where they were staying. They said they did. They gave me the address. I went over to see them. I said, man, I understand you're back here. What are you doing back here? Well, it just didn't work out. And I said, well, why haven't you been coming to church? Well, he said, tell you the truth, preacher, I was just, I was ashamed. You remember, preacher, you said that you were gonna pray, and you prayed there in our house that we'd have a flat tire if it wasn't God's will before we got out of the state. He said, when I went out the next morning to the car, the tire was flat before we got out of the driveway. And we went ahead and went anyway. Wow. That's what I thought, and I thought, wow. How about that? That's an answer to prayer. God did that. I know what some of you are thinking. You're thinking, you snuck in there and you got the air out. I did not. I can tell by the look on your face what some of you are thinking. No, no, no, I did not do that. That was the Lord. It scares me to tell you some of the things that I prayed that God's done, because people think I've done a lot of other stuff, too, that I haven't done, so I don't want you to think that way. Now, here's the thing I want you to get. His ministry in heaven, He's still praying. Do you get that? His ministry in heaven, He's still praying. A couple places. Go over to Hebrews chapter 7. Hebrews chapter 7. Look at verse 25, Hebrews 7, verse 25. Scripture says, Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him. Look at this. Seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for us. He's praying for me right now. He is praying for you right now. he ever liveth to make intercession for us. Turn over to Romans, chapter 8. Romans, chapter 8. I know normally I just quote these verses, but these are so powerful. I want you to see them. Verse 34. The Scripture says, Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again. who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Also maketh intercession for us. What do you think he's praying for you about? If he ever liveth to make intercession for us right now, would he be, for instance, saying, Father, please? You know, Mike Allison, I love him, Lord, but he's not been as close to me lately as what he's been in the past. Lord, please draw him to us more. Please get his heart warm and tender toward us again. Lord, please put that love for your word in his heart again so that he reads it like he should. What would he be praying for you? Is Jesus getting his prayer answered in your life? Cause he's praying for you right now. What do you think he's wanting you to get out of the message tonight? He's praying for you to get something because he ever liveth to make intercession for us. He loves us that much. We never leave his mind. He's always praying for us. Loved us, died for us, rose from the dead for us, gave us eternal life, forgiveness of sins. And He loves us so much, He even keeps praying for us right now. You see, that's so comforting to me. Because even if everyone else turns on you and doesn't like you anymore, they're not gonna pray for you, even pray against you. I know Jesus is interceding for me. Are you surrendered to Him tonight? He loves me. He loves you. Are you surrendered to Him? That's His desire. And He's praying for you tonight. Think with me just a moment. So is He gonna get His prayer answered for you tonight? Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer. Lord, please, deal with us. I know it's not a long message tonight, very, very simple, hardly profound. There are many things to learn about the prayer life of our dear Savior, but this one, this last point ought to really grip us, that even right this minute, He's praying for us. I'm sure there are some that you're praying that they'd respond to this message and renew A prayer life that once used to be vibrant. God, please, do a work. We'll praise you for it. In Jesus' name, heads bowed.