Abiding in Prayer

 This week we look at the last years of Jesus’ ministry. During this time, we will see significant prayers occur as His time on earth is coming to an end.

Luke 10: 17

We see thanksgiving and praise. Notice that he didn’t go to a mountain top to pray at this one, he just began to pray and the substance of that was praising the Father because He is great. Jesus encourages them but continues to remind them that the praise rests in that their names are written in heaven, not that the spirits were subject to them.

Lord’s Prayer – Luke 11:

The disciples saw Jesus praying in their time together, and quite often. They obviously saw that this is important, and asked Jesus to teach them. The simple prayer directs to the absolute certainty in God.

Matthew 7:7: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find, knock, and it will be opened to you. There is a certainty when you are abiding, and you are praying out of abiding, and not in the flesh, then there is a certainty that He will answer. When I am mindful of my circumstances in a heavenly way…we see calmness, contentedness, peace, rest, tranquility comes, and God promises that. I am not going to ask to change circumstances and expect that change to take place. I can ask for the change, but Lord Jesus nevertheless not my will be done but yours. I can’t demand that He answer when I am asking Him to change the circumstances. I Can go to God, Son, and Holy Spirit, and ask to help me not to sin, to provide for me.

Lazarus – John 11

John 11:11: When Jesus first hears that Lazarus is dead, probability that Jesus had already spoken with God in regard to Lazarus. Why? Look at verse 41 and 41 where Jesus praises God for hearing Him. Jesus is sure of heaven, he is sure of His relationship with the Father, because of that, it gives Him opportunity to pray and enunciate the victory before it happens. How often am I truly presently mindful of what may/is happening in heaven when I am besieged about praying on a circumstance and am I seeing that alignment with Heaven? Jesus is continually saying to us that we can have this too, that what He had with the Father, we can have too.

Blessing of the Children – Mark 10: 13-16

In this prayer, we see that Jesus is upset with the adults in the crowd, not the kids. We have all been in so many parks, stores, churches and people get so frustrated with children being children. Jesus saw the kids scurrying around, and essentially said let them be kids, let them come to me. This is the beauty of abiding, you get to rush into the arms of God. He picks up the kids and blesses them.