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Chapter 160

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THE CHARACTER OF JESUS:
His Prayer Life

160.060.000 Torrey: p128, T:VI
Topic 60: The Prayerfulness of Jesus Christ

160.060.010 Torrey: p128, T:VI, P:1
POINT 10: In the days of His flesh, Jesus Christ offered up prayers and supplications. He was a man of prayer.

Hebrews 5:7 During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.

The words "prayer" and "pray" are used at least twenty-five times in connection with Him, and there are many instances in which the fact of His praying is mentioned where the words do not occur. His praying is mentioned by each of the four evangelists. The life of Christ had many marked characteristics, but nothing is more marked than His prayerfulness. The extent to which He was a man of prayer will appear more clearly when we consider the next point.

160.062.000 Torrey: p129, T:VI(2)
Topic 62: When Christ Prayed

160.062.010 Torrey: p129, T:VI(2), P:1
POINT 10: Jesus Christ prayed in the night -- in some instances continuing all night in prayer.

Luke 6:12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.

Why in the night? So He could be alone and have undisturbed communion with God.

160.062.020 Torrey: p129, T:VI(2), P:2
POINT 20: Jesus Christ rose very early in the morning, a great while before day, to pray.

Mark 1:35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

This was apparently partly so He could have solitude for communion with God and partly as a preparation for the day's work.

160.062.030 Torrey: p129, T:VI(2), P:3
POINT 30: Jesus Christ prayed before His baptism with the Holy Spirit and entrance upon His public ministry; before entering upon an evangelistic tour, before choosing the twelve, before announcing to the twelve His approaching death, i.e., before important steps in His life. He prepared for important events of life by especial sessions of prayer.

Luke 3:21-22 [21] When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened [22] and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."

Mark 1:32, 38 [32] That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. [38] Jesus replied, "Let us go somewhere else -- to the nearby villages -- so I can preach there also. That is why I have come."

Luke 6:12-13 [12] One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. [13] When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles

Luke 9:18, 21-22 [18] Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, "Who do the crowds say I am?" [21] Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone. [22] And he said, "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life."

160.062.040 Torrey: p130, T:VI(2), P:4
POINT 40: Jesus Christ prayed after the great achievements and important crises of His life.

Matthew 14:23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,

John 6:15 Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

160.062.042 Torrey: p130, T:VI(2), P:4
POINT 42: After His great achievements Christ prayed in order to recover strength.

Confer Mark 5:30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who touched my clothes?"

Christ prayed so that He might recover His strength. His miracles cost Him something, an expenditure and loss of power.

160.062.044 Torrey: p130, T:VI(2), P:4
POINT 44: Jesus Christ prayed after His great achievements to guard against pride and self-importance.

Jesus prayed to guard against temptations to pride, or satisfaction, or contentment, with the work already achieved. Jesus Christ was truly human, subject to the same temptations we are, and He met them with the same weapons we must use -- the Word of God and prayer. It is more common for most of us to pray before the great events of life than after them, but the latter is as important as the former. If we would pray after the great achievements of life we might go on to even greater things. As it is, we are often either puffed up or exhausted by them, and we proceed no further.

160.062.050 Torrey: p130, T:VI(2), P:5
POINT 50: Jesus Christ prayed before He ate.

Matthew 14:19 And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves.Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.

Luke 24:30-31 [30] When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. [31] Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight.

He prayed in connection with the simplest, commonest events of everyday life. So characteristic was Christ's manner of praying in connection with His meals that He was known by this act to the disciples who had failed to discover who He was up to that point. It is in connection with little things that many of us most forget to pray. Every step of Christ's life seems to have been accompanied by prayer.

160.062.060 Torrey: p130, T:VI(2), P:6
POINT 60: When life was unusually busy, Jesus Christ withdrew into a solitary place to pray.

Luke 5:15-16 [15] Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. [16] But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

Some men are so busy, that they can find no time to pray. Apparently, the busier Christ's life was, the more he prayed. Sometimes He had no time to eat.

Mark 3:20 Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat.

Sometimes He did not have time for needed rest and sleep.

Mark 6:31, 33, 46 [31] Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." [33] But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. [46] After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.

Nevertheless, He always took time to pray, and the more the work crowded, the more He prayed. Martin Luther, Adam Clarke, and many another mighty man of God has learned this secret from Christ. Many another mighty man of God has lost his power because he did not learn this secret, and he has allowed increasing work to crowd out prayer.

160.062.070 Torrey: p131, T:VI(2), P:7
POINT 70: Jesus Christ prayed when weary.

Mark 6:31, 33-35, 46 [31] Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." [33] But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. [34] When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. [35] By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. "This is a remote place," they said, "and it's already very late." [46] After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.

The night vigil in Mark 6:46 was after a day when He had been so busy He could not eat and when He had taken the disciples aside to rest awhile. But the needed and desired rest had been immediately broken in upon by the multitude who outran Him and the entire day had been spent teaching and healing the sick and feeding the multitude. That weary day was followed not by sleep, but by a night of prayer. There is a better way to recuperate exhausted energies than by sleep. Often times, when we are so tired we cannot sleep, and waste time tossing to and fro in our beds, if we would arise and pour out our hearts to God we would get far more rest and go back to bed to sleep.

160.062.080 Torrey: p132, T:VI(2), P:8
POINT 80: Jesus Christ prayed before great temptations.

Matthew 26:36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray."

Luke 22:39-41 [39] Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. [40] On reaching the place, he said to them, "Pray that you will not fall into temptation." [41] He withdrew about a stone's throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed,

Jesus prepared for the temptations He saw drawing near by prayer, so He always came out victorious. The disciples, despite His warning, slept while He prayed; as a result, He succeeded, while they failed. The calm majesty of His bearing amid the awful onslaughts of Pilate's judgment hall and of Calvary was the outcome of the struggle, agony and victory of Gethsemane.

160.062.090 Torrey: p132, T:VI(2), P:9
POINT 90: Jesus Christ prayed in the last moments of His life.

Luke 23:34, 46 [34] Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. [46] Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last.

Jesus' last utterance before His death was a prayer. His life had been a life of prayer, and with prayer it came to a fitting close.

160.064.000 Torrey: p132, T:VI(3)
Topic 64: Where Jesus Christ Prayed.

160.064.010 Torrey: p132, T:VI(3), P:1
POINT 10: Jesus Christ went out into a mountain apart to pray.

Matthew 14:23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,

Mark 6:46 After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.

Luke 6:12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.

John 6:15 Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

Each of the four evangelists makes mention of His going into the mountain to pray, and it is said in Luke 22:39 "as his custom was."

In Imago Christi at page 131, Stalker says "When he arrived in a town, His first thought was which was the shortest way to the mountain, just as ordinary travelers inquire where the most noted sights are and which is the best hotel." Christ went to the mountain because of its solitude, and because it brought Him near to God.

160.064.020 Torrey: p132, T:VI(3), P:2
POINT 20: Jesus Christ went out into solitary places to pray.

Mark 1:35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

There is doubtless a sense in which we can find a solitary place in our crowded streets, but it is well to follow Christ's example literally, and get away from the sight and sound of men, and get alone with God. If you have never known what it is to kneel down in the woods where no human voice could be hear, or beneath a tree in the silent starlight or moonlight, and look up with open eyes toward the face of God and talk to Him, you have missed a blessing that cannot be described, but that every child of God should know.

160.065.000 Torrey: p133, T:VI(4)
Topic 65: With Whom Christ Prayed.

160.065.010 Torrey: p133, T:VI(4), P:1
POINT 10: Jesus Christ prayed alone -- by Himself.

Matthew 14:23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,

160.065.020 Torrey: p133, T:VI(4), P:2
POINT 20: Jesus Christ prayed with a chosen few.

Luke 9:28 About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray.

160.065.030 Torrey: p133, T:VI(4), P:3
POINT 30: Jesus Christ prayed with the whole apostolic company. They were his family and this was family prayer.

Luke 9:18 Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, "Who do the crowds say I am?"

160.065.040 Torrey: p134, T:VI(4), P:4
POINT 40: Jesus Christ prayed in the midst of a great multitude.

Matthew 14:19 And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.

On the basis of the following excerpt, some people contend that we must confine our prayers to closets. However, Christ's own example disproves this.

Matthew 6:6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

160.066.000 Torrey: p134, T:VI(5)
Topic 66: On Whose Behalf Jesus Christ Prayed.

160.066.010 Torrey: p135, T:VI(5), P:1
POINT 10: Jesus Christ prayed on God's behalf, for God's glory.

John 12:28 "Father, glorify your name!" Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and will glorify it again."

Jesus had a supreme regard for God's interest in His prayers. In the prayer He taught His disciples (the Our Father), the first petition was that God's name be hallowed.

Matthew 6:9 This, then, is how you should pray: "Our Father [who is] in heaven, hallowed be your name,"

Note: Most people interpret "hallowed by your name" as "Your name is holy." However, this is not the case. Great universities with a rich tradition are frequently referred to as "these hallowed halls of higher learning ...." "Hallowed" means "revered," "respected," "held in high esteem."

160.066.020 Torrey: p134, T:VI(5), P:2
POINT 20: Jesus Christ prayed on His own behalf.

John 17:1 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you."

It was not in any sense a selfish prayer, though it was for himself. He prayed for the Father to glorify Him in order that He in turn might glorify the Father. He prayed for deliverance from premature death so that He might finish the work the Father had given Him to do. There is nothing more unselfish in the world than a true prayer for oneself.

=== DISCUSSION ===

Guilt and feelings of inadequacy are two of Satan's best weapons. Many people pray for everyone except themselves because they are taught "Be thankful for your blessings," You shall not covet ... anything that belongs to your neighbor, (Exodus 20:17, Deuteronomy 5:21) Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, (Matthew 5:3) and ... it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. (Matthew 19:24)

They are also taught by often well-meaning, but nevertheless misguided persons that these passages show that it is selfish to pray for oneself, and that it is especially selfish, indeed outright sinful, to pray for specific material blessings such as a particular job or a specific new automobile.

Many people are led to believe that God's "blessings", God's "grace" and God's "favor" are only vague generalities in the nature of "God is my friend. He's going to let me into Heaven."

The fact is that God wants His people to have the comforts and material blessings available in this life. He is glorified when His people prosper. He wants those who have not yet found Him to see Christians blessed with material possessions and joy in spirit and ask "How come that person is so much better off than me? We have similar education and I have more experience. How come he gets ahead and I don't? Why does he bother to praise and glorify his god when he already has more than he can use? How come even when things go wrong he doesn't lose hope?" God wants those people to see what His blessings really mean. Jesus came that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10) A full life is spiritually rich and provides for ones material needs adequately.

However, in the mid-1990's there has arisen an unbiblical belief that every Christian can always have significant material prosperity. The following provide a more realistic perspective:

John 15:5, 7-8 [5] "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. [7] If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. [8] This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

1 John 5:14-15 [14] This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. [15] And if we know that he hears us -- whatever we ask -- we know that we have what we asked of him.

Mark 11:24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

160.066.030 Torrey: p135, T:VI(5), P:3
POINT 30: Jesus Christ prayed on behalf of all His own. Christ's own, those given to Him by the Father, are the objects of His prayer in a sense no others are. It is for them He now intercedes as High Priest and Advocate.

John 14:16-17 [16] And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever -- [17] the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

John 17:9, 20 [9] I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. [20] "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,

Hebrews 7:25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

Romans 8:34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died -- more than that, who was raised to life -- is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

1 John 2:1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense -- Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.

160.066.032 Torrey: no
POINT 32: Jesus Christ did not pray for every man. He did not pray for those who ultimately will not be saved.

John 17:9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours.

160.066.040 Torrey: p135, T:VI(5), P:4
POINT 40: Jesus Christ prayed for Peter, for an individual disciple.

Luke 22:31-32 [31] "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. [32] But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."

Christ does not merely pray for believers in a mass, he prays for individual believers.

1 John 2:1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense -- Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.

160.066.050 Torrey: p135, T:VI(5), P:5
POINT 50: Jesus Christ prayed for His enemies.

Luke 23:34 Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

160.067.000 Torrey: p135, T:VI(6)
Topic 67: How Jesus Christ Prayed.

160.067.010 Torrey: p135, T:VI(6), P:1
POINT 10: Jesus Christ prayed with God's glory first in view.

John 17:1 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you."

Compare James 4:3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

Matthew 6:9 This, then, is how you should pray: " Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,"

160.067.020 Torrey: p136, T:VI(6), P:2
POINT 20: Jesus Christ prayed in perfect submission to the Father's will.

Matthew 26:42 He went away a second time and prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done."

This did not introduce any element of uncertainty into his prayers when the will of God was clearly revealed and known.

Compare John 11:41-42 [41] So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. [42] I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me."

160.067.030 Torrey: p136, T:VI(6), P:3
POINT 30: Jesus Christ prayed on His knees.

Luke 22:41 He withdrew about a stone's throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed,

160.067.040 Torrey: p136, T:VI(6), P:4
POINT 40: Jesus Christ prayed on His face before God.

Matthew 26:39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."

If the sinless Son of God got upon His knees and upon His face before the father, what should we do?

160.067.050 Torrey: p136, T:VI(6), P:5
POINT 50: Jesus Christ prayed with open, upturned eyes.

Matthew 14:19 And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.

John 17:1 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you."

We do well often to close our eyes and shut the world out, but there are times when it is well to look right up with open eyes into the face of God as Jesus did.

160.067.060 Torrey: p137, T:VI(6), P:6
POINT 60: Jesus Christ prayed earnestly.

Luke 22:44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

The literal force of the word translated "earnestly" is "stretched-out-ly." The thought is of the soul stretched out in intensity of desire.

160.067.070 Torrey: p137, T:VI(6), P:7
POINT 70: Jesus Christ prayed "with strong and crying tears."

The word translated "crying" is a very strong word, meaning "outcry" or "clamor". The force of it is increased by the qualifying adjective "strong." He prayed "with a mighty outcry." There are some who speak of it as an attainment of superior faith to always be very calm in prayer, and "just take" in childlike confidence what they ask. They have either gotten beyond their Master, or else do not know that Holy Spirit earnestness means. It is to be suspected that sometimes their calm comes not from the Holy Spirit, but from indifference. The Holy Spirit makes intercession "with groanings which cannot be uttered." (Romans 8:26) Be careful not to confuse the laziness of indifference with "the peace of faith." (Reviser's Note: Torrey used the phrase "the rest of faith".) Any peace of faith that does not leave room for mighty conflicts in prayer and deed is not Christlike. Worse yet are a "groaning" and "tears" and "outcry" that are simulated, or the product of working oneself up from fleshly concern.

160.067.080 Torrey: p137, T:VI(6), P:8
POINT 80: Jesus Christ prayed with a large outlay of time -- "all night."

Luke 6:12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.

The time element in prayer is of vast importance. By the use of modern machinery a man can do more in a minute than he once could do in hours; indeed, some high-speed computers can do more calculations in a few minutes than a man could do in a lifetime. Yet no machinery has ever been invented that can expedite the work of prayer.

160.067.090 Torrey: p138, T:VI(6), P:9
POINT 90: Jesus Christ prayed urgently and persistently -- three times for the same thing.

Matthew 26:44 So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.

In the face of what is recorded of Christ it will not do to say that the failure to take what you ask the first time you pray necessarily indicates a weakness of faith.

160.067.100 Torrey: p139, T:VI(6), P:10
POINT 100: Jesus Christ prayed: (a) with thanksgiving. In this case the thanksgiving was for an answer yet to be and that only faith could see. (b) Believingly. He believed that He had received the petition He asked of the Father, though there was as yet no visible proof of it.

John 11:41-42 [41] So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. [42] I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me."

Compare Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Compare 1 John 5:14-15 [14] This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. [15] And if we know that he hears us -- whatever we ask -- we know that we have what we asked of him.

Mark 11:24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

160.068.000 Torrey: p138, T:VI(7)
Topic 68: The Effect of Christ's Prayers.

160.068.010 Torrey: p138, T:VI(1), P:1
POINT 10: The Father always heard Christ's prayers and therefore He always received what He asked.

Jesus Christ accomplished things by prayer which even He could accomplish in no other way. Thus, He saved Peter when warnings and teachings failed. Thus, He overcame temptation, wrought miracles, escaped death and glorified God, finishing the work the Father gave Him to do.

160.068.022 Torrey: no
POINT 22: With but a single exception, Jesus always received what He prayed for - - not because He was "Dad's favorite", but because He always asked for things in accordance with the Father's will.

John 4:34 "My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work."

John 8:29 The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.

John 5:30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me. (John 5:30 is referring to the Day of Judgment.)

160.068.022 Torrey: no
POINT 32: Even though Jesus was without sin, and even though He was deserving and prayed earnestly and fervently, when Jesus prayed for something contrary to the Father's will, the Father did not grant the prayer of His only begotten Son.

Matthew 26:39 [39] Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."

Matthew 26:42 He went away a second time and prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done."

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THE CHARACTER OF JESUS: His Prayer Life

THE CHARACTER OF JESUS:
His Prayer Life