Hamilton Mill United Methodist Church

The Prayers of Jesus from Galilee to Calvary

March 6

Prayer: Always The First Step 

Matthew 4:1-11

Just before his public ministry and the calling of his disciples Jesus went to fast and pray.  Before Jesus took on anything of significance he spent time praying.  No matter what he was about to do prayer was the first step.   

1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted[a] by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”  4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’  5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:   “‘He will command his angels concerning you,  and they will lift you up in their hands,  so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ 7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’  8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” 10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’ 11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

March 13

Prayer: Acknowledging God as Lord

Matthew 6:5-13

The followers of Jesus asked Jesus how to pray.    In Jesus' day the gods were addressed with great complexity.  Sometimes the salutation lasted for days.  Jesus taught us that we can come to God in simplicity and humility, but that we must never forget that God is not our waiter, but our Lord. 

 ⁵ “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 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. ⁷ And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.  9 “This, then, is how you should pray:  “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done,  on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts,  as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation,  but deliver us from the evil one

March 20th

Praying: What to Pray For Part 1

John 17:1, 13-19   

Jesus prays for his disciples.  The focus of his prayer is their joy, their protection from evil and their holiness.   Jesus doesn’t pray for their life to be easy, or for them to have everything they want and need.  The focus of Jesus prayer is not consumption but character.  In this prayer Jesus gives us a model for prayer. 

¹ After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed….   ¹³ “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. ¹⁴ I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. ¹⁵ My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. ¹⁶ They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. ¹⁷ Sanctify them by^[d] the truth; your word is truth. ¹⁸ As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. ¹⁹ For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

March 27

Praying: What to Pray for Part 2

John 17:1, 20-26  . 

1 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed…“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.  “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me.  I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

April 2

The Toughest of All Prayers.

Matthew 26:36-42. 

In the garden Gethsemane we get a glimpse into the kind of courage Jesus brought to his prayer life.  In the face of the most difficult thing God had called him to do he prayed that God’s will, not his will, would be done.   Too often we give up praying when it looks like God is not going to give us what we want.  God calls us to pray and in praying trust that his way is better than ours.

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.” 37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” 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.” 40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. 41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”  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.”