“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” — Philippians 4:6-7
Almost everyone agrees that prayer is the most important thing we can do as a believer, if we want to see things happen and change take place in our lives. But we all can admit to having a lot of hindrances for not seeing that fulfilled such as not having enough time each day to pray; not knowing how to pray effectively; we don’t feel comfortable praying, especially in a group—or in all honesty, we don’t even like to pray because not much seems to happen when we do. If that’s you—you’re in good company.
Well, there’s hope for all of us because as we read the Gospels we find that no one ever prayed like Jesus. No one understood prayer like Jesus. No one has ever taught about prayer like Jesus—and should that surprise us? Jesus is God and with God there is absolute wisdom, knowledge and perfection in all things. But Jesus also came to earth as the Incarnate man. He was God in the flesh—yes—but He was also a man in the flesh. He had human limitations as well:
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He grew weary and tired (John 4:6).
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He experienced sadness (John 11:35) and deep emotion (Matthew 26:39).
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He was severely troubled and distressed (Mark 14:33).
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He demonstrated an unfulfilled hope and longing (Matthew 23:37).
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He anticipated loneliness from His peers (John 16:32).
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His soul was deeply tormented (Luke 22:44).
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He went through human suffering and testing (Hebrews 2:18).
