April 5, 1999

Synopsis: We have much to learn from Christ in the school of prayer.

"Jesus never taught his disciples how to preach. He only taught them to pray." Lord, teach us to pray! This is a simple selected overview of the spiritual formation and prayer lifestyle of Jesus Christ with insights for your personal use and practice. Readers are invited to use these simple gifts for personal reflections, meditations and spiritual formation. God bless you and may each visitor be "surprised by joy!"

Table of Contents: Part 1

1. Introduction to God-Power
2. Christ’s Childhood Spiritual Heritage
3. God-Power Reflections on Solitude
4. Temptation, Scripture, Prayer & Fasting
5. More About Prayer & Fasting
6. Summary & Blessing
7. About the author "surprisedbyjoy@yahoo.com"
8. Selected Bibliography

Many yearn for help in beginning to pray. Prayer is God-power. The prayer life of Christ has much to offer seekers of all sexual orientations. Christ is the most non-homophobic spiritual leader in history and teaches us how to pray with God’s compassion and love for all people. From his childhood through his death, his prayer life has inspired and empowered people around the world with God-power through studying his spirituality practices.

Helen Shoemaker noted in Prayer and Evangelism, that Jesus had a radical prayer life. He prayed greatly, lived greatly and died greatly! The bottom line was that Jesus believed in prayer and prayed often. He would pray for people, enemies and for personal strength in times of deep need. His disciples noticed he often went by himself to pray. He was so astonishing and powerful in his prayer life that his disciples requested prayer lessons.

Andrew Murray writes in his classic book With Christ in the School of Prayer, "Jesus never taught his disciples how to preach, only to pray." They were eager to hear what he said to God day after day, to receive such power and wisdom. The Great Prayer that resulted was the Lord’s prayer. This prayer is repeated "in more places and situations worldwide than any other passage of Holy Scripture."

Remarkably few of Jesus’ prayers are recorded. "Probably because he often sought God’s guidance in solitude." Christ did not keep a prayer journal or have a secretary record his words. The few words passed on to us are profound in their simplicity.

We can reclaim God-power through the story of the boy Jesus in Luke 2:41-52. From childhood he began a spiritual revolution by inviting people to pray with a tender, intimate, trusting, loving and personal name for God. God was his beloved and cherished heavenly Parent. We can reclaim our God-power through an intimate name for the Tender One.

From this biblical passage we gleam insights of his childhood training in Jewish Orthodox spirituality. Every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. At age 12, Jesus and his family went "as usual" to the festival. On the way home Jesus became a "missing child." His parents returned to the city, frantic with worry. They spent several days searching for him. Finally they found their missing son "in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions." All were astonished at his understanding and answers, including his parents who reprimanded him for disappearing. The 12 year old replied, "Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know I must be in my Father’s house?" But he was an obedient child and came home with his parents. The scripture then tells us "Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor."

There is much to be said about raising a child in the faith. There is little we know about Jesus’ childhood, but we know about orthodox Jewish daily life during the first century. Alfred Edersheim has done a thorough work in The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. Edersheim’s insights are invaluable in helping us understand Jesus, the man. Jesus had a childhood spiritual heritage which deeply influenced his adult spirituality.

Jesus had a religious life training which began at birth. His education began in the home by influence and example before he had formal teaching. It was seen and heard before book learning. Jewish parents had high regard for their children. The relationship with the father and mother is intimate, tender and held in very high regard. Certainly there were consequences for disobeying them. The fifth commandment is to honor our parents. Jesus did that.

He grew up in a religious atmosphere. There was regular worship in the synagogue including pilgrimages to Jerusalem (the holy city) for Jewish Holy days. There was a distinct rhythm of daily rituals and hours of prayer. Even the door post had visible prayer symbols. As a religious family, they had regular traditional Sabbath meals. Some Sabbath rituals included the lighting of the Sabbath lamp, observing Sabbath rest rhythms with special public and private prayers. Jesus wore a prayer shawl. A significant part of his education consisted of learning the Talmud (the Rabbinical teachings) while memorizing huge portions of the Hebrew scriptures.

The New Testament tells us we are molded by a knowledge and influence of the Holy Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:15; 1:5). From birth Jesus was taught the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament known as the Law which included the ten commandments). Jewish spirituality offers many insights. Old Testament prayers were memorized and recited throughout the year. Jewish prayer life was marked by rhythm and rituals (daily, weekly, throughout the year, public and private). Regular worship habits were part of the lifestyle, society and culture. These were engraved in his heart through memory and oral tradition.

The Psalms were sung as a beloved prayer book. Jesus knew the Hallel (Ps 113 -118) by heart. These were festive Psalms for special festive pilgrimages to Zion. His Jewish spiritual heritage offered a rich variety of prayers for all occasions. They had morning, afternoon and evening prayers. Special prayers routinely preceded the reading of the Torah. Blessings and prayers greeted the new month. Prayers were offered for every possible special occasion. These prayers ranged from birth of a child, beginning and end of journeys, blessings before and after each meal and through life cycles and seasons. They had Psalm readings for each day of the week. There were prayers before going to bed. Jesus had a carefully prepared, systematic, thorough religious instruction from birth. This was normative in his society and time in history.

There is great theological significance of Jesus’ appreciation of the name "Father." Jewish Fathers were held in very high esteem and reverence. They traditionally ruled as head of the household and had absolute authority over the family. They also had the responsibility of guarding, supporting and helping all the others. Jesus referred to God as "Father" more than 240 times in the gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. This was unsettling for the pious Jew. God as "Father" is mentioned perhaps 15 times in the Hebrew scriptures and only in the context of corporate Israel. When we read the name, "Father" in our English Bibles, it would be appropriate for us to say, "dear Father" to most fully appreciate how Jesus used this name for spiritual intimacy and trust.

What was completely unthinkable for the pious Jew was Jesus’ use of the childish and familiar term "Abba." It was revolutionary. It expresses an attitude of trust and obedience toward God as Father, along with the incomparable Divine authority. In Aramaic, Abba was used with the feminine equivalent "Imma." These words were derived from baby-language. When the child was weaned, it learned to say "Abba" (daddy) and "Imma" (mummy). There is nothing in traditional ancient Jewish devotional literature where Abba is used as a way of addressing God. There was too great a distance between God and humans to address God in such familiar and endearing everyday terms. God was called reverent titles such as Sovereign of the world, Creator of the universe and Almighty God. An excellent discussion of the usage of Abba and Father can be found in the New International Dictionary of Theology, volume 2. Jesus was a spiritual revolutionary from childhood with this tender name for God.

There are many insights for us through this brief childhood study. Children benefit from a childhood spiritual heritage that is not abusive and legalistic. There are many advantages of regular worship, hearing of scripture, prayers, blessings, while participating in a community of faith. Some of us have never enjoyed or been exposed to a beloved childhood spirituality. We are all children at heart. We are never to old to begin a renewed spiritual life. We also need to offer our children a spiritual heritage.

The Psalter is a marvelous prayer book that Jesus knew well. He sang them as hymns, memorized them from childhood, quoted them from the cross as he was dying. We would do well to use his prayer book! Every human emotion and difficult life circumstance is found here.

The Hebrew scriptures (Old Testament) are also full of prayers by real people, in impossible situations who make mistakes. These imperfect people of faith knew God would hear their prayers. These are wonderful prayers for us to discover and recover. One helpful book is A Devotional and Expositional Classic, All the Prayers of the Bible by Herbert Lockyer. There are over 650 listed prayers with 450 recorded answers. You’ll find prayers as vows, for blessings, as groans, complaints, in danger, as needy, discouraged people who call for divine help.

There was a daily, weekly and yearly calendar of prayer and worship. We could benefit by being more intentional in these areas. Rabbi Akiva suggested "before you taste anything, recite a blessing." Pray at meal time. Consider a bedtime prayer of gratitude. Perhaps start the day with a moment of prayer for whatever is ahead. Experiment with liturgical Sabbath prayers from a variety of traditions at home and in church. Attend worship on a regular basis, including Christmas and Easter. Jesus regularly attended worship with his disciples. His disciples continued to observe regular hours of public prayers, weekly worship and spiritual community. A helpful Bible reading experience demonstrating the disciples worship habits is found in the adventure story of the early church, known as the book of Acts. They learned it from their soul friend and spiritual mentor, Jesus Christ.

Perhaps the most important prayer teaching we can experience from Jesus’ childhood is to reclaim praying to Abba/Imma God. Or consider a new tender name for God if parental names are emotionally harmful for us. Some have prayed "Loving One" and "Dearest" as their name for God. If we are going to take the prayer teachings and habits of Jesus seriously, God is a loving Parent. But be realistic! If we are survivors of abusive, incestuous family of origin backgrounds, realistically a parental name for God may be too painful. But it is worth the effort to reach deep inner healing. Find a tender, intimate, loving name for God and begin there. Some readers will need to consider using a therapist, counselor or perhaps trusted spiritual friend in this sensitive area of prayer. Praying a tender, intimate and loving name for God is transforming, empowering and healing.

God-power leads us to the less-traveled way in the spiritual life. We need rest, quiet, solitude and retreat for spiritual renewal, strength, discernment and time with God. Jesus did most of his praying in solitude. He left for private prayer places, rose early, stayed all night, wrestled with prayer, sought solitude deliberately. We have no idea of what he said in those prayers. We can only reflect. A sampler of these verses which demonstrate these quiet powerful prayer habits of Christ are found throughout the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

My simple reflections on solitude can be summed up in six words. Solitude is good for the soul. Linger with these verses and ponder their meaning. These scriptures are worth using for personal prayer experiences. Some prayer places can be on the beaches, in the parks, even in our yards or on our balconies. Perhaps meditation rooms are available in your churches. Consider making sacred space at home for a prayer corner with a prayer rug for kneeling, sitting, standing in prayer. Find those places to pray and they will be a great blessing during difficult life decisions and times of crisis and stress.

The quiet discipline of solitude is essential for spiritual growth and maturity. We need silence and solitude during our spiritual journey to discern God’s still quiet voice. Solitude cannot be hurried and sometimes needs intentional planning and uninterrupted places. We would do well to plan and schedule some deliberate prayer times separate from our daily busy routines. Most of us pray very little. We can plan intentional prayer retreats. Consider beginning with 30 minutes, an hour, a half day of solitude for prayer before attempting a weekend or week long silent retreat.

Expect competition for your time. Insist on these prayer retreats. They are our spiritual power encounters. Use these times to also rest in God. Solitude is part of our spiritual heritage. Solitude is good for our souls. God-power requires times of quiet, stillness, rest and lingering in the Presence of God. Expect to meet God. You’ll be blessed!

The most frequent question I continually encounter in ministry is from people of all sexual orientations. "How do I pray?" There is a great deal to be learned through the prayer habits and practices from Jesus Christ. Each gospel account has something special and unique which offers helpful spiritual insights. The Great Temptation in the wilderness demonstrates how Christ would go to a specific place, for a specific reason for prayer and fasting. We find this story in Matthew 4: 1 - 11 at the very beginning of Jesus’ adult ministry. He immediately sought God’s leading through prayer, fasting and scripture meditation in the wilderness to determine his ministry priorities.

We have much to learn about prayer and fasting. We know that 40 days and nights are medically dangerous. Jesus was actually starving and famished. Helmut Thielicke writes Christ experienced hunger where his stomach growled and gnawed; his intestines were twisted into knots, his abdomen became bloated, his head throbbed with pain. Christ felt weak and faint.

James H. Blackmore makes a profound insight for us in his book, Reflections on the Temptations of Christ. "Because the Savior was tempted as we......He understands." His table of contents gives a quick look at the enormity of this Great Temptation. Christ was tempted to satisfy self, put God to a test, do good by evil means, avoid getting involved, to withhold truth, to bask in popularity, to value things more than people, to delay a good deed, to act rashly, to conform to popular demand, to compromise truth for favor, to accept false encouragement, to stay on the mountaintop, to look after number one, to let others dictate his actions, to compromise God’s ideal and his list goes on.

Certainly all of us are tempted. The English word temptation comes from the Latin word temptare. This has two basic meanings. The first is to try or test and the other is to entice to evil. Jesus was tried and tested as well as enticed to do what was evil. He overcame the evil one. The unknown author of Hebrews writes, "he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted." (Hebrews 2:18) "Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." (Heb. 4:14-15 KJV)

C.J.G. Montefiore, a noted Jewish scholar, writes that the wilderness temptations are written in rabbinical forms. "Jesus at each temptation overcomes the devil by a quotation from scripture, exactly in the Rabbinical manner."

Blackmore reflects on those forty lonely days in the wilderness. Christ had just experienced a spiritual high in his baptism. He had just been pronounced the Beloved Son, with whom God was well pleased. Forty days and nights into the wilderness was symbolic of the forty years of testing of the people when they left Egypt. Forty days to remember his childhood, youth and early maturity. Forty days of uninterrupted mediations for thoughts and prayers, memories and dreams.

I offer several reflections and insights. The devil used scripture to tempt Christ. There is always enormous danger in isolating Scripture out of context. It can be quoted correctly but with the wrong intent with an agenda. Certainly this has been the tragic situation for millions of gay, lesbians, bisexual and transgendered people who have experienced the Bible used as a weapon against them. It is extremely easy to make the Bible say whatever we wish it to say to maintain power, status, security, human tradition and prevent minorities and those we do not understand from experiencing God’s loving presence. Well intentioned people of faith have used scripture out of context to justify slavery, the subordination of women, to deny sexual minorities their human rights for illustrations in North America alone.

But Jesus used scripture in context to accurately reveal God’s truth. Jesus did not "proof-text " Scripture. Proof-texting is using a word, sentence, paragraph out of context to prove our point of view. Often this harms people who do not hold the same viewpoints. We are to follow Christ’s example of interpreting scripture with scripture in context. This is often easier said than done. Many people of faith often come to the same pages of scripture and sometimes arrive at much different conclusions. But we are called to study the Good Book and be a humble lifelong learner. Our understanding will grow and deepen. The scriptures should not be used to denigrate, ridicule, oppress and persecute those who are different.

Human bread is not enough. We all hunger for meaning, purpose, and value. We hunger for God. Christ refused to use his power to self serve. He chose to experience hunger, one of the keenest pains of humankind experiences. He chose to identify with those who suffer. Christ gave himself completely to the service of God. The Kingdom (Reign) of God was his constant message. "Seek first the kingdom of God and God’s righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." (Matthew 6:33) Food is not our only concern in this life. We need soul food that sustains us when we are physically starving. Scripture is one form of soul food which will endure forever.

Nor are we to put God to a foolish test. We need a long study of the Scriptures to discern what is true and in the will of God. We are never to do good through evil means. The devil took Christ up a mountain and tempted Christ to worship him for all the kingdoms of the world. We are never to adopt the ways and means of evil.

The biblical text tells us the devil was defeated and left for a while. The evil one returned throughout the ministry of Christ. Just as Christ experienced great temptations, so will we. These battles in our lives will also happen again and again. Luke 4:13 tells us the evil one simply went on a retreat. He would be back at some of the most vulnerable times in Christ’s life.

Jesus teaches us to do it and assumes we will fast in our spiritual lives for God-power. One such prayer lesson is found in Matthew 6: 16-18. "When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you" (NIV).

There are times and seasons in our lives when we need fasting for spiritual growth, maturity and discernment. In the Jewish calendar year, there were special fasts for community worship. They had enormous theological significance. They took place on high feast days. Some of these were the Jewish New Year, the Day of Atonement. Fasts were called for when crops failed, droughts threatened and during national emergencies. Many individuals fasted for moral and religious self-discipline, signs of deep repentance and brokenness before God. It is very easy to get into pompous self-righteousness. We do many things in our human fallibility to establish reputations for piety. Jesus said ‘cultivate inward attitudes instead. God knows, sees in secret. That is enough.’

The spiritual life is sometimes confusing and chaotic. We may find ourselves and our own wisdom and skills inadequate for ministry crisis and situations. Sometimes only prayer with fasting will help a situation. This prayer lesson is found in Matthew 17: 19-21. The disciples were inadequate to cast out a demonic spirit. They asked Jesus why were they inadequate? What caused their ministry failure? Jesus replied with a difficult statement. ‘If you have the faith of a mustard seed, you’ll move mountains.....but this kind goes out only by prayer and fasting.’

Many well intentioned people have attempted to increase their faith to move mountains, but experienced significant spiritual discouragement and disillusionment. Some have experienced a loss of personal faith in God through these earnest prayers. Some of their deep needs have included prayers for spiritual healing, acceptance and miracles. Whatever your prayer need, let God be God in your prayer. It took many years for mountains to be formed from the earth. It may take a lifetime or eternity for those personal mountains to be moved. God’s timing is not always our timing. Some spiritual mountains need to be climbed for personal transfiguration and transformation. Mountains can provide opportunities for growth and encouragement. But sometimes we need to lift up our eyes unto the hills for strength from above. Sometimes mountain-climbing experiences are necessary for our spiritual growth and faith walk.

God walks with us through the mountains, valleys and desert experiences in our lives. We are never alone. God will not abandon us in our spiritual exhaustion, disappointments and limited understandings of these mountains.

I offer some practical reflections and insights for us consider with spiritual fasting. Consider scheduling a prayer fast for the spiritual experience. Do check important safety precautions if you are on medication or under a physicians care. Perhaps missing one meal a month for prayer purposes is a realistic place to start. List special concerns for prayer. Select scriptures or special readings in advance. Plan for a specific place for your prayer. Put it on your calendar. Just do it! It will transform your prayer life. If missing one meal is a good experience, try to omit two meals and supplement with juices and other fluids. Fasting and prayer refines our faith, strengthens and matures us. It also helps us identify with those who do not have the luxury in life to choose going without food, who actually are famished and in desperate need. Fasting is good for our souls. God-power sometimes requires periodic fasting for renewal and discernment. Sometimes discernment takes a lifetime of faith walking up those mountains one day at a time, one step at a time. Know that a loving God journeys with us.

Prayer is good for our souls. Prayer is God power. Praying with Jesus Christ provides rich spiritual insights through reclaiming an intimate tender name for God, using scripture appropriately and in context, in solitude and with prayer and fasting. May God bless you with "God-power!" May your soul care be blessed with these simple reflections. May you be "surprised by joy." Amen.

About the author: Rev. Dr. Sandra Bochonok earned her Doctor of Ministry degree at Wesley Seminary in Washington, DC and Masters of Divinity degree at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. She studied at the famous ecumenical Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation in Bethesda, Maryland. Her ministry training includes four units of Clinical Pastoral Education. She facilitates retreats and labyrinth events, provides ecumenical and interfaith pulpit supply and writes spirituality materials for international Internet readers. You may email your comments to her at revsandyb@aol.com.

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