If Daniel’s resolve to
pray despite King Darius’s order forbidding prayer to God is an Old Testament
portrait for resolution to pray, what image comes to your mind from the life of
Jesus and his tenacity to pray?
Visualize if you will the scene of Jesus praying in the
wilderness for forty days and nights. True, the Bible does not explicitly state
that Jesus was praying during those nearly six weeks, but we do know that Jesus
fasted for that long.
And being alone in the
desert for 40 days, what else would He be doing but praying?
Jesus had a devoted prayer life. He taught
by His example and His exhortation for prayer. In His resolve to pray, let
us look at the ten aspects of prayer that we learned from the prayer life of
Daniel and see how they apply in Christ’s example of prayer, especially during His
days following His baptism and before His earthly ministry.
1. Be resolute despite resistance (Matthew 4:1,
Mark 1:12, Luke 4:1). None
of the gospels say Jesus went to pray in the wilderness, but Satan did not
arrive to tempt Him until after 40 days. Of course, Jesus prayed during those
days as He faced resistance, physically, mentally, emotionally, and most of
all, spiritually. Israel was in the wilderness for 40 years, a year for every
day that the spies were in the Promised Land. They were tested and tried. Moses
also went without food and water for 40 days as he went to the mountain. In
prayer, we will face resistance, from others, from the devil, and even from our
own wants and needs (such as food). Daniel’s portrait shows how men resisted him
and how Daniel had to resist man’s plans. Likewise, Jesus often withdrew from
people because their desires were different than God’s. Luke 4:8 records
Jesus saying these famous words, “Get behind me, Satan” (Matthew 4:10
simply says, “Go, Satan!”) Those are the same words Jesus said to Peter
in Matthew 16:23, adding, “you are not mindful of the things of God,
but the things of men.” In prayer, we must remain resolute against man’s
thoughts and things. Resistance builds strength, so fully expect that when we
pray. Being resolute in prayer will help win the battle.
2. Be resolute in repetition (Matthew 4:2). While we don’t have
recorded the actual prayers Jesus prayed during His 40 days in the desert, He
undoubtedly repeatedly prayed, just as we saw that Daniel repeatedly prayed. We
need to repeatedly go to God, not because God needs reminding, but we do! The
Bible says we should pray throughout the day and if you run out of new things for
which to pray, you are given permission to pray and pray again. Jesus repeated
the same things. Repetition is not only commanded and exemplified by Christ, repeated
prayers encourage us. We learn by repetition and repetition helps our faith.
4. Be resolute in results. The Spirit that drove Jesus
into the desert was going to lead to a marvelous result: the defeat of Satan. Daniel
defeated the devil in the lion’s den. Jesus defeated the devil in the
wilderness. If you want better results in prayer, be resolute in letting the Spirit
of God drive you into the trials of your life that leads you to pray.
5. Be resolute in refusing to replace God (Matthew
4:3-9). Jesus
faced three temptations to replace God’s way with Satan’s way. Jesus refused to
replace God. These three areas were found in the serpent’s temptation of Eve (good
to eat, able to make one wise, delight to the eyes, Genesis 3:6). 1
John 2:16 also mentions these three deadly sins, “For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the
pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.” Jesus faced:
a) the lust of the flesh for bread (Matthew
4:3),
b) the pride of life to throw Himself off the temple, tempting God
foolishly (4:6), and
c) the lust of the eyes when Christ saw all the world’s
glory if He would worship Satan (4:8-9).
6. Be resolute in resistance (Matthew 4:10). Jesus said to him, “Go,
Satan!” Once Christ resisted “every temptation” of the devil, Jesus told
the devil to leave and so he did! Luke 4:13 says the devil left “until
an opportune time.” James 4:7 encourages us to “submit to God,
resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” When we are resolute
in our prayer life, we are enabled with a resistant spiritual power against the
enemy. Satan is very real, but often reveals himself through natural agents, including
people, circumstances, and disasters. As we resist, God takes the retributive
judgment. You do not have to turn too many pages in the Bible before you will read that God
is the One who fights against our enemies against whom we prayerfully and
resolutely stand. Mark 1:13 also adds that there were “wild animals” in
the wilderness. Psalm 91:10-15 gives the follow-up of Satan’s misapplication of the
Scripture.
7. Be resolute in response (Mark 1:13). “The angels ministered
to Him.” When Daniel prayed, angels
came to shut the lions’s mouths. Daniel’s resolve in the face of adversity led
him to the lion’s den—a perilous pit where hungry beasts awaited. The power of prayer
set him free. When Jesus prayed, He received a response from the angels who
ministered to Him. Our prayers can move heaven and earth. Angels, people,
events, afflictions are influenced from our prayers. In the quiet
chambers of our hearts, our prayerful words echo softly against the walls of
faith. There, we find a sanctuary. There,
our whispered prayers take flight. There, the true strength of our intercession
lies, beyond the mere utterance of syllables or the eloquence of language. God
responds to our prayers.
8. Be resolute in reception by God. More than merely the angels
who came and ministered to Jesus (Matthew 4:11), God, the Heavenly
Father of the Son of Man, also received Jesus’s prayers. Just as Daniel was
assured God would protect Him from the lions, Jesus also knew that God would
receive His prayers. It is physically impossible for a human to withstand 40
days without food or water in a desert. God supernaturally preserved His only Begotten’s
life. Whether spoken aloud or uttered silently within, prayers ripple through
the fabric of existence. Even if we do not tell others, we have spoken to the
God of the universe. Prayer touches lives we may never know, hearts we may
never meet. God listens, attuned to our whispers, and He responds in ways
beyond our comprehension. Jesus was affirmed several times that His heavenly
Father heard His prayer, and that affirmation was not merely for His Son, but
to encourage us.
9. Be resolute in rejoicing. Jesus resolutely rejoiced
at the defeat of Satan as the angels ministered to Him. When the disciples rejoiced
over the victory over demons in Luke 10:20-21, Jesus said there was more
rejoicing in the presence of the angels. Jesus “rejoiced in the Spirit and
said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth….” If you are fighting
trials and temptations, be resolute in rejoicing. Satan has fallen like lightning.
You have “authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the
power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” Why did Jesus say we should rejoice? “Rejoice
because your names are written in heaven.”
10. Be resolute in expecting rewards. When the devil had ended
every temptation, he departed from Him (Luke 4:13). Jesus was rewarded
with three and a half years of ministry which began with an empowerment from
His 40 days of prayer and testing.
Heavenly
Father, teach us to be resolute in our prayers just as Jesus showed us in the
desert to pray without ceasing.
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