And Jesus lifted up His eyes, and said, "Father" . . . John 11:41

Irrespective of what aspect of Christ we consider, every perfection is sacred and beyond comprehension. Consequently, when reflecting on the theme of the Lord’s prayer life⃰ and listening to divine communications, there is a loftiness so sacred that one must tread with utmost reverence.  The Lord’s prayers had a calm serenity about them, even in the midst of personal turmoil, such as in the Garden of Gethsemane.
   ⃰   We can speak of His prayer life and yet perhaps better to speak of His life of prayer.  His breathings to God in silence or verbal was ongoing with Him.

His prayers sprang from the holy sanctuary of His heart, undisturbed by a guilty conscience, and uninterrupted from external happenings.  His knowledge of God and secret communications with Him were revealed at times in His prayers.  How beautiful they were, for in them there was heard the out-raying of His deep affections and relaxed at-homeness with God.  His contented dependence on His Father was set against the background of man’s ingratitude and independence on God.  Just as the spray from the waves give evidence of the hidden movement below, so the words of our Lord in prayer gave evidence of His deep fellowship with God, a fellowship in soul and spirit that no one else could know. 

When He was praying, such was the sacredness of its duration.  None dare intrude to interrupt them, and no sudden remembrance of anything could disturb it.  The disciples waited until He was finished before asking Him to teach them to pray: “When He ceased” (Lk. 11:1).  This was not just someone speaking to the invisible God, it was the hallowed communion of the Son to the Father.  Such a holy activity must not be interrupted.  The very glory of Heaven permeated that blessed spot like an encompassing wall, God and His Son in deep communion. 

He was a man alone with His God, with the Lord speaking to Him face to face in a way much deeper than Moses ever did (Ex. 33:11; Deut. 34:10).  God spoke to Moses as a man speaks to his friend, and God communed with Abraham who was the friend of God (2 Chron. 20:7; Jam. 2:23; 4:4), but the communion between God and Christ was on a higher level. 

To God it was beautiful to observe His reverential attitude.  This loveliness was in part because He believed God is (Heb. 11:6).  God was real to Christ.  He was not a mystical person “up there” but one whom He knew and loved.  The Father must have had delightfulness of joy when the Lord fulfilled His desires in the words: “Let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice” (Song of Sol. 2:14).  His communing with God was in the full consciousness of knowing the infiniteness of the divine glory.   As the Servant of God, He praised the name of the Lord (Psa. 113:1). 

Praying was never a duty to be accomplished for conscience sake, nor an occupation at various times of the day as Daniel’s was (Dan. 6:10).  It was the delights of uninterrupted fellowship between divine persons, void of any empty pleasantries.  His prayers were never the mere speaking of words nor the patronizing of God, much less vain repetitions.  He always spoke to God with sincerest devotion, seeking only the glory of God in His petitions. 

Being tempted in all points as we are (Heb. 4:15), He would have been aware of the attempted interruptions by Satan to disturb the fellowship He knew in His communion with God.  Those times of aloneness in spirit with His Father, separated from the interruptions and intrusions of others, were precious to Him.  Unlike us, the Lord never had to prod Christ into fellowship in prayer, neither did God ever know a reluctance from the Lord to commune with Him as with the young lady in the Song of Solomon 5:2-3. 

At times He would pray all night, for possibly that was the only time of non disruption by the pressing needs of humanity, but not from the temptations of the evil one.  During the day when needy individuals came seeking help, or satanic emissaries came tempting, nothing could break His fellowship with God.  Irrespective of the situation he maintained unbroken harmony with the heart and mind of God.  He never knew what it was to need fellowship with God restored, nor did He know what it was to have it broken by sin, for He was desirous of the companionship of God. 

There is a degree in which the Lord could have repeated the words of His illustrious father David: “The God of my rock; in Him will I trust: He is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge” (2 Sam. 22:3; Psa. 18:2).  The bosom of the Father was His dwelling place, His oasis in this “waste howling wilderness” (Deut. 32:10), this “dry and thirsty land” (Psa. 63:1).  It was there He found refreshment as He walked this dry ground (Isa. 53:2).  During those times alone with God there was the deepest communion, too sacred and high for sinful man to read what was spoken.  Sometimes, though just as sacred, the disciples were privileged to listen.  Never could they ever forget those moments when they heard Him pray: “Father that they may be one”; “Keep them from the world” (Jn. 17:11, 15, 21, 22, 23); or, “not my will but thine be done” (Lk. 22:42).  Through hearing Him pray the disciples were being unconsciously taught how they should pray, what they should pray for, and the fulness of delight in communing with the Father. 

How much He longed, and now longs, for us to know the quietness of: “The secret place of the most high God. . .  abiding under the shadow of the Almighty” (Psa. 91:1); “Covered with His feathers, and under His wings finding trust” (Psa. 91:4); living under His shadow and partaking of the fruit of His love, calmness and refreshment, (Song of Sol. 2:3).  That was His abiding place.
 

 

May God grant us good understanding as He, by His Holy Spirit, deigns to guide us into all truth.
John 16:13

Copyright © 2011 by Rowan Jennings, Abbotsford, British Columbia