He Very Seldom Prayed

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This will come as a shock to many (and with violent disagreement, I expect), but Jesus very seldom prayed in public. Unlike what we do today. We pray every step of the way---in public---either to show people how spiritual we are or to avoid offending the religious ones. Or maybe to avoid offending God. We open and close in prayer in bible studies, Sunday school, worship service, and preaching.

Even before each meal. What more if we have a big undertaking, like praying for miraculous healing or driving out demons. We pray a lot in public, in fact, to the extent that we often overkill. We overkill demons with warring prayers. Poor devils. We pray a lot but often show little to nothing for it. We say voluminous prayers for the sick, and they're still sick when we finish. Sometimes, they even get worse.

Jesus just said a word (a word, mind you) and everything went accordingly. Everything and everyone obeyed. No ifs or buts. And this, without praying (in public).

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We should do things as Jesus did things. Anyone who has faith in me will do what I've been doing, he said. Well, we've been doing the exact opposite. We pray a lot in public but very, very seldom (if any) spend quality and intimate time with God in private---the kind that triggers transfiguration or translation to the third heaven. The "walk with God" that raptured Enoch well ahead of time.

When Jesus delivered his famous and powerful Sermon on the Mount, he didn't open or end in prayer. Ever noticed that? And his first miracle in Cana. Did he pray for a miracle first before water turned into wine? And the ten lepers who were healed? And the blind man who received his sight after Jesus prepared a mud pie using his own saliva? The paralyzed man let down from the roof? How about the demon-possessed in Gadarenes?

Don't get me wrong. Prayer is powerful and important in ministry. Jesus prayed powerful prayers. But that's mostly in private with the Father. In public, he was very seldom showy. And he often just said short prayers when he was with people. He merely looked up and said thanks to multiply bread and fish to thousands. Nonetheless, he did pray each step of the way doing his ministry in public but was seldom seen doing it.

Once, they were trapped in a furious squall in a lake. Their boat was about to sink. His disciples urged him to wake up and do something. Probably, they wanted him to worry with them. Often, our prayers are nothing but expressions of uncertainties and worrying. But Jesus calmly stood up and rebuked the wind and waves---and they immediately stopped. Everything was calm. And this, without praying. No even a single word.

See?

There's something powerful when we don't pray---in public. Why? Because we use Jesus authority in us. Jesus prayed a lot in private, but in public he simply assumed the Father's authority in him. The Father in him did it. And CHRIST in you does it when you simply declare things. Truth is, the Father and Son are both in us (really in us)---100 percent---through the Holy Spirit in us.

And because the Spirit is in us 100 percent, we pray without ceasing---because he is the Spirit of supplication. Imagine that? The Holy Spirit of supplication himself is living in you, 100 percent. So your natural nature is to pray continuously. And this was what Jesus did. This was his secret. Aside from his long bouts with the Father in remote places (just being alone with HIM), he prayed continuously without ceasing. He was always talking with the Father, as Enoch walked with God for 300 years.

We get a glimpse of this in Jesus' short prayer:

Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.

With this short prayer (you can pray this prayer within 10 seconds) Lazarus was resurrected from the dead. Imagine? Why such powerful prayer? Because Jesus' prayer life consisted of unceasingly talking with the Father all day. He said, "Father I thank you that you have heard me." Heard him? When? The passage context shows Jesus never prayed before this. And yet, in a sense, he did---privately. While on his way to the grave site, he was praying or talking to the Father inwardly, in his spirit. And being intimate like this with the Father, he was sure the Father had answered his prayer.

So all he had to do was assume that answered prayer---the authority---and declare life to Lazarus. He didn't need to pray in public as we would, asking God to (please) resurrect him. His prayer was a thank prayer for the answer. And the rest is history. That's how we should operate in ministry. That's real ministry as Jesus did it.

What would we have done in this instance? Well, I'm sure we would've asked God to comfort the bereaved family of Lazarus---that they may accept the death of their loved one. Period. The nearest we would pray about supernatural miracle would be "Lord, provide the finances they need for the burial." And a lot more nonsense like that.

Often we overkill. We pray tons of prayers in public, opening and closing, with drama and diction and all, a majestic voice, prosing on theological principles, and with a bunch of so-called "prayer warriors" behind us shouting prayers like crazy---and produce nothing.

Jesus was different. After praying alone on the mountainside one night, Jesus decided to walk on water to catch up with the disciples on the boat. When he got there, Peter wanted to walk on water, too. Jesus simply said, "Come." He didn't say, "Let's pray first." And Peter, indeed walked on water before sinking due to loss of faith.

I heard one pastor pray for food during lunch. And he went on describing how the food would enter the esophagus and land on the stomach and undergo digestive processes to filter out nutrients which would be distributed to the body for health and strength. WOW! Didn't God know all that, that this pastor had to tell him what should happen?

We should seldom pray in public, but pray nonstop in private.

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 (in public). Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 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.