This lesson, along with next weeks, is meant to help draw attention to the GINORMOUS GULF OF A DIFFERENCE between Jesus (who IS GOD) and humanity (WHO NEEDS GOD). The answer to the question “What would Jesus Do (WWJD)?” boils down to: “PURSUE HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD THE FATHER.” And the answer to the question “What do people do?” boils down to: “Rebel against God.”

So, in the next two lessons, we want to make that distinction crystal clear:

Lesson 151 – Jesus Prays – (focusing primarily on His prayers at the Last Supper and in the Garden of Gethsemane, but highlighting His proclivity toward prayer throughout His ministry)

Lesson 152 – The World Rebels – (showing that sin was the go-to behavior of all the people surrounding Jesus in His last hours (the religious and political leaders, the people Israel in general, and even the disciples!)

Memory Verse: The LORD is near to all who call on Him. Psalm 145:18

Handout: Jesus Prays

Craft: Praying hearts draw near to Jesus

Narrative:

Jesus prayed A LOT.

He prayed publically, and He prayed privately; He prayed early in the morning as well as all night.  He prayed both before and after the great events of his life, and He prayed when life was unusually busy.

He prayed at His baptism (Luke 3:21).  He prayed before choosing the Twelve Disciples (Luke 6:12).  And He prayed before He taught his disciples how to pray (Luke 11:1).  In addition to that, He prayed at the Transfiguration (Luke 9:29), before raising Lazarus from the dead (John 11:41-42), before the meals in which he fed thousands of people (Matt 14 and 15), and before walking on water (Matt 14:22, Mark 6:46, John 6:15).  He prayed after healing (Mark 1:35), and after teaching (Luke 15:16).

He prayed PRAISES to God for His glory and power (John 12, John 18; Matt 11:25-26, Luke 10:21); He GAVE THANKS to God for His provision (Matt 14 and 15), and He ASKED God to forgive sinners (Luke 23:34), and He asked God to DIRECT HIS PATHS.

The Bible tells us WHY Jesus prayed so much:  Psalm 145:18 promises us that the Lord is NEAR to all those who call on Him in truth.  That means that praying draws us close to God, which is where we were originally meant to be.

And the Bible records Jesus’ fervent prayers that He lifted up to God as the time drew near for Him to go to the cross.  At the Last Supper with His disciples, He prayed for Himself, for those disciples with Him and ALL FUTURE DISCIPLES who would put their faith in Him.

In that prayer, He affirmed that He came from God the Father, to bring eternal life to those who would put their faith in Him.  He prayed for unity among the believers, and prayed for their protection.  And He prayed to affirm that all the GLORY goes to GOD.

After that, Jesus and the disciples retreated to a place called the Garden of Gethsemane.  There again He prayed.  This time, He prayed for Himself.  Knowing that punishment, ridicule and death on the cross were awaiting Him, He ask the Father to remove it if possible, YET He prayed that that God’s will be done.

That same evening, after praying three times, he found his disciples sleeping, and He exhorted them: “watch and pray that you may not fall into temptation.”

Jesus knew that praying was important, because it is how He spent time with God the Father, and that is the best thing anyone can do, any time, anywhere, anyhow.

Jesus prayed all the time, and gave us the pattern to follow.  We need to draw near to God and to depend on Him, to lead our paths, so that God will be glorified by the lives we lead.