Learning from the Master, Part 1

In the life of prayer, our primary example is in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The heavenly Father’s purpose for every Christian is that we be conformed to the likeness of His Son (Romans 8:29). The most characteristic element of the life of Jesus is His prayer life. If we are to be like Him, we must begin with an understanding of what His prayer life was like -- what it meant and the part that it played in His earthly pilgrimage.

This article is the first in a series to encourage us to learn from Him the true meaning of a life of prayer, and thus to have that same communion with the Father that was the source of direction and of power in the Master’s earthly life.

"I just don’t understand what God is doing in my life. Things aren’t going the way they ought to go."

You may have heard Christian friends making such a statement. Struggling to cope with seemingly unexplainable events in your life, you may have said it yourself. As I travel and engage in prayer and discipleship conferences across the country, I hear those words with increasing frequency. I always respond, with great confidence, that I know exactly what God is doing: "He is conforming you to the likeness of His Son." In Romans 8:29, Paul writes, "For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers."

I don’t presume to explain the precise meaning of each step He is taking, but I can tell you without hesitation that, if you are a child of God, what He is doing in your life right now is a part of His determination to conform you to the likeness -- or image -- of His Son.

The important thing for us to do is to gain, through the Scriptures, an understanding of what it really means to be in the likeness of Jesus Christ. And for our purposes here, we need to put that in the context of prayer.

What would it be like for my prayer life to be like His prayer life? 

What characterized His prayer life? 

These are the questions we'll tackle throughout this series.  Stay tuned--and stay prayed up.