FIRST QUARTER 2024
SABBATH SCHOOL INSIGHT #2
JANUARY 13, 2024
“TEACH US TO PRAY”

 

Our memory text for this lesson is, “Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples’” (Luke 11:1,NKJV).

It is an interesting question the disciples of Jesus asked. It is not like they were unfamiliar with prayer or how to pray. As they grew up in synagogue they had many examples of prayer, one of which was the reading of the Psalms in synagogue and at other events and occasions. Their question suggests that how Jesus prayed was not what they had grown up with. As they watched and heard Jesus pray, they recognized an entirely different way of praying and it awakened in them a desire to pray as He did. So, when the disciples asked Jesus how to pray He didn’t point to the traditional way to pray or to the recitation of the Psalms. Instead, Jesus gave them a spontaneous, unlearned prayer as His example. Spontaneous words were spoken as to a friend, direct and to the point.

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen” (Matthew 6:9-13).

“When Jesus was upon the earth, He taught His disciples how to pray. He directed them to present their daily needs before God, and to cast all their care upon Him.” Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, p 93.

Though the Lord’s prayer has become a learned prayer and recited verbatim by many today, this was not the point of the Lord’s teaching. We would do well to remember His words in Matthew 6 on how not to pray. “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father Who is in the secret place; and your Father Who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore, do not be like them” (Matthew 6:5-8).

When it comes to the privilege of prayer, we are told that “prayer is the opening of the heart to God as to a friend. Not that it is necessary in order to make known to God what we are, but in order to enable us to receive Him. Prayer does not bring God down to us but brings us up to Him.” —ibid., p. 93. And this appeal is made:

“Why should the sons and daughters of God be reluctant to pray, when prayer is the key in the hand of faith to unlock heaven's storehouse, where are treasured the boundless resources of Omnipotence? Without unceasing prayer and diligent watching we are in danger of growing careless and of deviating from the right path. The adversary seeks continually to obstruct the way to the mercy seat, that we may not by earnest supplication and faith obtain grace and power to resist temptation.” —ibid., p. 94.

The faith of Jesus grasped this key frequently:

“Jesus Himself, while He dwelt among men, was often in prayer. Our Saviour identified Himself with our needs and weakness, in that He became a suppliant, a petitioner, seeking from His Father fresh supplies of strength, that He might come forth braced for duty and trial. His humanity made prayer a necessity and a privilege. He found comfort and joy in communion with His Father. And if the Saviour of men, the Son of God, felt the need of prayer, how much more should feeble, sinful mortals feel the necessity of fervent, constant prayer.” —ibid., p 93.

 

The Psalms as Prayer

This week’s lesson continues our journey through the Psalms, considering Psalms as prayers. Most certainly they were prayers for those who wrote them and for God’s people who read them. Under the inspiration of the Spirit of Christ the authors have recorded these as inspired prayers and hymns.

The Psalms contain praise, confession, supplication, intercession, and thanksgiving. Though each individual Psalm does not contain each element every time, much like our prayers, these are elements that appear in various Psalms depending on the occasion and outpouring of the heart of the Psalmist at the time.

Of note is that some of the prayers of the Psalmists include recounting of history as the supplicator is remembering how God has led in the past, and perhaps also how they had been unfaithful to that leading. This is a reminder from the Psalms that we, too, ought not forget our own personal history and frequently rehearse God’s faithfulness, freely confessing our unfaithfulness as individuals and as His people.

As was shared in last week’s Sabbath School Insight, the Psalms teach us about Christ and specifically they speak to the experience of Christ. Therefore, “when we read these Psalms, we know that we are reading of Jesus Christ and of God's dealings with Him--He too being ourselves all the time, . . .  all our guilt and our sins being laid upon Him and He feeling the guilt and the condemnation of it in all things as ourselves.” —Alonzo T. Jones, General Conference Bulletin, February 22, 1895, p. 299.

“The Psalms as a whole are the words of Christ. ‘David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet Psalmist of Israel, said, The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and His Word was in my tongue.’ 2 Samuel 23:1, 2. Indeed, in the whole Bible we have the Spirit of Christ, in the prophets, testifying (1 Peter 1:10, 11), although often, as in so many of the Psalms, the writers described their own personal experiences. Thus, in Inspiration we have the mystery of the Incarnation. Christ in the flesh, as Man, has all the experiences of mankind, so that no one can have suffered anything or passed through any sort of trial that Christ has not endured; nay, more, that Christ does not at that very moment share. When we read the Bible, but especially the Psalms, with this in mind, we find in them unsearchable riches of comfort.” —Elliot J. Waggoner, Present Truth United Kingdom, September 9, 1897, p. 562. 

Therefore, we can see that the Psalms are the prayers of Christ, giving great insight to the realities of Christ’s experience in the flesh, as God “made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Christ as the representative of Israel and humanity at large identified Himself with us in our history and condition for “He is not ashamed to call them brethren” (Hebrews 2:11). “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).

When we then read the Psalms in this week’s lesson, we can see that Jesus enters into corporate repentance for the troubled history of His people in chapter 44. We can see the intense suffering and despair as the devil wrung the heart of the Son of God on the cross of Calvary in chapter 22. We can see the Faith of Jesus prevail despite severe temptations to walk by sight in chapters 13 and 60.

As we enter into the private prayers of Jesus’ heart we can know He understands and hears us in the private prayers of our own hearts. We need not fear to take ownership of our past and the unfaithfulness we have had as a people. We can look to the suffering of Jesus and know that if He can emerge victorious in His suffering, He is more than able to bring us through ours. And we can know that if His faith gave Him the victory His faith will bring victory to us.

As we continue our journey through the Psalms let us gather up the fresh views of Christ. As these views take hold of our hearts, may these draw us more and more into conversation with Our Heavenly Father with thanksgiving for His great love for us.

At the conclusion of the little chapter entitled “The Privilege of Prayer” we are left with this final appeal:

“We must gather about the cross. Christ and Him crucified should be the theme of contemplation, of conversation, and of our most joyful emotion. We should keep in our thoughts every blessing we receive from God, and when we realize His great love, we should be willing to trust everything to the hand that was nailed to the cross for us.” —Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, p 103.

~ Kelly Kinsley