This is the fifth post in a series on prayer.

The whole idea of this post is that we are unlimited in our possibilities for communal prayer. We can pray alone, in ones and twos and threes, in groups (Acts 1:14), or in masses (try Psalm 135:1-3).

Christ prayed alone; in this series I’ve already alluded several times to Mark 1:35 and Matthew 14:23 as examples of Christ having a quiet time of prayer, alone and therefore unhindered by anyone else’s presence, but there are varying degrees of “aloneness” modeled in Christ’s prayer life. Take Mark 14:32-35 (and onward). Jesus takes along all eleven of His disciples - whom He just prayed with back in Mark 14:22-23 - to His evening prayer time. Then he leaves all but three behind. Then he leaves the three of them behind. I think it’s a pretty good model that He opens up to some degree with all His friends, then opens up more to His three closest men.

The illustration works two ways. One, Jesus had three dudes that He wanted to “keep watch” for Him - for me, these are my closest friends, dudes that I’m sharing quiet times with and that are challenging me. While Peter, James, and John did little to sharpen Jesus, my close dudes, the ones that I pray with most, are my Proverbs 27:17 men - my sharpening stones. The other half of the illustration is that these are the three men to whom Jesus wanted to impart the most. He modeled prayer to his disciples, and I think that in our quest to make disciples - Matthew 28:19 - we need to also model prayer to those who are young in the faith. So the point is that we should be praying with other Godly men - I Timothy 2:8.

One person that Christ doesn’t model prayer with, but with whom I believe he definitely intended me to pray, is my wife! Genesis 2:24, which is repeated in Ephesians 5:31 (among other places), says that my wife and I are one flesh. Enough said. This whole series came out of my wife’s expression of gratitude that I take the time to include her in prayer time every night… I’m sure it will mean a lot to your wives too, all you married dudes who are reading this!

Deuteronomy 4:9 says that we are responsible for making known everything we learn about God to our children and grandchildren… sounds like they’d be good to include in prayer times too. I don’t have children myself, so I won’t say too much about this, but I know that having prayer modeled for me as a child certainly impacted my prayer life as an adult!

Who else can you think of that is good to pray with?

Why Pray? ⚫ Reasons to Pray ⚫ When to Pray ⚫ Something About Prayer ⚫ For Whom To Pray ⚫ What To Pray