Sat Oct 17

Listen up, little ones

Especially for the littles in your household.

Listen for the words pray and prayer.

Reading

Luke 6:12-16—Jesus Prayed

Optional Reading

John 17

Keys for kids

Also for the littles. Young households might choose, after Keys for Kids, to go directly to praise and prayer.

Jesus prayed alone on a mountain.
Jesus spent the whole night in prayer.
After praying, Jesus chose the Twelve Apostles.

Questions

(Acts 11:18; Acts 2:37-38; Ezekiel 36:31; 2 Corinthians 7:11; Isaiah 1:16-17)

Why did Jesus need to pray?
Why did Jesus spend so much time in prayer?
How does your prayer life compare to that of Christ’s?

Catechism

WSC #87

What is repentance unto life?

Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, doth, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavour after, new obedience.

(Acts 11:18; Acts 2:37-38; Ezekiel 36:31; 2 Corinthians 7:11; Isaiah 1:16-1

Notes

(See below for all authors.)

In this short passage, we find Jesus spending the whole night in prayer. This is an incredible thing to consider, that our Lord prayed. The Son of God, made incarnate, spent much time in prayer. Why would Jesus need to do that? Isn’t Jesus God?

We believe and confess that Jesus became man, and so was, and continueth to be, God and man in two distinct natures, and one person, forever. (WSC 21) Jesus is truly God and truly man. Therefore, as man Jesus had to rely on His Father. The servant songs of Isaiah promise the Servant of the Lord divine help. In His capacity as Mediator, Jesus prayed. And if Jesus, the God-man, prayed, so should we.

So, what can we learn from Jesus’s prayer here? First, he prayed in a certain place, a mountain. From this, we must also learn to find both a place and a time to pray. It is good to pray before meals or in prayer meetings, but we cannot neglect private prayer. Second, Jesus continued all night in prayer. From this, we must learn to persist in prayer. It may be hard to go for 15 minutes, but we must work toward continuing long in prayer. Pray the Bible. Pray through the Lord’s Prayer. Finally, Jesus acted after He prayed. From this we can learn to act in obedience, trusting that God hears our prayers.

Swedish Method questions

See the Sunday notes for meaning of the symbols.

Praise

Psalm 25a, 104a

Prayer

Pray that God would make you love to pray.
Pray for the reading and preaching of God’s word tomorrow.
Pray for a member of our church, for your family, and for a non-Christian friend/family member.

Notes this week are drawn in part from writings by John Calvin, William Hendriksen, Kent Hughes, John Blanchard, Charles Spurgeon, the Theological Dictionary of the OT and NT, and notes from the CSB Study Bible, and the Reformation Study Bible (RSB).