Adapted from a Jeff Strite sermon https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/5-i-knelt-today-where-jesus-knelt-jeff-strite-sermon-on-prayer-179971?ref=SermonSeriesDetails

2. Do you ever feel guilty about not spending
enough time in prayer? Me too.
But did you realize the Bible never told us how
LONG we should pray?
Paul does admonish as he wraps up his 1st
letter to the Saints in Thessalonica;
NIV Rejoice always,
pray continually, give thanks in all
circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in
Christ Jesus.
It does teach us HOW to pray.

3. There’s a Christian song from years ago called
“I walked today where Jesus walked.”
“I walked today where Jesus walked,
in days of long ago.
I wandered down each path He knew,
with reverent step and slow.
Those little lanes, they have not changed.
A sweet peace fills the air.
I walked today where Jesus walked,
and felt His presence there.”

4. Isn't that a beautiful song that tells of visiting
Bethlehem, the Hills of Galilee, the Mount of
Olives, the Mighty Jordan and ultimately speaks
of climbing the Hill of Calvary, “where on the
Cross He died”.
It’s a beautiful song, and it’s been sung or heard
by 1000s of believers. Who knows the number
of folks fortunate enough to have actually seen
the places where Jesus walked.

5. A few years ago, someone put together a 40
mile hiking path called the “Jesus trail”.
Travelers can hire a guide, download GPS
coordinates from Jesustrail.com or pick up trail
maps at tourist sites.
The path is meant to be hiked in four days.
You can start on the trail in Nazareth, and sleep
in the town where Jesus lived in as a boy.
As you hike the trail you can stay at occasional
guest houses or you can carry tents with you
and camp out along the path.

6. Tour Buses only stop at the known holy sites,
but this path lets you actually see the flowers,
and sense the feel of the land as you walk for 4
days … “where Jesus walked.”
Now wouldn’t that be cool?
Wouldn’t you love to be able to experience that
trail?
I’d love to try it.
But that’s just tourism.
That’s just sight-seeing.

7. I was blessed to go to Europe in 1982 & mid
1990’s. I loved visiting the historic sites there.
But I didn’t really get to feel what it was like to
live there. I was just a tourist. I didn’t really walk
where people who lived there walked.
If you and I really want to walk as Jesus walked
we need to learn to live like Jesus lived.
One of the most prominent parts of Jesus’ life
was His prayer life.

8. One scholar read through the book of Matthew
and he focused on the top 10 topics Jesus
taught . Coming in at number 9 was prayer (46
verses)
Someone else did a study of all 4 of the Gospels
and found that there were 17 different times
when we’re told that Jesus prayed.

9. They found that:
• He prayed early in the morning, late at night, all
through the night.
• He prayed at the beginning of His ministry when He
was baptized. ( )
• He prayed before He chose His 12 disciples.
( )
• He prayed before healing the crowds. ( )
• He prayed before He fed the 5,000. ( )

10. • He prayed before bringing Lazarus back to life.
( )
• Jesus prayed before His Transfiguration.
( )
• Jesus prayed at the Mount of Olives before
being betrayed. ( )
• And He prayed while He was on the cross.
( )

11. Did you notice before Jesus did something He
prayed 1st before taking action.
Reminds me of Mike Harris, the lead lawyer of
the Law Firm I flew for in the mid-1980s, had car
tags that said, “Pray 1st.”
When folks presented the reason they were in
need of an Attorney he would asked if they
would pray about it with him 1st.
Can we even imagine how much better our lives
would be if we followed Jesus & Mike Harris in
praying 1st before doing anything!

12. Paul tells us that Jesus is STILL praying!!!
NIV Who then is the one who
condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—
more than that, who was raised to life—is at the
right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
Jesus now “is at the right hand of God and is
also interceding for us.”

13. You see, if we want to walk today where Jesus
walked you and I need to learn to kneel as Jesus
knelt.
Notice one of the verses of that song I
mentioned earlier.
“I knelt today where Jesus knelt,
where all alone he prayed.
The Garden of Gethsemane,
my heart felt unafraid.”

14. Now many folks have a problem when it comes
to a preacher getting up and preaching on
prayer. The reason it’s a problem is that it is a
“guilt” thing. They feel guilty because they don’t
feel like they pray enough throughout the week.
Have you ever felt guilty about that?
Me too.

15. A man asked: I wonder why we don't sing,
"Sweet minute of Prayer" as opposed to “sweet
hour of Prayer” because we only seem to pray a
few minutes each day.:
A lot of good Christians beat themselves up
because they don’t spend as much time as
they’d like in prayer.
Now, I don’t think the problem is the amount of
time we spend in prayer.
I think the problem is that many Christians see
prayer as an obligation.

16. They see it as something they HAVE to do.
Not something they GET to do.
To illustrate this point, I want to substitute
another word for “prayer” this morning.
I want to substitute the word “cellphone”
Now this is my Smart Phone.

17. I can do all kinds of things with this phone.
• I can play games
• I can put notes to myself as reminders
• I can use it as a scheduling calendar.
• I can surf the internet
• Send text messages/ emails/ twitters
• OR I can do what you always should use a
phone for. (call up a friend)
Now, do you think I worry about how LITTLE I
use my phone?
(NO)

18. That’s right. Nobody worries about using their
phones too little.
In fact, if anything people worry about using
their phones too MUCH, because many phone
companies will charge you a hefty sum if you go
over your limit.
So, folks like me pay for a cell phone plan called
an “unlimited” plan. Under that kind of plan, no
matter how many minutes we use our phones to
call, text or surf internet, it’s all good… because
it’s all covered.

19. I use my phone many times throughout the day.
In fact, cell phones become so much a part of
people’s lives I’ve heard of a phenomena called
a “phantom vibration”.
That’s when you ordinarily carry the phone in
your shirt and pants pocket, and even when you
don’t have the phone with you, you can feel it
vibrate.

20. Nobody ever worries about using their phones
too much… because we all find we need it.
Now WHY do I use my cell phone so much?
Is it because I feel guilty if I don’t use it?
Is it because I feel an OBLIGATION to use my
use my cell phone?
OF COURSE NOT!

21. I use my cell phone because I understand its
value to me.
You see – there are many folks that see prayer
as a religious obligation.
You gotta do it because that’s what religious
folks do.
And thus we can end up being like pagans who
think they’ll be heard for their many prayers.

22. There are folks who look at the Muslims and say
“Look how religious they are.
They pray 5 times a day!”
Have you ever heard someone say that?
But their prayers are nothing more than
recitations.
They memorize it and recite it from memory.
It’s a religious obligation for them.
Their prayers aren’t heartfelt pleas – they are
religious commitments.

23. Do you think that’s how Jesus prayed?
Do you think Jesus prayed out of a religious
obligation?
Do you think Jesus prayed because He saw it as
commitment He had to fulfill?
No.
Jesus didn’t pray to fulfill an obligation.
When Jesus prayed, He did so because He felt
the NEED to pray.

24. Now, not everybody believes that.
As I was researching this text, I encountered the
following quote from a famous commentator named
Adam Clarke who implied that Jesus didn’t really
need to pray:
Commenting on our text for this morning, he wrote:
“Not that He (Jesus) needed any thing, for in Him
dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily”
Now, was Clarke right???.
Did the fullness of the Godhead really dwell inside
Jesus?

25. That’s what says: For in Christ all the
fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, NIV
So, Clarke was right - Jesus was God in the flesh
The fullness of the Godhead dwelt inside His human
body.
However, what Clarke is implying is this:
Jesus didn’t need to pray.
The only reason He did so was to “put on a show for
our benefit”
But that’s all wrong.

26. Jesus NEEDED to pray. And the proof of the fact
was in HOW Jesus prayed.
• Many times Jesus would get up and go off by
Himself to pray
• Sometimes He’d pray all night by Himself
• He wept when He prayed
• And once - when He prayed - He bled drops of
blood.

27. To say that Jesus was just doing His prayers for
show would be to put our Savior on the same
level as the Pharisees… who did all their
praying for show.
But Jesus DIDN’T pray for show.
Jesus prayed because He needed to pray.
But now, wait a minute. If Jesus was God… why
on earth would He need to pray?

28. Well, several reasons come to mind, but I’m going to
focus on two reasons this morning.
NIV In your relationships with one
another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider
equality with God something to be used to his own
advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by
taking the very nature of a servant, being made in
human likeness. And being found in appearance
as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient
to death—even death on a cross!

29. Jesus literally set aside His God-ness to come down
to earth.
He surrendered His divinity and allowed Himself to
be clothed in human flesh.
He gave up the safety of heaven and exposed
Himself to hunger, thirst, pain and sorrow.
When Jesus became human it wasn’t like putting on
a Halloween costume.
It wasn’t like He was pretending to be something He
wasn’t.
He set aside WHO He was to become WHAT we are.

30. Thus, because Jesus became what we are He
needed prayer like we do.
He was NO LONGER God in Godly robes -He
was now God in human flesh.
Being human meant He was faced with the same
weaknesses and limitations as we are.
So, when Jesus prayed, He prayed for the same
reasons we do.

31. A couple of reasons He prayed are these:
1st He needed prayer for strength.
One man asked this question: Where was it that
Jesus' sweat was like great drops of blood?
Was it when He was being put on trial before the
Sanhedrin/Herod/Pilate?
Was it while He was being beaten by the Roman
soldiers?
Was it while He was carrying His cross up the
hill to Mt. Calvary?
No… It was in the Garden of Gethsemane.

32. NIV During the days of Jesus’ life
on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions
with fervent cries and tears to the one who
could save him from death, and he was heard
because of his reverent submission.
This man asked: “If we had witnessed His
struggle that night, we might have said, ‘If He is
so broken up when all He is doing is praying,
what will He do when He faces real crisis? Why
can't He approach this ordeal with the calm
confidence of His 3 sleeping friends?”

33. Yet when the test came, Jesus walked to the
cross with the courage, and His 3 friends fell
apart and ran away.
What Made The Difference?
Jesus prayed… His friends didn’t.
So, first Jesus prayed for strength
If Jesus need prayer for strength… so do we.

34. 2nd - Jesus prayed for direction.
In our text this morning, we read about Jesus
being in Capernaum. It’s been a powerful time in
His ministry. People are amazed at His teaching.
People are healed of demon possession and
various diseases.
NIV Very early in the morning, while it
was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and
went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

35. Jesus had been gone so long that; NIV
Simon and his companions went to look for him,
and when they found him, they exclaimed:
“Everyone is looking for you!” Jesus replied, “Let
us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I
can preach there also. That is why I have come.”

36. Just like that Jesus up and decides to leave a
totally successful area – a place where people
literally breaking down the door to be with Him,
to feel His touch, to hear His preaching.
People would have come from miles around to
hear Him preach and see Him do His miracles.
But suddenly Jesus decides it is time to move
on to “somewhere else.”
Why would he do that?

37. Because He had spent time in prayer.
He had been involved in a strategy session with
the Father. And when He came out of prayer He
set His face toward plowing more ground for the
Kingdom. His prayer had refocused His purpose
and goal. “That is why I have come.”

38. That’s a major reason why you and I need
prayer.
You and I NEED to talk over our plans with God.
To ask His guidance.
To seek His will.
NIV Unless the Lord builds the
house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the
Lord watches over the city, the guards stand
watch in vain.

39. Where can we get involved in our plans?
When we dedicate ourselves to prayer.
When we spend time in prayer we make our
plans with more confidence, because then
we’ve involved God in our plans.
Do you realize that when we pray, God gets into
our minds and tinkers with our thinking?
Prayer literally changes our minds.

40. In fact, Scientists have found that the brains of
people who spend untold hours in prayer and
meditation are different.
I did a Bing search on this & got 33,300,000
results.
God said that a long time ago: Prayer changes us.
It brings us into contact with the almighty Father
so that He can reach into that grey matter we call
our brains and direct and guide us.

41. One last thing. It occurred to me as I was
preparing this sermon that the Bible never
teaches us about how long we should pray.
Did you know that? Nobody ever asked Jesus
“how long should I be praying.”
And that makes sense really.
If I call Dewy do you think I ask him how long
should we talk today?”

42. Have you ever done that in any conversation with
anybody?
Of course not. That would be rude. It implies that
you really don’t want to talk with them very long so
you want to put a time limit on the conversation.
And it’s interesting Jesus’ disciples didn’t ask Jesus
HOW MUCH they should pray.
They asked Him HOW to pray.
So, let’s do a quick look at what Jesus’ taught them.
Repeat this with me:

43. “Our Father Which art in Heaven,
hallowed be Thy name.
Thy Kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Notice what Jesus is teaching us to do here:
Start your prayer by focusing on God.
He’s our Father.
You’re talking to a God who loves you.

44. Now, most of us have children or grandchildren.
You and I both know that kids ask us for stuff.
Daddy, can I have this? Mommy, can I have
that? It starts out asking for toys… then
money… then the keys to the car.
And parents don’t have a problem doing that.
But have you ever had a child come and just
want to sit on your lap?
They’re there because they want to be WITH
you.

45. A man told of the time his 8 year old daughter
came from school. She’d had a particularly
difficult day and seemed sad. She asked him if
she could sit in his lap, and she climbed up on
his lap and sat there for the better part of 20
minutes without ever saying a word.
Do you think that father was upset with that?
Oh, no. It meant as much to him (maybe more)
than it did to his daughter. She was in his lap
because she just wanted to be with him.

46. A preacher shared something he did in his
prayer time. “I come here to church and stand
right here in front of the communion table. I
close my eyes, lift my hands and try to focus
totally on God. One of the things I do to
accomplish that is to go through the alphabet,
using each letter for something I think about
when I think about God.
“God you are the Alpha and the omega, the
Beginning and the end, the Creator. You Direct
my pathes. You are Everything to me…. Etc.

47. And then I just shut up and focus on being in His
presence.
And I stand silently before Him as long as I feel it is
appropriate. I don’t keep track of time, I simply focus
on Him as long as I can feel close to Him.
Repeat with me the next phrase of the Lord’s Prayer:
“Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive our
debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from
evil.”

48. Notice – Jesus gives us permission to ask for
things.
There’s nothing wrong with approaching your
Heavenly Father about your needs and hurts.
And there’s nothing too small to pray about.
You can buy a loaf of bread down at the store
for about $1.50… but Jesus says you have
permission to ask about even simple things like
bread. Nothing is too small to be a concern for
your Father.

49. Now, repeat with me the words Jesus uses to end
this prayer:
“For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the
glory forever. Amen.”
You know, I used to think of those words as a
throwaway phrase.
Kind of like ending a letter with “Sincerely, Rick”
But those words mean far more than that.
Those words mean that we come and pray
confidently before God because it’s His KINGDOM.
And He has all the POWER and the GLORY.

50. Just as an example of what this means,
consider this illustration:
Today I got my check. Tomorrow, where do you
think I’m going to take that check?
That’s right, to the bank.
But why?
Why would I take my check to the bank?
Well… that’s where all the money is.
Where else would I take it.

51. And in our prayers:
God is the right place to go… because that’s
where all the power is.
We’ll never get the kinds of answer we need
taking our requests anywhere else.
Because ALL the power is with Him,
and ALL the answers we’d ever want will come
from His throne.

52. Now this week, you’re assignment is to set
aside time at least once this week where you go
off by yourself and focus on God. I want you to
go through the alphabet and describe what each
letter reminds you of when you think of God.
Just a clue: q and x can get complicated, but
that doesn’t matter because the key here is
focusing your mind on God and Him alone.

53. And when you get done with your alphabet… just be
still. Don’t ask Him for anything – just fill your mind
with Him. You can ask anything you want later, but
for that period of time give Him your total attention
and love.
NIV He says, “Be still, and know that I
am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be
exalted in the earth.”
That’s a powerful way to pray, but it can only be
completely powerful if you belong to Jesus. That’s
why we offer an invitation at the end of every
service.