Introduction

 

What would it be like to eavesdrop on Jesus praying?  To be within privileged earshot as the perfect Son of God communicates perfectly with His perfect heavenly Father?  That would be quite something.

 

Now of course, none of us are perfect and so our prayers will not be as perfect as those of Jesus.  We all know that prayer can be hard work, no matter how much we love prayer or not.  But isn’t there still value in listening in on the actual prayers of Jesus?  We don’t have to be perfect to pray.  And surely there’s no one better than Jesus to teach us.

 

The four Gospels portray Jesus as a man of prayer, but we are not granted many examples of His actual prayers.  However, there are occasions when all four Gospel writers draw back the curtain and allow us to hear the very words that Jesus prays.  These are the moments when it’s well worth trying to quieten everything else in our lives so that we might catch every word He says.

 

Conversations from the heart is a short series where we deliberately seek to overhear the very prayers of Jesus.  The few glimpses in the Gospels are fleeting, but each one of them is profound.  Most of the recorded prayers of Jesus occur at some of the most intense moments of His earthly life.  We are not just listening in on holy words; we will need to stand on holy ground to hear those words.  

 

From the outset, the aim of the series is a very practical one: we want to engage more fully in prayer.  In the final analysis, prayer is a discipline, a habit.  And the way to pray better is to do more prayer.  The series is comprised of daily sections.  Each section gives a Bible passage to read, followed by reflection and teaching.  Each day suggests some practical approaches to prayer which arise from Jesus’ own prayers.  There is a closing prayer to use at the end of each section.

 

This short series only scratches the surface of prayer, yet it is only right to take notice of how Jesus communicated with His Father.  Prayer is the oxygen of the soul; it is the life-breath of every Christian.  If Jesus needed to pray, how much more do we?

 

Through this series may you encounter and grow in new ways to pray and find your relationship with Jesus enriched and strengthened.