February 10-13: Praying with Jesus in the Desert
To begin our 40 days of prayer together, we're going to pray through Jesus' time in the wilderness when He fasted and prayed and battled pure evil. After all, Lent is all about us copying this feat of Jesus'.
If you need help knowing how to use this prayer guide, see our brief overview to our 40 days of prayer that has some tips on praying.
Wednesday February 10
Matthew 3:13-17:
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
The purpose of these 40 days of prayer is for us to be like Jesus. All of this is made possible because His baptism enables our baptism. Because He took the Holy Spirit upon Himself, we now can have the Holy Spirit always with us, always empowering us, too.
Pray and tell God thanks for this gift. Thank God for Jesus' obedience. Thank God for Jesus transforming humanity. Thank God for His great pleasure in Jesus. Thank Jesus for the radiance of His glory that so pleased the Father. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are truly awesome.
Finally, pray with us for the people that will be baptized on Easter. We've got a few already planned and are hoping for more.
Thursday February 11
Matthew 4:1-4:
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written,
“ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”
Jesus has been tempted in every way, just like any of us, but He remained completely pure. In the midst of His great hunger, He continued to trust God and continued to believe that His deepest hunger was for God Himself.
Pray that you'd have the same kind of spiritual dependence as Jesus. Pray that God's word would become your daily source of nourishment, energy, and satisfaction. Pray that God would empower you to overcome all the hungers that will drive you to reject Him. And thank God for Jesus' great and perfect obedience. We all have come up short, but Jesus has not.
Friday February 12
Matthew 4:5-7:
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,
“ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’
and
“ ‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ”
7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”
Jesus was remarkably humble. Instead of assuming He could buck the system and make His own rules or get God to do His bidding, He remained subservient to His Father. Even in this hour of great need, when He could have shown Satan His own greatness, He chose to patiently endure, sitting in the temptation but not cracking under its weight.
Pray to have the same kind of trust and obedience as Jesus. Pray that you wouldn't take any easy way out. Pray that you'd not twist the Bible to say what you want. Thank God for Jesus' humble obedience.
Saturday February 13
Matthew 4:8-11
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,
“ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God
and him only shall you serve.’ ”
11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
Jesus was a worshiper. At the suggestion that He should worship anyone other than His Father, He shouts and commands Satan to leave. His passion for God was far greater than His passion for greatness, and that was enough to overcome great evil.
Thank God that Jesus has overcome all evil. He has conquered what we could not. In His own words, He has entered the house of a strong man, tied that strong man up, and is now having His pick of all that strong man's stuff (see Matthew 12:29). Thank God for Jesus plundering this world, for His glory and our good. Ask God that He would help you to worship with the same focused fervency as Jesus.
