Hebrews 5:7

Summary retelling of Hebrews 5:7

When Jesus was here on earth, He offered up many prayers and pleas.  His prayers involved His whole spirit.  He prayed to the Father, who is capable of saving people out of the clutches of death.  He was heard because of His reverence before God.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Even though Jesus was God, He still prayed while He was on earth.  Even though He was God, He understood the purpose of prayer and the need for prayer.  He not only modeled prayer; He lived a life of prayer.  He knew that prayer is important for helping us maintain the focus in life that God would have us to have.  He knew that prayer is important for helping us to find peace in our life.  Jesus demonstrates to us that prayer is a significant part of the Christian life.

What does it mean to you that Jesus prayed when He was on this earth?  If we say that we are a follow of Jesus, what attitude towards prayer must we have?

Second Thought:

Jesus not only prayed; He prayed hard.  When Jesus prayed, He poured His whole spirit into His prayers.  We know in the garden of Gethsemane that Jesus prayed so hard that he wept blood.  We know when He was tired after teaching all day that He still sought out time between just Himself and the Father to pray.  Prayer wasn’t something He did.  Prayer was something to which he devoted Himself.

Are you devoted to pray?  Are there certain times that you are more devoted than others?  What are some times in your life that you could be more devoted or invested in prayer?  How can you change those times in your life?

Third Thought:

Jesus was heard because of His reverence.  He wasn’t heard because of His perfection – although He certainly was perfect and blameless.  No, Jesus was heard because of His reverence.  Jesus was humble before God.  Jesus submitted to the will of the Father.  Jesus was obedient to God’s calling in His life.  God doesn’t require perfection from us, either.  He knows we can’t be perfect – we don’t have it in us.  But He does require reverence before Him.  If we are going to call Him our God, we need to act like He is our God.

How do you show reverence to God?  How often do you show reverence to God?  Would you call yourself a very reverent person, a reverent person, a sometimes reverent person, or a seldom reverent person?  Why would you put yourself in the category that you do?

Passage for Tomorrow: Hebrews 5:8-10