Portrait of Christ Painting by Rembrandt van Rijn Alte Pinakothek, Munich
Jesus The God-Man
When Jesus was born, he emptied himself of his glory, becoming a human being like us, and modelled for us his relationship with God as his heavenly Father. In fact from childhood he recognized he had to be about his Father's business (Luke 2:49). He demonstrated for us how to maintain a close relationship with the Father by practising four daily spiritual disciplines.
Jesus' Daily Disciplines
Jesus practised the four daily spiritual disciplines shown above to maintain his intimate relationship with God as his heavenly Father as a model for us to follow.
In John 5:19-20 he said to the disciples:
" Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed."
In John 4:34 Jesus said: " My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work."
Alone With God
Jesus frequently went up a mountain to spend time alone with God in prayer, listening to what the God the Father had to say to him, and to recharge his spiritual batteries after the pressures of preaching and ministering to the crowds of people who followed him. He encouraged the disciples to do the same.
" 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." (Mark 1:35)
Listening To God
In Mark 3:13-15 Jesus went up a mountain to pray and listen to what God was saying about who he wanted to choose as his disciples.
"Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons."
He also attended the synagogues in his hometown of Nazareth and Capernaum, as well as the Temple in Jerusalem, to read and listen to the Word of God in the Jewish Bible (Tanakh). And he meditated on the Scriptures to allow the Holy Spirit to speak to him like the psalmist.
" Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither — whatever they do prospers." (Psalm 1:1-2)
Jesus also practised fasting, and encouraged his disciples to do so, in order to forego the fleshly lusts and desires and to focus on drawing closer to God. In Isaiah Chapter 58 God emphasises the importance of fasting for the right reason rather than treating it as a ritual in trying to please God but carrying on with sinful ways.
Talking With God
Jesus also spoke to God the Father in prayer and taught the disciples to do the same, when they asked him, giving them a model in what we call The Lord's Prayer.
" Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on eath as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive our sins ans we forgive others the sins they have committed against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom, the p[ower and the glory forever. Amen."
We also see Jesus praying to God as Abba! Father in John Chapter 17, (called Jesus' High Priestly Prayer), and supremely when he is in The Garden of Gethsemane the night before he was crucified to take the punishment our sins deserve (Matthew 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:40-46).
Praising God
We also see Jesus praising and thanking God in the following passages: Matthew 11:25-26; Mark 6:41; Luke 9:16; John 6:11