Years ago, an old saint shared with me 12 prayer principles from the life of Jesus Christ. It made such a difference in my personal prayer life. There are only 17 references to Jesus praying, and most of them are in the book of Luke.

1.  The principle of illumination. Luke 3:21-22 says, "Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily form like a dove on Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, 'You are My beloved Son. In You I am well pleased.'" The setting here was Jesus' baptism and this is the first recorded example of Jesus' praying and we see in the book of Luke three results of His praying:

• Heaven opened up.
• The Holy Spirit came down.
• The Father spoke.

These are three results when we make contact with God in our prayers. Symbolically, heaven opens up and we receive God's blessing. The Holy Spirit fills our lives afresh. And the Father speaks to us. If you'd like to know the Spirit's power in your life, if you'd like God to speak to you, you must practice the prayer life of Jesus.

2.  The principle of isolation. Luke 5:16 says, "Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed" (NIV). "Often" means it was His habit. He did it in places where He was all by Himself. I believe this is absolutely essential. We need to spend time alone with God everyday. Jesus returned again and again to a lonely place. Find that place where you can get alone with God, where you can be isolated and pray aloud and let God speak to you.

3.  The principle of concentration. Luke 6:12 says, "In these days He went out to the mountain to pray and continued all night in prayer to God" (MEV). Notice it says, "He spent the night." Some of the greatest lessons of my prayer life have been nights that I have spent in prayer. My decision to marry my wife was made in a prayer meeting all night with one other person. Sometimes when I pray it takes just a few minutes for me to get my thoughts collected. Sometimes it takes a long time for me to even get in the mood. I've found that it's important to spend extended blocks of time with God so that you can concentrate on what He wants you to do and His will for your life.

4.  The principle of insulation. The Bible says, "As He was alone praying, His disciples were with Him" (Luke 9:18). Notice that the disciples were with Him but He still found time for personal prayer. This is an important principle because there's not always time to get alone by yourself. There are times when you can't be isolated. I think of this as kind of an incubator verse. Babies can be in the middle of a busy hospital but they can be incubated in a situation that protects them from the hustle and bustle around them. Sometimes I find as a pastor I just can't get alone, but I can have an attitude of isolation or insulation and I can be silent even in the middle of a traffic jam. My prayer can overcome the interruptions when I put myself in an attitude of insulation.

5.  The principle of transformation. We find this in Luke 9:28-29. "About eight days after these sayings, He took Peter and John and James and went up onto a mountain to pray. As He prayed, the appearance of His countenance was altered, and His clothing was white and glistening." Prayer changes you. Do you think it's possible to spend so much time with God that when you come away your face shows it?

2 Corinthians 3:18 says, "But we all, seeing the glory of the Lord with unveiled faces, as in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory by the Spirit of the Lord." As we look on Him we are transformed from one degree to another. The word in that passage is the word  katoptrizo. It's the only time that word is used in the entire Bible. It means, "to seriously look at, to contemplate, to meditate, to gaze on like somebody gazing in a mirror." As we gaze on the word, as we reflect on the word, like a mirror reflects, we become more and more like Christ. And we're transformed.

6.  The principle of exemplification. Luke 11:1 says, "He was praying in a certain place, and when He ceased, one of His disciples said to Him, 'Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.'" Notice it does not say, "Teach us how to pray," which is often misquoted. It says "Teach us to pray." I would suggest that this is a dangerous prayer to pray. We should not pray this request unless we really mean it, because God will often use trials and hardships and difficulties to teach us to pray.

7.  The principle of preservation. In Luke 22:31-32 Jesus says, "Then the Lord said, 'Simon, Simon, listen! Satan has demanded to have you to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have repented, strengthen your brothers.'" This is a prayer of protection. We don't just believe in prayer, we believe in God. Jesus not only saves you but He prays for you. Robert Murray McCheyne once said, "If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies." God is praying for us right now. Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father making intercession for us.

8.  The principle of preparation. In Luke 22:42 Jesus prays "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me. Nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done." Notice the change in this prayer. First, He said, take it away from Me. Then He said, "Lord, leave it." He prayed earnestly. Why? Because He knew He would be facing in the next few hours the greatest trial of His life and He didn't want to approach it prayerlessly.

9.  The principle of revelation. This is the prayer that Jesus prayed on the cross. One of the seven last words of Christ was, "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they're doing." We can really learn a lot about Christ's character here because He's in agony. He's in pain, yet He's praying for other people. When you watch what other people say and do and pray when their back is up against the wall, it reveals what's really inside of them. Prayer, like nothing else, is revelation of a person. It shows what's inside the heart.

10.  The principle of satisfaction. In Luke 23:46, "And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, 'Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.' Having said this, He gave up the spirit." Jesus satisfied God the Father because He did what He was supposed to do. But more than just that, Jesus was also satisfied Himself with what He had done. Because of that—that He had satisfied the Father and He was satisfied with Himself—He can satisfy every need that you will ever have. He said, "I've finished it all. It's all complete."

11.  The principle of gratification. Jesus expressed His gratitude for what God had done in His life. It says that when He was at the table with the twelve, He broke bread, He gave thanks and He broke it and began to give it to them. He gave thanks. This is probably the one sin that is the root of so many other sins—ingratitude. I believe our prayers should be filled with thanksgiving. In Philippians it says, "Make your requests with thanksgiving." When we ask, we should also be grateful at the same time.

12.  The principle of benediction. Luke 24:50 says, "When He had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, He lifted up His hands and He blessed them." It's interesting to me that the very last thing Jesus did was hold His hands out, and He blessed them. He holds His hands out so they would see the scars that are in His palms. It is no wonder that when He went to bless them and held out His scarred hands that they went from there immediately and left to spend 10 days in prayer.

Rick Warren is the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, one of America's largest and most influential churches. Rick is author of the New York Times best-seller The Purpose Driven Life. His book, The Purpose Driven Church, was named one of the 100 Christian books that changed the 20th century. He is also founder of Pastors.com, a global Internet community for pastors.

For the original article, visit pastors.com.

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