Mentor Like Jesus: Exploring How He Made DisciplesSample

Prayer as a Practice

Mentoring involves modeling . . . doing what you do so others can see you do it and learn. When you look at Jesus as a mentor, nothing is more visible or well documented than His commitment to prayer. Jesus modeled a prayerful life for His disciples. He taught them how to pray and prayed with them and for them.

On one notable instance, documented in Luke 11:1, it seems Jesus had been praying with the disciples nearby because “when He finished, one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray’” (Luke 11:1).

Maybe this disciple heard something . . . maybe he saw something he wanted in on. Hearing Jesus pray . . . talking with His Father . . . something incredibly compelling was happening.

Jesus responded by praying what we call the Lord’s Prayer, giving us a model for how to approach the Father . . . with gratitude and humility.

If we’re trying to model our mentoring after Jesus, we can’t mentor without prayer. Here’s a short list of the things that praying does for you as a mentor:

• Praying for your mentees keeps you focused on them and their needs, not just your own.
• Praying for their needs gives you insight into their hearts . . . what they care about and focus on.
• Praying for them is a way of actively loving them.

And there’s one more big one. You need to pray for yourself. So, as you jump into mentoring like Jesus, pray. Then pray again.

Challenge: Prayer is easier when there’s a crisis. We know what to ask for, and there’s a sense of urgency. When the crisis passes, we slack off. Intentionally walking with others to “train them this way of life” (Matthew 28:19, The Message) creates a constant focus for our prayers and a felt need requiring prayer.