How to Imitate Lord Jesus Christ

Too often, people have certain persons ahead of them whom they look up to and desire to be like. Such persons are called role models. They could be pastors, bosses at work, business tycoons, presidents of nations, academicians, celebrities, etc. However, in our Christian walk, there is someone we ultimately look up to – Lord Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our faith. He is our perfect role model. (Hebrews 12:2)

This model of ours, Lord Jesus Christ, was a man of prayer while He was on this earth on which we are today. He laid before our eyes the pattern which we have to follow to be in constant communication with God, and that is through fellowship in prayers.

We see many instances in the Bible where He had to take out quality time just so He could pray. One of such occasions was recorded in Luke 9:28, “And it came to pass about eight days after these sayings, He took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray.” Similarly, we see other such occasions “, And it came to pass in those days, that He went into a mountain to pray and continued all night in prayer to God.” (Luke 6:12)

At other times as well, after Jesus had taught and preached to multitudes, He would separate himself to communicate with God. All these cumulatively reveal to us that we cannot afford to do without communicating with God consistently through prayers. It is indispensable.

However, true imitation not only involves copying external behavioural patterns but also involves reflecting on the motives behind those actions. It is good to imitate the prayer life of Jesus because He is our perfect example. However, we must go beyond mere imitation and delve into the ‘why’? When we delve into “Why Jesus prayed?” our imitation will also carry the consistency, power, and character that Lord Jesus portrayed through His life and ministry. Lord Jesus prayed because He loved the Father dearly.

Without the motivation of love, all our imitations will be mere noise. It may impress men and women on this earth, but before the LORD, it would only be noise. (1 Corinthians 13:1)

Love involves having a day-to-day personal relationship with the LORD through prayer, worship, the word, and obeying Him. If there is no personal relationship with the Lord, we might just end up being good mimicry artists. Truly imitating the LORD involves taking His yoke upon us and learning from Him daily. This is when we enter into His rest. (Matthew 11:29)

I encourage you to imitate our Lord Jesus Christ in action and motive. As you do this, I pray the LORD will strengthen you more and more.