Why would Jesus pray when He is jesus christ gospel of love? People pray because they need a higher power to act on their behalf for one reason or the other. But since Jesus is God, what was He doing praying? This article aims at answering these questions.
Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles: – Luke 6:12-13 (NKJV)
Christ had reasons to pray while on earth, being a man born of a woman. One of which was to give us examples to follow for us to live victorious lives – 1 John 2:6. Secondly, being in the form of a man, He needed God, the Father, to empower and guide Him to success on earth. Thirdly, since prayer is a channel of communication between God and man, Christ fellowshipped with God in prayer. When He prayed, He prayed to God, the Father- the first personality in the trinity.
Christ’s life on earth shows us how to live a victorious life on earth. One thing that Jesus did often was praying – Luke 5:16. He taught His disciples how to pray (Luke 11:1-13) and by example stressed to them the importance of praying to God; and when He went back to heaven, His disciples followed His example and prayed often too.
In the days of the apostles, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. The twelve apostles asked that they be exempted from serving table so they could give themselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word – Acts 6:1-4. They knew that praying was something they were not to toil with, this they obviously learnt from Christ.
When the apostles wanted to replace Judas Iscariot that betrayed Jesus, they had to pray to God to show them who to appoint in place of Judas (Acts 1:24-25), following the footsteps of Jesus as He also prayed before choosing the twelve apostles – Luke 6:12-16.
Also, Paul having being taught by Christ Himself (Galatians 1:12), admonished us to pray without ceasing – 1 Thessalonians 5:17. Prayer was an important part of Christ and He taught His disciples to follow His footsteps.
Jesus Christ was born of a woman and so had the flesh that is limited. He needed God the father to guide Him on earth just like we do. Everything He did was as directed by God – John 12:49-50. And He got these instructions through prayers.
For instance, before commencing His full ministry, He did a forty days prayer and fasting, after which He returned in the power of the Holy Spirit and His fame went abroad – Luke 4:1-15. He needed the anointing from God and He got it through prayers.
Another time, Christ prayed all night before He could choose twelve apostles from among His disciples – Luke 6:12-16. Apparently, God gave Him the names of those He chose during the night prayers, including Judas Iscariot who betrayed the Lord.
And of course, before He was betrayed, He prayed harder than ever before that His sweat was like great drops of blood, and the angel of God came and strengthened Him (Luke 22:41-44) so He could face the betrayal, shame, persecution, crucifixion and death without given up; and worst of all, face the trauma of being rejected by the father when He carries our sins. This rejection by His father (Matthew 27:46) was a form of hell for Him, which He endured to be able to save man and reconcile them back to God. Thank God He didn’t give up!