It serves as a tremendous example to those who seek to be followers of Jesus that the Lord Himself, in times of glory or in times of trial and despair continually went to His Father in prayer. In the gospel of Matthew, after Jesus had performed the grand miracle of feeding the 5000 from only five loaves and two fish, Scripture tells us—“And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray...” (14:23, NKJV). Why after such a glorious event would He need to go to God in prayer?

     On another occasion recorded in the gospel of Mark we see a similar reaction to a different situation. After healing Simon Peter’s mother-in-law, and many sick and demon-possessed the day before, the Scripture tells us - “Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed” (1:35). We must ask again why Jesus would need to go to the Father in prayer, after acting with such power in healing the sick and possessed?

     The one occasion when it is the easiest (from a human perspective) to understand why Jesus would go to God in prayer occurs the night before His death as He prays in the garden. That night Jesus pled “let this cup pass from Me” (Matthew 26:39). We can all relate to Jesus’ apprehension upon facing death, but He had the power to appeal to God and have “twelve legions of angels” at His disposal (Matthew 26:53). Why would He pray?

     In Jesus’ example we see both how and why we should be “continuing steadfastly in prayer” (Romans 12:12). If Jesus, who was God in the flesh, found it necessary to “set His mind on things above” (Colossians 3:2) through the avenue of prayer, it is just as important and necessary for us. We must do this with constancy and regularity in good times and bad times. The psalmist said—“Cast your burden on the LORD, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved” (Psalms 55:2). This is exactly what Jesus did and exactly what we must do.