But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

I love a good action movie and one of the things I realize about them is that you don’t see a lot of the behind-the-scenes work. Take Walker, Texas Ranger, played by Chuck Norris. They don’t really show us all the time he spent in the weight room or on the martial arts mats to get ready to fight the bad guys like that. Or, take Top Gun, they don’t show you all of the early flight training and simulators that Maverick went through to get to the Top Gun competition in the first place. Or again, take NASCAR races, they don’t show you all of the mechanic work and trial runs these top tier cars, and their drivers go through to be the best of the best.

One movie that does give some insight into a day of training is Rocky, but even then, they drastically speed it up. Why? Well, it is probably because the training isn’t the action-packed part of the story. It would be a rather boring part of the story. And it is assumed by the audience that the training was intense.

Now take Jesus and the heroes of the faith, in comparison. The Bible tells us the action-packed highlights of their lives, but it does not elaborate a whole lot on the power of the prayer walks of these people, who served God faithfully. It just says things like this verse in Luke about Jesus – he often prayed in solitary places. This discipline allowed him the connection with God that facilitated the rest of his ministry. Here are a few other examples of the prayers of faithful men: Stephen, the second martyr of the Christian movement (John the Baptist was the first) was found praying for those who stoned him: “While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ Then he fell on his knees and cried out, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ When he had said this, he fell asleep.” ‬‬(Acts‬ ‭7‬:‭59-60a‬). And here is a prayer of Hezekiah that moved God: “Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, “Remember, Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city.” (Isaiah‬ ‭38‬:‭2‬-‭6‬)

‬‬And finally, the prayer of Jesus when he forgave and sought forgiveness from his Father for those who crucified him: “Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’” (Luke‬ ‭23‬:‭34‬)‬‬

James says this about prayer: “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.” (James‬ ‭5‬:‭16‬-‭18‬). So I think the reason that Luke included this blanket statement in his gospel about Jesus’ prayer life was to make it clear, he was spiritually prepared for battle by praying to God and dwelling with him. And it was out of his prayer that his power and love arose. He received that which he gave. Since he gave with so much power and love, it means he received those things from God at the same level.

Lord, teach me to embrace prayer to you with an unbridled passion and devotion. It is the groundwork for all the spiritual victory in life!‬‬