How Did Jesus Pray?

Shortly after identifying Himself as the Lord of the Sabbath, a major milestone occurred in Jesus’ ministry: the appointment of the 12 apostles. This group would play a key role in providing leadership for His Church after His departure.

Consider how Jesus selected them.

“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” (Luke 6:12, emphasis added throughout). 

Following this night of fervent prayer, Jesus came down and appointed 12 of His disciples to be apostles (verses 13-16). 

Here’s the point: Jesus prayed.

Many know that Jesus provided instruction on prayer, including a model prayer in Matthew 6:5-13. In addition to studying Jesus’ formal teachings on prayer, we can learn much about prayer by also studying His prayer life. 

How did Jesus pray? What practical lessons can we learn about prayer from His example? 

Lessons on prayer from Jesus’ example

Here are five lessons we can learn about prayer by examining Jesus’ prayer life.

1. Jesus prayed before making important decisions.

We already saw that Jesus prayed for hours before choosing the men who would serve as apostles. 

This was a significant decision. These men would form the founding nucleus of His Church, take His message far and wide, and be responsible for faithfully preserving His words for future generations.

To choose the apostles, He sought guidance and direction from the Father. 

The lesson for us today is to take our needs—especially our need for wisdom when facing major decisions—to God in prayer. When we do that, we shouldn’t just ask God to rubber-stamp a decision we’ve already made, but genuinely ask Him to show us His will (Matthew 6:10). 

Prayers for wisdom should be combined with our due diligence in considering a decision from all angles. In fact, God sometimes reveals His will by making the best decision obvious to us as we research, ponder and evaluate it using the intellect He gave us. 

For more on this, read “Make God Your Personal Adviser.” 

2. Jesus primarily prayed in private.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught that prayer should primarily be done in private (Matthew 6:6). Since prayer is one-on-one communication between us and God, praying just to seem religious to others defeats the intended purpose of prayer. Prayer is to build and strengthen our personal relationship with God the Father. 

Jesus practiced what He preached and often withdrew from the disciples and crowds in order to pray privately. Though He sometimes offered short prayers in public, His substantial, personal and prolonged prayers occurred out of the public eye. 

Scripture shows that Jesus often prayed on mountaintops or in deserted areas because those were secluded and quiet locations where He could pray without interruptions. Since He was often traveling, He didn’t usually have access to a private room in a home. So He often prayed in various places of solitude in nature.

After He fed the 5,000 with five loaves and two fish, “He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray” (Matthew 14:23). Luke adds that this wasn’t an occasional occurrence, but that “He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed” (Luke 5:16). He also made use of the solitary time available in the early morning hours to spend time in prayer with His Father (Mark 1:35). 

Since these prayers were private, we don’t know what He prayed. However, His intense prayer in John 17, on the night of His arrest and crucifixion, gives us some understanding. Studying this prayer provides insight into Jesus’ mind and how He approached prayer to His Father.

To learn more, read “Private Worship Toward God.”

3. Jesus prayed to the Father.

Though we’ve alluded to it in the previous points, it’s important to note that Jesus always addressed His prayers to the Father. He modeled precisely what He taught—“pray to your Father who is in the secret place” (Matthew 6:6, see also verse 9). 

Jesus never prayed to any deceased saint. Instead, Jesus taught us to pray to the Father in His name.

He said, “And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it” (John 14:13-14; see also 16:23-24). 

Christians today follow His example and instruction by praying to the Father in the name of Christ. Jesus Christ serves as the High Priest, Mediator and Advocate between us and the Father (Romans 8:34; 1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 7:25; 1 John 2:1). 

4. Jesus spent much of His prayer time thanking the Father.

Though Jesus made requests when He prayed, His prayers weren’t just a long list of His wants and needs.

He made it a habit to express thankfulness consistently. 

• Before miraculously feeding the 5,000, Jesus paused to thank the Father (John 6:11).  
• At Lazarus’ resurrection, Jesus thanked the Father (John 11:41-42). 
• After hearing that His disciples were growing and being used by God, Jesus thanked the Father for calling and working with these men (Luke 10:21). 

Jesus’ example is why many Christians pause to offer a short prayer of thanksgiving before a meal. But beyond short prayers over meals, we should spend a portion of our private prayers giving thanks to God, not just for general things, but also for His specific blessings. 

If you’d like more ideas about how and what to thank God for, consider doing a word study of the words thanks and thanksgiving in the book of Psalms. You may also find our article on “Thanksgiving Prayer” helpful.

5. Jesus prayed for others.

Jesus didn’t center His prayers solely on Himself. He also frequently prayed for others. He truly cared for people and was driven by outgoing concern for them. 

For example, on the night of His final Passover, Jesus warned Peter that he would deny Him. Even though Jesus knew this painful denial was coming, He gave a small peek into something that occurred in the spirit realm:

“Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat” (Luke 22:31). Satan intended to lead Peter down a dark path that would be spiritually irreversible.

However, Jesus followed that with this comment about His private prayers: “But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail” (verse 32).

We don’t know the details of Jesus’ prayers for Peter, but we do know that the Father answered those prayers. Even though Peter did make some terrible mistakes that night, denying Jesus three times, he caught himself and repented. 

We are also given glimpses into Jesus’ prayers for others in His prayer in John 17. He prayed not only for His disciples at that time (verse 9), but also for all those who would be added to His Church later (verse 20). So, if you are a true disciple, you can know and be assured that Christ prayed for you.

If we’re striving to pray as Jesus prayed, we will regularly offer intercessory prayers for the needs and benefits of others. 

Pray as Jesus prayed

The theme of this “Walk as He Walked” series is the necessity of using Christ’s life as the model for our own lives. Prayer is an essential element in developing a relationship with the Father. Praying as Jesus prayed is a critical piece as we endeavor to . . .

Walk as He walked.