Jesus began (Luke 3:21) and ended (Luke 23:46) His ministry on earth with prayer. In between there are more than 45 Scripture references to Jesus praying. But His focus didn’t seem to be on the act of praying as much as on prayerful dependence and seeking the Father. 

As a boy, Jesus must have learned Psalm 5:3 in which David states,

“In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.”  

Being fully human, Jesus didn’t always know the next step to take in His life and ministry on earth. So prayer was of necessity a perpetual dialogue between Jesus and His Father. 

Prayer is where we get our own “next steps.” The more we’ve studied Jesus’ prayer life, the more often we may feel the need to slip away to a quiet place during the course of a day to listen to our heavenly Father. We lay out before Him the decisions weighing on us, and wait for His answers. We talk to Him about relationships, and listen to what the Father has to say about the next steps in these important aspects of our lives.  

E. M. Bounds tells us that “prayer is not a meaningless function or duty to be crowded into the busy or weary ends of the day.” We can never get to know Him if we use the vehicle of prayer as we use the telephone, for a few words of hurried conversation. Intimacy with the Father takes time and regular interaction. Vibrant, Jesus-style praying means dependent, expectant listening as well as talking.