In the book of Matthew, we see Jesus’ public ministry being inaugurated at His baptism with a voice from heaven ringing out, “this is my Son, with whom I am well pleased”. Very soon after, Jesus is led into the desert for forty days of testing. In Luke, at the transfiguration the voice of the Father calls out, “this is my Son, whom I have chosen, listen to Him!” Just after this, we hear that Jesus has set His face to go towards Jerusalem, that is, to His ultimate trial and testing.

All the while, as Jesus walks through the valley of the shadow of death, there are other voices vying for His attention. Jesus remains committed to the voice of the Father instead of listening to the temptations from the accuser in the desert, or to Peter who demands He turn away from Jerusalem, or Thomas who suggests they steer clear of Bethany, or the Pharisees who demand He rebuke His disciples for worshipping Him and pronouncing Him king, or even the council and Sanhedrin when they threatened Him with death.

Jesus refuses to listen even to His own doubts and fears when He is in anguish in the garden of Gethsemane. He and the Father are one, and He will not see that unity broken by any other voices crowding in. He has tuned His ear to the voice of the Father in prayer, constantly, throughout His life.

A quick tour of the gospels finds Jesus withdrawing to pray in lonely places, spending the night in prayer before significant moments, and speaking to the Father in the midst of crowds and crucifixions. It was this Jesus that the disciples asked to teach them to pray. It was this Jesus who put prayer at the very center of His most important sermon, the Sermon on the Mount. 

It is in His name we pray.