How much Jesus loved his Father, Jehovah! And how he treasured private fellowship with Him! Yes, Jesus certainly did pray to God. Hebrews 5:7 (NIV), “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.”
Jesus consulted his Father when he had to make choices and decisions. We know this because he spent the night in prayer to God before choosing the Apostles. Luke 6:12,13 (NIV), “Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles.”
Let’s consider the end of our Lord’s human life. On the cross, his heart broke because he could feel his separation from his Father. Then Jesus quoted Psalm 22:1 and cried out his prayer, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Matthew 27:46.
Just hours before, Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane to commune with his Father, and “he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.’” Matthew 26:39, 42.
Prayer was so important to Jesus that he taught his followers how to commune with the great God of the universe. In Matthew 6:8-13, Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father, who art in heaven….” Yes, the great Jehovah is Jesus’ Father and our Father.
Therefore, we honor our Lord Jesus Christ when we follow his example in praying to his Father, and ours.
