By ushering in a new era of prayer, the Lord Jesus provides a whole new arena by which the People of God can have communion with God. In his life of prayer and in everything the Lord did, the Holy Spirit was with Him and accompanied Him. Such a communion was the basis of all the Lord’s words and deeds.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church makes this very point: “The Gospel according to St. Luke emphasizes the action of the Holy Spirit and the meaning of prayer in Christ’s ministry.”
Jesus Christ was a person of prayer. Everything He said and did was surrounded by prayer. He was in constant union with the Father and the Holy Spirit. In particular, we see powerful moments of the Lord’s life marked explicitly by prayer. The Catechism explains: “Jesus prays before the decisive moments of his mission: before His Father’s witness to Him during His baptism and Transfiguration, and before His own fulfillment of the Father’s plan of love by his Passion.”
In addition, the Lord prayed before pivotal moments in the life of his apostles and the establishment of the early Christian community. The Catechism teaches: “[Jesus] also prays before the decisive moments involving the mission of his apostles: at His election and call of the Twelve, before Peter’s confession of Him as ‘the Christ of God,’ and again that the faith of the chief of the Apostles may not fail when tempted.”
In our own lives, we are called to recognize the witness of the Lord and then to seek as His disciples to imitate Him and His life of prayer. Do we begin all the decisive moments of our lives with prayer? Does prayer surround us and our words and deeds?
The rhythm of prayer of the Lord Jesus is the action of his human nature accepting the will of the Father and trusting in Him. The Catechism explains: “Jesus’ prayer before the events of salvation that the Father has asked Him to fulfill is a humble and trusting commitment of his human will to the loving will of the Father.”
This same process of prayer is needed in our lives if we are going to perpetually commit ourselves to do the will of God. If we are not praying, then we cannot do all that God is asking of us.
The apostles and early disciples saw the Lord in prayer. They witnessed Him leaving for solitude, they heard Him pray aloud, and they saw the fruitfulness of His prayer by the words and deeds of His holy life. In watching the Lord pray, the early community of disciples became intrigued and convicted in its own call to pray. No one can see the Lord at prayer and not be – at least – curious by the intense union of the Son with the Father and the Holy Spirit. The experience provokes questions and eventually an inner desire for us to pray.
The Catechism makes the point: “’He was praying in a certain place and when he had ceased, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray.”‘ In seeing the Master at prayer the disciple of Christ also wants to pray.”
Curiosity is not the end. It can lead us to pray. And our initial prayer is slowly guided to a deeper union with God. As we pray, we understand prayer more powerfully. As we are in union with God, we begin to understand Him, His divine will, and His grace-filled providence.
The Lord us a master of prayer. His prayer is perfect. It stands will no equal. And yet, we are invited to imitate his life of prayer. While eternity will see the fulfillment of our life of prayer, we are called to tenaciously follow the path of prayer and never allow ourselves to spiritually sit when we should be walking. There is no plateau in the process of prayer. There is only the journey of constant union, conversion, and pursuit of God.
In this way, the prayer of the Lord Jesus is our constant teacher, offering us both encouragement and admonition. The disciple can never stop praying since the prayer of the Lord Jesus is always before us summoning us to deeper communion with God.
The Catechism explains: “By contemplating and hearing the Son, the master of prayer, the children learn to pray to the Father.”
As believers, we see the Lord Jesus in prayer and we do not want him to pray alone. We realize our call to follow Him, to be with Him, and so we accept the call to learn from Him and to be with Him in prayer as best we can.
