There is another aspect to prayer and this is prayer in the context of repentance and forgiveness-an aspect of Jesus’ teaching seen far more often in Luke than in all other three gospels combined. Jesus chooses the twelve as a result of prayer for instance, and prays that Peter’s faith not fail which is crucial in light of the significance of Peter’s role in the Church. Not only does Luke’s Christology thus emphasize the piety of Jesus and his followers in their frequent prayer life, but Luke goes much further to connect Jesus’ prayer to important decisions made in the course of the gospel and in Jesus’ ongoing care for his disciples after he is gone. Prayer is a common activity done by the main characters in Acts as well (Acts 1:14 2:42 3:1 etc.). Only Luke tells us that Jesus prayed for His crucifiers (23:34) and committed His spirit into the hands of Father (23:46).Jesus prayed for Simon that his faith might not fail (22:32).Eight days later He took Peter, James and John and went up on the mountain to pray (9:28) and while praying He was transfigured (9:29).Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God. He was in the wilderness for forty days, tempted by Satan and he was with the wild beasts and the angels waited on him. Jesus was praying alone when He asked the disciples “Who do the people say I am?” (9:18-22). And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.Jesus spent all night on the hills in prayer before He chose the Twelve (6:12-16).The parallel in Mark has Jesus praying only once but in Luke 5:16 it was Jesus’ custom. After the cure of the leper Jesus withdrew to the wilderness and prayed (5:16).
Jesus was praying after His baptism when the heavens opened (3:21).Jesus not only teaches about prayer in several unique parables like the one of the unjust judge in 18:1-8 and material in 11:5-8, but Jesus is seen praying in Luke more than all three other Gospels combined, beginning with His baptism in 3:21. At last, God granted humanity’s longtime desire to see Him, though almost everyone who physically met Him did not know they were meeting God in person. Above all else, Jesus’ lifestyle is a clear revelation of what God looks like. After all, the desert can be dangerous if you go alone.
This journey often means leaving what’s comfortable and not being afraid to suffer. Jesus is shown in Luke as a praying Messiah. And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed (Luke 5:16 KJV) Jesus’ life has volumes to teach us about God and man the Gospels record both His way of life and ministry. In the wilderness, the Father creates a sacred place to more deeply give each person his or her identity for him or her to receive it over and over again.
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