8.25

Jesus’s Example of Frequent, Fervent Prayer (Comments from Eusebius)

Scholars often note that Luke’s Gospel emphasizes Jesus’s habit of praying frequently and fervently.

3:21	“Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened.”
5:16	“But he would withdraw to deserted places and pray.”
6:12	“Now during those days he went out to the mountain to pray; and he spent the night in prayer to God.”
9:18	“Once when Jesus was praying alone, with only the disciples near him, he asked them, ‘Who do the crowds say that I am?’”
9:28	“Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray.”
9:29	“And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white.”
11:1	“He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.’”
22:40	“When he reached the place, he said to them, ‘Pray that you may not come into the time of trial.’”
22:41	“Then he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, knelt down, and prayed.”

 

The early church historian Eusebius of Caesarea (263–339) drew on Luke and other Gospels in his comments on Jesus’s habit of prayer:

Jesus prayed and did not pray in vain, since he received what he asked for in prayer when he might have done so without prayer. If so, who among us would neglect to pray?

Mark says that “in the morning, a great while before day, he rose and went out to a lonely place, and there he prayed” (Mark 1:35).

And Luke says, “He was praying in a certain place, and when he ceased, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray’” (Luke 11:1).

And elsewhere, “And all night he continued in prayer to God” (Luke 6:12).

And John records his prayer, saying, “When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you’” (John 17:1).

The same Evangelist writes that the Lord said that he knew “you hear me always” (John 11:42).

All this shows that the one who prays always is always heard.

—On Prayer 13.1