between the feeding of the five thousand, when Jesus knew
that they wanted to take Him by force and make Him King, and the walking
on the sea, "He withdrew again into the mountain, Himself alone, _to
pray_" (Matt. xiv. 23; Mark vi. 46; John vi. 15). It was God's will He
was come to do, and God's power He was to show forth. He had it not as a
possession of His own; it had to be prayed for and received from above.
The first announcement of His approaching death, after He had elicited
from Peter the confession that He was the Christ, is introduced by the
words (Luke ix. 15), "And it came to pass that _He was praying alone_."
The introduction to the story of the Transfiguration is (Luke ix. 28),
"He went up into the mountain _to pray_." The request of the disciples,
"Lord, teach us to pray" (Luke xi. 1), follows on, "It came to pass _as
He was praying_ in a certain place." In His own personal life, in His
intercourse with the Father, in all He is and does for men, the Christ
whose name we are to use is a Man of prayer. It is prayer gives Him His
power of blessing, and transfigures His very body with the glory of
heaven. It is His own prayer-life makes Him the teacher of others how to
pray. How much more must it be prayer, prayer alone, much prayer, that
can fit us to share His glory of a transfigured life, or make us the
channel of heavenly blessing and teaching to others. To pray in the Name
of Christ is to pray as He prays.

As the end approaches, it is still more prayer. When the Greeks asked to
see Him, and He spoke of His approaching death, He prayed. At Lazarus'
grave He prayed. In the last night He prayed His prayer as our
High-Priest, that we might know what His sacrifice would win, and what
His everlasting intercession on the throne would be. In Gethsemane He
prayed His prayer as Victim, the Lamb giving itself to the slaughter. On
the Cross it is still all prayer--the prayer of compassion for His
murderers; the prayer of atoning suffering in the thick darkness; the
prayer in death of confiding resignation of His spirit to the Father.
(Note E.)

Christ's life and work, His suffering and death--it was all prayer, all
dependence on God, trust in God, receiving from God, surrender to God.
Thy redemption, O believer, is a redemption wrought out by prayer and
intercession: thy Christ is a praying Christ: the life He lived for
thee, the life He lives in thee, is a praying life, that delights to
wait on God and receive al