Luke 5:16
But He Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.
Jesus regularly slipped away to a place where He could be by Himself with His father to pray (see also Luke 9:18 and 11:1). He would sneak out so early in the morning that it was "still dark" (Mark 1:35) and His disciples had to go looking for Him to start the day's work of ministry (v. 36). And sometimes He found such a secluded place that the multitudes had to search for Him (Luke 4:42).
When the time came to choose His disciples, He really felt the need to bore down in prayer, so "He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God" (Luke 6:12).
And when He had fed the 5000 men, besides the women and children, He sent His disciples away in the boat and went up into the mountain by Himself to pray; to mourn the loss of His cousin John the Baptist, and to avoid the people forcing Him to be king; and He prayed from dusk until the fourth watch, between 3 and 6 am (Matthew 14:23-25, Mark 6:46-47, John 6:15)!
If Jesus needed to pray that much, how much more do I need to "get alone" with my Father: to seek His face, to learn His ways, to receive His grace and mercy, to gain His strength to overcome our enemy the devil and to flee from temptation, and to grow in the fruit of His Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
