According to Luke 11, one of Jesus’ disciples came to Him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” This disciple, like the others, would have known how many times Jesus sought privacy for His prayers. As we look at examples of Jesus’ prayers, we too notice the recurring idea—alone.
And when it was day, He departed and went into a desolate place. And the people sought Him and came to Him, and would have kept Him from leaving them (Luke 4:42).
But He would withdraw to desolate places and pray (Luke 5:16).
Now it happened that as He was praying alone, the disciples were with Him. And He asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” (Luke 9:18).
Now when Jesus heard this [that John the Baptizer was dead], He withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by Himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed Him on foot from the towns…. [Jesus then taught and fed the crowds.] After He had dismissed the crowds, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone (Matthew 14:13,23 cf. Mark 6:46-47).
For His ministry, Jesus had to visit the busy city of Jerusalem. Even there, He made a habit of going to the relative peace of a garden on the nearby Mount of Olives. This use of the Garden of Gethsemane was His “custom.” On His final visit to Gethsemane, even when He had asked Peter, James and John to watch and pray with Him, Jesus “withdrew” some distance from them to pray.
And He came out and went, as was His custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed Him. And when He came to the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed (Luke 22:39-41).