Day 334: How Jesus Prayed

The Son of God who became Son of the Virgin learned to pray in his human heart. He learns to pray from his mother, who kept all the great things the Almighty had done and treasured them in her heart. He learns to pray in the words and rhythms of the prayer of his people, in the synagogue at Nazareth and the Temple at Jerusalem. But his prayer springs from an otherwise secret source, as he intimates at the age of twelve: "I must be in my Father's house." Here, the newness of prayer in the fullness of time begins to be revealed: his filial prayer, which the Father awaits from his children, is finally going to be lived out by the only Son in his humanity, with and for men. CCC 2599

In today's reading, the Catechism discusses how Jesus prayed. We often see Jesus in prayer, usually in solitude, and frequently before great moments in His public ministry. He must have learned to pray from his Blessed Mother, perhaps even from St. Joseph as well, and from the Jewish tradition in which He was raised. From His origin, no doubt the human nature was influenced in prayer by His divine one in total submission to the Father. It could be said that His whole life is prayer itself in loving communion with the Father. Nowhere is the fervor of His prayer seen more than during His passion on the cross.

The Catechism Compendium summarizes how Jesus prayed during His passion:

The prayer of Jesus during his agony in the garden of Gethsemani and his last words on the cross reveal the depth of his filial prayer. Jesus brings to completion the loving plan of the Father and takes upon himself all the anguish of humanity and all the petitions and intercessions of the history of salvation. He presents them to the Father, who accepts them and answers them beyond all hope by raising his Son from the dead. (#543)

The Catechism Companion Vol III has some good commentary on this:

The prayers of Jesus are examples for us. His prayer as the Son of God demonstrates how we should pray as children of God. We are told that Jesus prayed prior to the important times in his ministry. We may not always know when important times are upon us, so starting each day with prayer is a good practice... Jesus' prayers always expressed the absolute trust and obedience that he has for his Father. The prayers of Jesus were always perfectly aligned with his life... Our prayers and tears and all the prayers and tears of suffering humanity have already been offered to the Father by Jesus, and they have been heard. That is the trust we have in the Father. (p. 184)