I must admit that I have found prayer strenuous, boring, and confusing at times. Occasionally I have gotten ahold of prayer, only to discover that I couldn't sustain the grip. I've learned that real prayer can be tough, hard business.

We often think of prayer as preparation for the battle, but Christ showed us that it is the battle itself. Prayer was the heart of His work.

Where was it that Jesus' sweat was like drops of blood? Not in Pilate's hall, nor on His way to Golgotha. It was in the Garden of Gethsemane. There He "offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death" (Heb. 5:7).

If I had witnessed His struggle that night, I might have misinterpreted the situation and said, "If He is so broken up when all He is doing is praying, what will He do when He faces a real crisis? Why can't He approach this ordeal with the calm confidence of His three sleeping friends?" Yet when the test came, Jesus walked to the cross with courage, and His three friends fell apart and ran away.

Have we misunderstood the importance of prayer? Instead of prayer being just a request for help to do God's work, could it be that prayer is the work itself?  — Haddon W. Robinson