Many Christians see prayer as a therapeutic comfort and emergency helpline.  Yes, it is certainly a great comfort to know that we are being heard, and especially when we know that God Himself has listened and understood our problems (Psalm 139:1-4).  For others, prayer is a routine ritual, often with the same words, but without the confidence that it will change anything (Matthew 6:7).  For such people, it may come as a surprise to know that when Jesus prayed it was very hard work indeed; He meant every word and knew He was thoroughly understood.  For Him it was far from routine; it was a divine conversation at the junction of life and death.  

The disciples were close by, hearing Jesus' words as He spoke to His Father.  Although He knew that He must go to the cross, He found the prospect so terribly distasteful.  The ‘cup’ of suffering He anticipated was not just personal pain.  Jesus knew that the ‘cup’ was the whole of God’s wrath. But this was the Father’s will.  Although the Son would be crushed, it was still Father God's essential plan (Isaiah 53:10).  Jesus had never resisted His Father's command, but the prospect of all God’s anger being poured out on Him, because of our sins, was utterly dreadful.  That ‘cup’ is described in Isaiah 51:17 which says, “Awake, awake!  Rise up, Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord the cup of his wrath, you who have drained to its dregs the goblet that makes people stagger”.  It was so hard for Jesus to bear the prospect of being separated from His Father for our sakes, that an angel was sent to strengthen Him.
 
Two different prayers were in Jesus' heart, fighting for dominance: ‘Please take the cross away’, and ‘I don't want to be selfish, I want you to fulfil Your will’.  The last time that Jesus had suffered in this way was when He had to deal with Satan's temptations after fasting for forty days in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11).  This time, the temptation was simple: ‘avoid the cross and eliminate the prospect of suffering’.  He knew the clock was ticking and the process, which would lead to His execution, had begun.  He had to master this temptation too.  His chosen method was to expose His agony of heart to His Father and honour His will.  That is why His prayer was such hard work.  It was the same for David as He prayed in Psalm 22:1-24, a foreshadowing of the Messiah’s agony of heart.
 
Most believers find prayer very difficult at times, especially when resisting Satan's attempts to push us into activity which contradicts God's commands.  The example of Jesus was strategically very simple: ‘remove yourself from all distractions and tell God everything’.  When the road ahead seems impossible, and conflicts produce anguish in the soul, another temptation is presented - don't bother to pray because nobody is listening!  What a lie!  If we fall to that test of our faith, we will not be able to win any other battle.  Perhaps the Lord's example of a regular habit of prayer is an important clue. Every wise Christian will confirm that those who make prayer a part of daily life, will more easily see the temptations and will also feel the challenges to obedience more keenly.  And when these two are both in our heart at the same time, the people who win through are the ones who have learned to pray.