The supreme example of how to pray is, of course, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Son of God, the eternal, self-existent, almighty, God in human flesh.
On one occasion, the disciples said to Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray.” In response, Jesus then gave them the principles that should guide our prayers, in what is known as The Lord’s Prayer. On another occasion, He desired their company when He prayed, and it was at that time, had they been able to stay awake, that they would have learned the meaning of the word supplication.
It was E.M. BOUNDS, a man in my opinion that expressed the Biblical nature of prayer better than any other, who disclosed the difference between prayer and supplication in his work, The Reality of Prayer.
“We have two kinds of prayer named in the New Testament – prayer and supplication. Prayer denotes prayer in general. Supplication is a more intense and more special form of prayer. These two, supplication and prayer, ought to be combined. Then we would have devotion in its widest sweetest form, and supplication with its more earnest and personal sense of need. …Watchfulness is to fit us for this intense praying and intense fighting. The saints universal are to be helped on to victory by the aid of our prayers.
If you want more reading on prayer, you can get The Complete Works of E.M. BOUNDS ( an 8 volume set) on your phone for $4.
No one will ever face the horrific death that Christ did on the cross. He not only suffered physically but as the infinitely holy God who, according to 1 Timothy 6:16, “…who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light…”
Furthermore, concerning Jesus, according to the scripture, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) For this reason, Jesus did sweat as it were significant drops of blood. He did sweat blood while in prayer or supplication as E.M. Bounds described it. None of us will ever be as intense in prayer as Jesus, but if the man of God never gets intense, He should reexamine his prayer life.