Jesus often went to the Mount of Olives to pray. This beloved place was just beyond Jerusalem along the road heading east toward Bethany. Jesus would have passed the Mount of Olives many times, perhaps even as a young boy entering Jerusalem for the Passover.

Jesus would have known the heart-wrenching story of King David, who escaped up the Mount of Olives a thousand years earlier. King David was overthrown by his son Absalom, who turned the people of Jerusalem against God’s anointed king. As David fled the city, he “continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went; his head was covered and he was barefoot.” (2 Samuel 15:30). God’s chosen ruler, rejected by his people, fled up the Mount of Olives. Is it possible this shepherd-king knelt in prayer as he foreshadowed the perfect, promised Messiah?

Almost 500 years later, God gave a prophecy—which mentions the Mount of Olives. “Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights on a day of battle. On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley… You will flee by my mountain valley… Then… the Lord will be king over the whole earth” (Zechariah 14:3-5, 9). The Lord promised he would victoriously provide the way to save his people, and Jesus is the way—the final fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophecy. Even Jesus’ name means “God saves!” No battle on the Mount of Olives will ever compare to Christ’s victory when he defeated death and the devil and saved us from our sins. He will return, gather believers to himself, and be exalted as the Lord of all.

It was on this same Mount of Olives that our Savior knelt again and again to talk to his Father. The Garden of Gethsemane was a familiar and welcome refuge for Jesus. Here, Jesus was overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death and pleaded, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39). Jesus knelt on the Mount of Olives and prayed for strength to complete God’s plan of salvation. Jesus prayed this petition just as he had taught his disciples in the Lord’s Prayer. Yet Jesus’ prayer was not just a perfect example; it is the perfect completion of God’s command to pray, “Your will be done” (Matthew 6:10).

You may not have prayed on a holy hill, but perhaps you’ve whispered a prayer in a quiet place. With faith in Christ Jesus as your Savior from sin, your prayers are like those offered on the Mount of Olives; they are heard by the triumphant Lord who answers prayers. Your prayers are heard by the God who saves his people.