When faced with temptation, Jesus worked it out in prayer. He had a line in the sand: only His Father's will. Beyond that point He would not go. He would not jeopardize His relationship with God, and He must be our sinless Substitute.
But it was in prayer with His Abba that He found the strength to win the battle with sin. He had His line in the sand, but it was prayer that made His strong enough not to cross it.
The disciples had not learned that lesson yet. "The spirit is willing, but the body is weak," Jesus had said, after finding them asleep. "Pray so you will not fall into temptation" (v. 41). They thought they were strong enough. After all, they were tough men; and they had two swords, besides. But Jesus knew they were weak.
It is a universal truth that our nature is fallen and weak. Paul admits that in Romans 7 and 8. "I do not understand what I do. The good I want to do, I don't, and the evil I don't want to do, I keep on doing. . .Who will deliver me from this body of death?" (Rom. 7:14-24).
He explains the problem in 8:3: "For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering." Which brings us back to the Garden.
Jesus knew that only the power of God could keep Him, and in prayer He received strength to cement His resolve. He will save humanity at any cost to Himself. His only prayer was that God would allow only His will to be done. This must have sustained Jesus through every slap, punch, jeer, lash, and nail.
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