Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed before the Passion | Photo by Patrick Tomasso via Wikimedia Commons
In Mark 14: 32-42, we see that Jesus takes Peter, James, and John, and they take the journey to the Garden of Gethsemane. This is the journey of prayer needed before Jesus goes to the Cross. If Jesus had to pray to be able to face the upcoming events, how much more do we need to make the journey to prayer?
We see that Jesus feels what we feel in life. In verse 34 -“He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” Have we been to that point of being crushed, broken, and filled with grief and sorrow? Have we been overwhelmed with life? Jesus tells us that we must bring it to the Father in prayer! Prayer is spending time with Jesus and allowing His presence to prepare us for the journey ahead.
Jesus is alone with the Father and shows us that He understood all that would happen to Him. He cried out to His Father to take the Cross from Him. Jesus shows us that in prayer, we struggle with God’s Will and plan for our lives, but then Jesus declares what we need to declare if we are going to follow Jesus. In verse 36 – “Please take this cup of suffering from me. YET I WANT YOUR WILL TO BE DONE, NOT MINE.” Can we pray that we want God’s Will to be done more than our will?
Jesus goes off by Himself to pray, and when He returns, He finds the three friends sound asleep. How many Christians have become like Peter, James, and John? We become spiritually tired and complacent and do not realize that prayer is vital to life!
Have we spiritually fallen asleep?
Jesus says to Simon Peter, in verses 37-38, “…couldn’t you watch with me for even one hour? Keep watch and pray so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”
We need to take the journey to the Garden of Prayer and come to the place of surrender to God’s Will so that we can have the strength to have victory!
Lord, as we journey in 2023, help me to make spending time with Jesus a priority in my life.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Pastor Ronald Squibb has been the Lead Senior Pastor of the International Christian Church (ICC) at Staten Island, New York, since 2011. He draws many experiences from him over 40 years as a pastor and significant emotional life experiences.
His new book, Following the Journey with Jesus, which he co-authored with Daniel McNaughton, was recently published and is getting rave reviews. His devotionals appear in this publication on Wednesdays and Fridays.
