They went to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be distressed and agitated. And he said to them, “I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and keep awake.” And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. He said, “Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.” He came and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep awake one hour? Keep awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. And once more he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to say to him. He came a third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Enough! The hour has come; the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand.” (Mark 14:32-42, NRSV)
Prayer is a vital part of our lives and for centuries upon centuries we have be praying to God for help, guidance, strength, and maybe ultimately just to vent. Prayer is also very much not what we think it is. For some it is to clarify what we desire to God, for some to grow closer to God, but let’s look at the greatest example of what prayer really is, Jesus.
Jesus was a prayer warrior, he was constantly going off to be alone with God and to pray. This scripture example above is just one of the many examples in the Gospels of the life of prayer that Jesus regularly invested in. What’s important about this is that he was frequently active in prayer.
This moment in Mark 14 is a moment of desperation, of pain, but ultimately Jesus is scared. Jesus who is our Savior and Lord of the world, everything in the world is here because of Him and yet in this moment he is desperate, scared, and praying to God for assistance, except Jesus knows what prayer is about. It’s another opportunity to glorify God which is why even in his fear Jesus responds to do God’s will.
See this is what we don’t like about prayer. We don’t like that we can’t just get our way. Admit it, there have been times in your life when you wanted something to happen or something not to happen and you to go in prayer pleading with Him to let it be as you desire, but we can’t control God.
Prayer is about a relationship about the need to invest in more than ourselves. Jesus knew that prayer was a lifestyle, not something we grab onto when things go wrong. The power of prayer is not in that you can make God do things, but that in prayer God is always with us no matter what happens in our lives. Through the good and the bad God is present, always.
Prayer is a gift of presence and a holy gift given to us by God himself. No matter what happens God is always with you, comforting you, encouraging you, and supporting you to live a life that is far better than one we can do on our own.