“Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.’ Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. ‘Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?’ he asked Peter. ‘Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.’”
- Matthew 26:39-41 -

We see the loneliness of Gethsemane in this passage. The three disciples are asked to keep watch with him, but they fail miserably. When Jesus finds them sleeping, he characteristically asks them now not to pray for him, but for themselves. Their lack of commitment to him in his hour of greatest need makes them more vulnerable to attacks from the evil one.

Anyhow, Jesus has to face the terror in the loneliness of his own soul. So, they sleep on, and Jesus disturbs them only when the time for his betrayal has come. The disciples arise from their sleep; Jesus arises from his knees. They go on to an ordeal with which Jesus has wrestled, but for which the three others are completely unprepared.

This speaks to us of its great importance. Jesus has subordinated his own human will to God’s higher authority and found the peace that will enable him to face death. For us to be able to stand in defiant courage before evil, we too need first to have knelt in fervent prayer before God.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, you are my High Priest and you are, even now, interceding for me. I ask for alertness and vigilance, so that I do not miss an opportunity you present to me.

(A Summary from Encounter with God)

* I pray for my new house to be the Garden of Gethsemane where we pray to subordinate our own human will to God’s higher authority and found the peace that will enable us to carry the cross of the Lord Jesus.