Begin with two minutes of silence and stillness before God.
We could focus on many things throughout this chapter, but there’s one section in particular that really stuck with me. Verses 39-46 focus on Jesus praying on the Mount of Olives. I wanted to say that it was Jesus and the disciples praying, but…we’ll get to that.
Let’s begin by breaking down Jesus’ experience on the Mount of Olives as He prayed. My Bible translation says He went “as was His custom,” so that tells us this wasn’t a first-time thing for Jesus. I think about how busy Jesus was and how many people constantly wanted to talk to Him. I’m sure that He had to find a quiet place away from everyone else to pray. It makes a lot of sense. Then Jesus knelt down, showing humility and surrender to His Father. He could have prayed standing up, but He intentionally chose a posture of surrender. I also love that Jesus’ prayer shows us a picture of humbly asking God for what He wants, but it’s followed by the understanding that God’s will is most important. Verse 44 tells us that Jesus was in agony over what was to come (the cross), and He prayed until His sweat became like drops of blood.
Now let’s see how different this experience was for the disciples. They followed Jesus to the Mount of Olives and received instructions from Him to pray. The next thing we know, Jesus is waking the disciples.
I’d like to tell you my prayer life looks like Jesus’ with a quiet place set aside for prayer, telling God what I want with the knowledge that God’s will is more important than my own, praying until I sweat (I can go ahead and admit I’ll probably never pray until my sweat turns to blood), but I can be honest and say that it more regularly looks like the disciples’.
Let us not just read this passage again and keep living the way we have been. May this be the time we read it with intention and action. Where can you sneak away from the busyness of life to earnestly pray on a regular basis? How can you be more honest with God about what’s happening in your life? How can you be more submissive to God’s plans over your own? What are some ways you can stay awake, physically and emotionally, while you pray?
Take two minutes to reflect in silence.
Reflection:
Take intentional action today and find a quiet place to pray and submit yourself to God’s plans.