The Prayer

Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me." 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. "Could you men not 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 body is weak." He went away a second time and prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done." When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.

Enter the Garden of Gethsemane If your best friend asked you to do something for them; in most cases you wouldn’t even hesitate. Jesus asks two of his closest friends to simply stay near and pray. They fail. Twice. Set a timer for one or two minutes. Clear your mind and pray or meditate until it goes off. Did your mind wander… listening to the outside sounds, thinking of your to do list? Or were you able to stay on task? Sometimes it’s the big important things that we find easier to do. But to sit and pray for an hour, that seems like such a little thing, an unimportant thing. Perhaps that’s why the disciples were able to fall asleep, it wasn’t a “busy” task they were asked to do. We are asked by people every day to do all types of things. Will you do only the “fun, busy” things or will you be willing to just sit or to just pray if asked?