Jesus took His disciples with Him to Gethsemane that night. He left most of them in one place and took the three closest to Him, Peter, James and John farther. Then He went a stone’s throw away from them. They could see He was in agony, down on His face in the dirt. They could hear His cries. Their contribution in all this, however, was to fall asleep. I can’t really blame them. They’d consumed a meal prior to going and it was nighttime after all.
Jesus came back and woke them and then returned to pray. He came back a second time, woke them again, and urged them to pray that they would not fall into temptation. Then Matthew tells us, “So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.” [26:44]
Jesus persevered in prayer. Three times He sought His Father. Three times He said the same thing. He wasn’t going to give up until the matter was settled one way or another. He was determined to hear His Father’s response.
I often wonder how determined I am in prayer. Do I pray until the matter is settled … until I hear God say yes, no, or not now? Or do I just tell God what I think He needs to hear and how I think He needs to act, and then disappear.
It was a year ago that I began to pray for the “Presence of Christ” to manifest in our church and our community. I am still praying. I intend to persevere in that plea for the “Presence” until God says, “Yes, I’m here now,” or until He tells me to stop. I must follow my LORD’s example and persevere, even to saying the same thing(!) each time.
“Even so, come LORD JESUS. Amen”
