I want to spend some time in the Garden with Jesus … oh, not that proverbial rose garden full of loveliness and peace, but the Garden of Gethsemane full of loneliness and struggle. I want to learn how to pray from the way Jesus prayed.
The first thing I noticed was that while Jesus took His disciples with Him, His prayer was a solitary one. “Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, ‘Sit here while I go and pray over there.’ And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, ‘My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.’ He went a little farther and fell on His face and prayed.” [Matt 26:36-39 NKJV]
He told most of His followers to stay in a certain place, and took the closest three, Peter, James and John, a little farther with Him. Then He left the three and proceeded even farther away. Jesus’ prayer was a solitary one.
There is room in our lives for corporate prayer, of course. It is a good thing to pray with others, family, friends, or in a corporate setting. There is power in that type of prayer where two or three are gathered, but in the times of intense pain and trouble, going into our prayer “closet” where no ear hears but God’s is best.
I often spend time in private, personal prayer before I pray with others. There I pour my deepest desires and most intense pain out before my LORD. I can be completely transparent and honest. Most times I say little, my words are few. I don’t need to tell God what He already knows. I just need to be with Him.
Solitary prayer.
