Holy Week: Enabled to Pray

Thirteen men entered the Garden of Gethsemane one Thursday night 2,000 years ago. Thirteen men believed in God that night. Thirteen men had made the claim that they would die for Him.

But only one did.

The night before the event that would become the climax of all history, thirteen men were called to pray. But only Jesus followed the call. The other twelve fell asleep, overcome by their own weakness. But Jesus wrestled in prayer, until drops of blood formed on His forehead. He knew what was coming, and the horror that He was about to experience. He also knew that the only thing that would carry Him would be prayer. In the words of E.M. Bounds:

"The prayers of God's saints are the capital stock in heaven by which Christ carries on His great work upon earth. The great throes and mighty convulsions on earth are the results of these prayers. Earth is changed, revolutionized, angels move on more powerful, more rapid wings, and God's policy is shaped as the prayers are more numerous, more efficient. It is true that the mightiest successes that come to God's cause are created and carried on by prayer."

Jesus understood the power of prayer more deeply than anyone else. But what amazes me the most is the way He prayed. John 17 gives a powerful glimpse into the prayer closet of God's own son.  When He was faced with death, His cry was: "Not my will, but Thine".  Then, instead of mourning the pain He was about to encounter, He lifted up the other twelve, who were too weak to stand with Him, in intercession. And then, He prayed for us; for all that would believe because of their testimony.

Our prayers are often so weak; they can so easily become self-centered. As Americans, we pray for safety and prosperity, when we are the safest, most prosperous nation in the world. Where are the Acts 4 prayers, of believers crying out for boldness to speak God's word without fear?  Where are the 1 Kings 18 prayers, where we would wrestle until we see the victory, even when it looks as though none would come?  Where are the John 17 prayers, that would focus outwardly on those around us, even in our moments of deepest need?

I know that so often, they're missing in my life. But I also know that when Jesus prayed for us, He did not leave us powerless in our own prayer lives. In Him, we can intercede; we can wrestle; we can see victory through prayer.

Thirteen men entered the Garden that night. But through the enabling power of the cross, those other twelve, though they were weak, would not always have to remain that way; the cross empowered them to pray, to wrestle until the breaking of day.

On this side of the cross, our prayers lives can be victorious.

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Worship Song: 

"Grace Like Rain",
by Todd Agnew