Then they came to a place which was named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples,
"Sit here while I pray."
Mark 14:32
I hope you are taking time to pray, just like Jesus did. The reasons and benefits of prayer are too exhaustive to share with you in this brief devotional, but let me just say that everything that God has to offer you comes through prayer. He gives you His peace through prayer. He gives you joy knowing that when you pray, He's listening and responding. Prayer gives you comfort amidst painful and difficult times. Prayer lets us know that He's in charge of our lives and that we can go to Him as His kids when we need help. Prayer allows us to praise and worship God for who He is and what He's done--it's our way of saying, "Thanks" to Him.
Jesus is near His death in this passage from Mark, and what does He do? He prays. And wow, is that a message for us today. Whatever you are experiencing--whatever trial or trouble you are going through--take it to the Lord and let Him speak to you. He will give you His power and His strength to get through the day. Take it to Him in prayer. Philippians 4:6 says to "make your requests known to God"--that's the command. But the next verse gives us the huge payoff. Paul says that when we make our requests known to Him, two things take place.
"…And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
First, He gives us His peace. Notice that His peace surpasses any of our understanding, so when we pray, we're getting supernatural comfort.
Second, He guards our hearts and minds. And oh, how we need to be guarded from the enemy. When we pray, we are being protected from the enemy. We are under spiritual attack and the Bible says that the sure-fire way to ward off the enemy's attacks is through prayer.
Jesus commanded us to pray (Matthew 9:37, among others). Jesus showed us how to pray (Matthew 6:9-13). And Jesus Himself prayed!
Follow His lead and take time to pray, even if it's just a few moments here and there throughout the day. Let whatever is in your heart be made known to God.
"Devotion with Emotion", Bible, Christianity, Devotional, Jesus, Last Call, Michael James Stone, Mike MacIntosh, Sharon
