Wednesday, March 27 – Mark 14:32-38
They went to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and Jesus said, “Sit here while I go and pray.” He took Peter, James, and John with him, and he became deeply troubled and distressed. He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” He went on a little farther and fell to the ground. He prayed that, if it were possible, the awful hour awaiting him might pass him by. “Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” Then he returned and found the disciples asleep. He said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”PRAYER
Jesus, you showed us that life often consists of difficult things. I’ve never faced a tortuous death, like you did. But sometimes I really do pray to avoid, or be delivered from the difficult stuff that life throws at me. When life seems grim, I want to pray like you did on that dreadful night in Gethsemane… “Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”
Amen.