Lesson Three: The Gethsemane Prayer

The Lord Jesus prayed on many occasions. The gospel of Luke has a lot to say about Jesus and prayer. He prayed at His baptism. Luke 3:21. Before choosing the twelve apostles He spent the previous night in prayer. Luke 6:12-16. At the feeding of the hungry multitude He blessed and broke the bread. Luke 9:16. On the mount of transfiguration He prayed while Peter, James, and John got a glimpse of His glory. Luke 9:28, 29. Jesus also prayed while nailed to the cruel cross of Calvary. Luke 23:34-46.

Luke penned three parables that Christ taught about prayer. In both Luke 11:5-8 and 18:1-18 we learn to be persistent in prayer. In Luke 18:9-14 the lesson is about humility in prayer.

This lesson is devoted to His prayer in the garden of Gethsemane. This prayer is recorded in Matthew 26:36-44 and Mark 14:32-40. Here the emphasis is on intensity and persistence.

INTENSITY IN PRAYER

While His disciples slept, He "offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears...." Hebrews 5:7. According to Matthew 26:37, He was "sorrowful and deeply distressed." Luke the physician wrote, "And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. And His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground." Luke 22:44. Such was the intensity with which Jesus prayed.

The sleeping disciples are representative of many Christians today. Intensity and fervor are sadly lacking in most church prayer meetings. In fact many churches have abandoned their midweek prayer meeting service because of lack of attendance. Jesus asked, "Why do you sleep?" Luke 22:28. Would He repeat that question to you and your church today? "The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." James 5:17. Believers should pray with intensity.

PERSISTENCE IN PRAYER

While the Lord Jesus taught His disciples not to use vain repetition, He did instruct them to be persistent in prayer. You'll remember that two of His parables about prayer highlighted the need for persistence. He who said, "Ask, and it will be given to you," also added, "Seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." Matthew 7:7. Persistence means that we knock and keep on knocking.

In the garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed persistently. Three times He cried, "O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will." Some believers have a problem reconciling persistence and faith. To them faith means that it is enough to pray about something just once. The apostle Paul didn't share that belief. He also besought the Lord on three occasions to remove a thorn in the flesh. 2 Corinthians 12:7-10. Intensity and persistence characterized the apostle's prayer life.

This is a brief lesson, but for most of us it is not learned quickly.

Lesson Four: Answered Prayer

Navigation Tips

Since visitors use different browsers and monitors, and have different preferences in how they navigate through a website, we've provided multiple ways to progress through the studies on KnowingJesusChrist.com.

1) For those who find drop-down, slide-out menus convenient, just hover over the category (menu link on the top bar) and sub-category (menu link in the drop down list). If there is an arrow to the right of the item, the articles in that category will slide out. (If there is no arrow, just click on the item.) Click on any article to read it. If you have a "wheel mouse," you should be able to roll it toward you to see more of the drop-down menu.

2) If you are unable to see all the drop-down or slide-out items (or just prefer a different way of navigating), click on the category (menu link on the top bar), then on any sub-category in the list that appears. You will see a list of articles to choose from OR use our Site Map.

3) Most studies are part of a series (category or sub-category). Each article within the category has a link to the next article so you can progress easily to the next study.

4) At the top of the page, you will also notice "Breadcrumbs" that show which category and sub-category you are in. You may click on those links to return to the "parent" category or sub-category list.

5) ANSWERS to Review Questions and Quizzes are found in links at the end of the Review Questions or Quiz. They may also be accessed by clicking on the category (which will show a list of all articles in the category). The link at the end of the article will cause a pop up window to appear so you may easily refer to other pages on the site; the link in the Category list will open a normal page.

If you're looking for a particular topic, word, or phrase, try the Search feature in the right column.

Close this box by clicking on the top (dark brown) part again.