Praying should not be difficult

We read about Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane just before he was arrested, goes through the mock trial, beaten and crucified. While Jesus was praying, he left his disciples in one place and asked Peter, James and John to continue on with him, then he tells them to keep watch with him while he goes a little further and prays.

When he comes back to the three disciples, they are all sleeping, so they are asked again to pray for him. Jesus goes again and talks with God through prayer. When Jesus returns to the men again they are still sleeping. Why was it so difficult for Peter, James and John to pray and why is it so difficult sometimes for us to pray?

There are three things we can learn from this situation. Peter, James and John did not fully understand that Jesus was headed to the cross. When we do not understand what we are praying about and the need to pray for a particular situation we have trouble praying as we should.

At this time, our nation and our new leaders, especially in Washington, desperately need our prayers every day and we need to pray every day that God will help our leaders to turn this nation back to a more Christian nation. If we have relatives or friends that do not know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, we need to pray for them daily.

The three disciples did not understand what Jesus was going through when he asked them to pray for him.

“My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” Jesus said. They did not know the burden Jesus; heart was caring at the time and they did not hurt for Jesus in the same degree, as he was hurting.

When the things that break Jesus’ heart do not break our hearts, we have trouble praying, as we should because those things that break God’s heart should break our hearts also. When we lose sight of what breaks God’s heart, we have a hard time praying about those things.

When Jesus returned to Peter, James and John, he said to them, “Watch and pray so that you do not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” When we are more concerned about getting what we want rather than seeking what God wants, we have trouble praying.

Prayer can be difficult when we do not understand the situation, because we forget about those things that break God’s heart and we fall into the temptation of the flesh. May we all overcome these problems so that we can pray daily about the many things that we should be praying about. Praying should not be difficult.

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