Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not come into the time of trial. ~Luke 22:46
We pilgrims walk through the Garden of Gethsemane, imagining Jesus at prayer. I repeat his words in my mind: “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me, yet not my will but yours be done.”
The garden has olive trees which are purportedly 2,000 years old. They are misshapen but healthy. Olive trees are known to live a long time and these particular trees have been lovingly tended for two millennia, ever since Jesus prayed under them.
The trees’ roots, knobby but alive, are a reminder that prayer isn’t always pretty. Jesus himself sweated great drops of blood in the garden. Still, prayer is powerful and long-lived and the ancient practice of prayer is worth tending.
To ask God for help in our most desperate moments is the very core of Christian hope.
How might you pray for help today?
Prayer: O Creator, keep me from the time of trial.
This material is adapted from my book, Chasing the Divine in the Holy Land.
The photo is mine, taken in the Garden of Gethsemane.
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