Awaken The Dawn

AWAKEN THE DAWN!

These were heavy thoughts for tired, sleepy, bewildered men. When at last they arrived at Gethsemane (meaning “oil press”), the place conveys an ominous, foreboding, even prophetic significance. Weary from a long day but comfortably fed from the passover meal, eight of the disciples easily responded to Jesus’ invitation to sit and wait near the entrance. We know from the Gospels that it was a small enclosed prop- erty, probably a garden with a variety of fruit trees and flowering shrubs; possibly, a house with an oil press pro- vided shelter. Jesus resorted to this place often, 2 not only for rest and sleep or for private gatherings with His twelve apostles, but this was pre-eminently a place for prayer, a meeting place with the Almighty. Jesus told the eight to remain while He went “over there to pray.” 3 The Need to Prevail in Prayer It is prudent to interrupt the story of Gethsemane to stress the importance and necessity of prevailing, phenomenal prayer. This book could have easily ended on an emo- tionally high note, giving the impression that simply going through the mechanics of early morning prayer or praying for an hour each day will make us ebullient, vibrant Christians. All Christians pray in ordinary times, and this is how it should be. We gain blessings and assistance with this gar- den variety prayer. However, there will be times when uncommon, extraordinary praying will be expected from us; unfortunately, the practice of prevailing prayer is nei- ther understood nor widely practiced by all Christians.

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