The way Jesus did...

Read Luke 22.39-46

The days after Easter can be a time when many of us “get back to the grind.” That is, it can become the road to moving on all the while forgetting the magnitude of what was just celebrated.

If today slides into the realm of “moving on” we fall prey to moving beyond the glory of the empty tomb. So how do we move into the glorious truth of the empty tomb so as to live out the momentous truth of Easter?

Prayer…

In order for the glory of Easter to become the truth of our lives, we must always remember what Jesus stepped into before stepping up to the cross and stepping out of the tomb. We must always remember how He covered Himself in prayer.

Think about it, before He went to the cross so as to bring about the truth of Easter, what did Jesus do? He prayed. In fact, He told His disciples the action they needed most was prayer.

“When He arrived at the place, He said to them, ‘Pray that you may not enter into temptation.’” (40).

Jesus knew that when faced with turmoil, chaos and evil, the disciples would be tempted to either run away, or attempt to solve the problem on their own, and such is the case with us today. When the world confronts us how often do we attempt to fight against it on our own? And when we do this, when we seek resolution of our own doing we fail to fight with the most powerful source we have been given—prayer.

When we seek to solve life on our own we act as if we actually believe that prayer is not enough. We act as if prayer is our last solution when in fact, prayer should be our first response…just as it was for Jesus.

In the midst of the chaos and the eruptions of struggle and turmoil, those who know Jesus, need to pray. The world needs more prayer because it needs more Jesus.

“And being in an agony He prayed more earnestly; and His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (44).

Let us this day seek to continue the Easter miracle by kneeling down in prayer. Let us face our troubles and struggles in life the way Jesus did…

“Jesus offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears…and was heard” (Heb 5.7).