(J.R. Miller, “The Shining Light” 1911)
“Then Jesus went with His disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and He said to them: Sit here while I go over there and pray.” Matthew 26:36
We see the Master at prayer in Gethsemane. It was here that He prepared for His Cross. We should notice that His refuge in His exceeding sorrow, was prayer; and that as the sorrow deepened, the refuge still was prayer. “Being in an agony — He prayed more earnestly.”
Just so, prayer is our only refuge in sorrow.
The lesson from the garden prayer, is that we should take . . .
all the hard things,
the anguishes,
all the insufferable pains,
and all the bitter griefs of our lives
— to God in prayer.
We may be sure, too, that God will answer. If He does not relieve us of the suffering — He will strengthen us so that we can keep it, and still go on trusting and singing!
“Dear friend, make God your Confidant. Carry to Him all your needs, disclose to Him all your sorrows, confide to Him all your secrets, confess to Him all your sins. He will do all, soothe all, supply all, and pardon all–for who is a God like Him? He cares for you, His loving heart is towards you, His unslumbering eye is upon you! Oh, how condescendingly kind and gentle is Jesus to poor sinners who feel their need of Him, and are conscious that they can do nothing without Him! You will always meet with a kind welcome from Jesus, come when you may and how you will.” Mary Winslow