Sweet Hour of Prayer

Daily Reading:  Mark 14

Could you not watch one hour? (Mark 14.37)

Devotional Thought: Jesus led his disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane where he prayed.  While this time of prayer was to be between just him and his Father, his hope was that his best friends would be praying for him.  So, he left them to pray while he wandered a few hundred feet into the olive grove where he would pray alone. 

When Jesus returned and found them sleeping, he asked, “Could you not watch one hour?”  What can we learn from this incident?

·       There are some things that we need to talk to God about alone. On this night, Jesus had some things to say to God that no one else needed to hear.  It was not an unfamiliar scenario in Jesus’ prayer life.  While he prayed with his disciples on many occasions, we frequently find Jesus going off alone – often early in the morning – where he would pray by himself.  What are the things that you need to talk to God about alone?

·       Though I wouldn’t be too exact about it, we need to consider Jesus' words one hour.  The word Jesus used there is hṓra.  Strong’s Concordance defines it as: “properly, an hour; figuratively, a finite time or opportunity to reach a goal; a divinely pre-set time."  Jesus asked them, could you not pray these 60 minutes?  With our busy schedules, that is a stretch for most of us, isn’t it?  But he also asked them, could you not pray until the job was done?  If we can’t pray precisely 60 minutes, perhaps we should pray until we’ve “prayed through.”  Finally, he asked them, could you not pray at the appointed time?  If we don’t appoint a time, we certainly will not fill the time with prayer. 

Will you "pray one hour"?

Prayer: "Sweet hour of prayer!  Sweet hour of prayer - that calls me from a world of care and bids me at my Father's throne - make all my wants and wishes known..."  Amen.  (William Walford)

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 9.1-6

1 I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.

2 I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

3 When my enemies turn back, they stumble and perish before your presence.

4 For you have maintained my just cause; you have sat on the throne, giving righteous judgment.

5 You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish; you have blotted out their name forever and ever.

6 The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins; their cities you rooted out; the very memory of them has perished.