Planting five rows of P’s in your garden of Gethsemane
I. Plant a row of Participation
A. Jesus went with his disciples to the garden of Gethsemane.
1. Jesus wanted his friends to support him not only in prayer, but also just by being there.
2. Later on he pleads with them to watch and pray
3. Corporate prayer helps us through our Gethsemane.
B. “Changed Lives”-from “Stories from the heart” from Multnomah publishers inc. 1996 page 54.
C. We change the lives of others when we get involved, and watch and pray.
II. Plant a row of Prayer
A. At the most difficult time in Jesus life, he turned to prayer.
1. In the garden he was facing the will of his father, and his own human emotions.
2. Prayer was where he got answers.
3. Jesus knew the power of prayer. He knew that prayer had power.
4. Illustration-courtesy of sermoncentral-A small town in Oklahoma-distillery-two churches-lightning-court case-judge
III. Plant a row of Persistence
A. Here Jesus gives us yet another example of how to pray.
1. He prayed with persistence.
2. Look at verse 39, 42, and 44.
a. Three separate times he prayed that prayer.
b. Illustration courtesy of sermoncentral-Paul Harvey tells the story of a young boy and his mother that went to the Grocery store-cookies…etc.
3. We should be persistent with our prayers. Persistence pays off.
IV. Plant a row of Patience
A. It’s pretty well known that Jesus would often pray all night over matters.
1. Before he chose his disciples.
2. In the garden of Gethsemane
B. When we are facing a garden of Gethsemane in our lives, we must be patient. How?
1. Stay focused on the true problem.
2. Try to set a realistic time frame for making major decisions.
3. Seek trustworthy advice.
4. Pray for patience.
V. Plant a row of Peace
A. If we look carefully at this story of the garden of Gethsemane, we will see that even though it was a very, very, trying time for our Lord; he found peace at the end.
B. We should be the same. Whenever we hit our Gethsemane’s and we go through the process of Participation, Prayer, Persistence, and Patience, in the end we still must find Peace.
C. We have to be able to accept the fact, that this situation is not going to be easy, but grin, bear it, and we’ll make it through it together as Christians, and as the church. Amen.
