Sparks from the Gospel Anvil Mark 14:37, 38
If I was an artist I would like to paint a picture; one of four men that had entered the garden of Gethsemane and it was night. They had went past the gate and the Lord had asked those three men, Peter, James and John, to tarry or wait at one spot and watch; as He went further on to pray. Leonard Ravenhill stated instead of watching, the disciples wilted. They were tired; exhausted; in other words, just worn out. They traveled with Jesus, They fellowshipped with Jesus, they saw Him do mighty miracles and heard the Divine discourses that He delivered. They deliberately asked Jesus one day to teach them to pray; (not preach), but pray and so He gave them an example as to how they should communicate with the Father. But on the night that He needed them to offer up supplications, they were sleeping. Instead of interceding they had become inactive; instead of praying, they had become paralyzed. Today we seem to be experiencing the same thing, could we not watch with the Lord for one hour? We need to remember that in the New Testament these were “men of kneeling” praying men. At this moment the world lies bleeding at our feet, raped by war, ravaged by famine, ripped by inflation, repressed by recession and riddled by unemployment and we forget that the Christian life is a battle. Prayer is not a preparation for the battle; it is the battle! The effectual fervent prayer of the righteous disarms the devil before the preacher gets into the pulpit. Preaching does not scare the devil, but prayer does. The hymn writer, William Cowper, stated that, “Restraining prayer, we cease to fight; prayer makes the Christian’s armour bright; And Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees”. Jesus said in another place, “while men slept the enemy sowed the tares;” and while we sleep in the church the devil sows his tares, sets his snares and weighs folks down with cares. Yet Jesus, the Captain of our Salvation, suffered for us, that we might triumph with Him.
That is why the Apostle Paul told Timothy, “For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.” (Ref. 1 Timothy 2:5) It is this mediatorial office that consists of two parts, sacrifice and intercession. They are equally important and mutually dependent. Without sacrifice , there is no ground of intercession; without intercession , there is no benefit in sacrifice. We as believers need to be reminded that the Lord Jesus Christ reminds to pray and not faint and that we should pray without ceasing. Now, I know there are many that think there is no possible way that we can pray without ceasing; that we must sleep and rest. I think the Welsh Evangelist, Christmas Evans said it best, “Christ sailed on the open channel like a man of war, delivering the hapless captives of the great pirate Death, to the astonishment and joy of the people, from Samaria to the borders of Tyre and Sidon. But on a certain day, ever to be remembered, as he drew near the ramparts of Sinai, all its batteries were opened upon him. He stood in the fire all night, and fought till he sweat great drops of blood. He threw Himself between His friends and the fort, and sustained the shock of its heaviest artillery, which played upon Him without intermission, until 3 o’clock in the afternoon of the next day, when he received a shot in the heart, and crying, “it is finished!” gave up the ghost. The whole creation trembled when He fell, and was swallowed up in the horrible abyss. But on the morning of the third day, the earth was seized with new spasms, and He that was dead came forth to be the life of His people; and the cable of faith, the anchor of hope, and the sails of love, ascended with Him from the deep, never to go down again. He is alive forevermore, and has the keys of hell and of death.” ( Sermons and Memoirs of Christmas Evans © 1986 Kregel Publications; pg. 69). If Christ did that for us, what are we doing for Him? Are we living to pray or praying to live? May God help us to see the importance and the urgency to be a people of Him advancing the Kingdom upon our knees. Lt. Charles Smith is commanding officer of the Salvation Army of El Dorado.