Learning (Again) to Pray (2) – The Garden of Gethsemane

Welcome to CROLCC, so glad you are here with us! We are in the middle of our series on prayer and for many of us prayer, or praying to God, is nothing new. Some of us have been doing it all our lives while others have been introduced to this topic almost immediately after meeting a Christian. Surely we all believe there is power in prayer. But if we do, how come we don’t pray more often? Perhaps we often thought the power in prayer is to change an outcome toward our liking, and when it doesn’t, we stop praying. Or we stop believing that prayer has any value that would benefit us.

But what if the greatest power in prayer is not to change an outcome but to change what’s inside of us? Last week we talked about a time when the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray. What we learned was to declare God’s greatness, surrender our will and acknowledge our dependence for provision, for pardon of sins, and for protection. Today in part two of our series we are going to examine a scene in which it reveals Jesus’ desperate need for the changing power of prayer. You will be surprised it relates to us more than you think.

Moving Forward

God is your father. He wants what’s best for you. But God isn’t only your father; he’s still God—all powerful and all-knowing. God is concerned about you and can see all the details of a situation, you can trust him. Put his will first.

Discussion Questions

1. Talk about a time when you were caught up in circumstances that felt like a current sweeping you to a place you didn’t want to go. How did you respond?

2. Have you ever prayed even though you didn’t think your prayers would change anything? Explain.

3. Read Mark 14:32–36. What surprises you about Jesus’ prayer?

4. Is it difficult for you to believe that, regardless of your circumstances, God wants the best for you? Why or why not?

5. What’s one thing in your life right now that you need to pray about until you can say, “Not what I will, but what you will”? How can this group support you as you work toward surrendering to your heavenly Father?