These questions are connected to the message, Agony in Gethsemane: The Power of Prayer, from Sunday, March 12, 2023. You can watch it here.
- Read Luke 22:40-46 again. What new insights stood out to you from this passage or sermon? Did anything challenge your previous understanding of this scene? What challenges if any, does it present for your life?
- If you feel comfortable, can you share a time in your life where you agonized in prayer? How did this battle in prayer impact either the outcome of the situation or how you navigated through it?
- Reflect on the statement: “His body is doing what his soul desires.” How does that statement impact you? Have you considered the impact of the physical posture you take in prayer? This week: try praying with your body in a different posture than you’re used to (e.g. kneeling, lying face down, standing with palms up, etc.).
- Having prayed “take this cup from me” is it possible that God might be replying to me as he did with Jesus, with a loving but firm no? (Pete Greig, God on Unmute: A 40 Day Journey of Prayer)
- How can I discern what his will might be for me in my situation? Ask the Lord: “I take time now to surrender my will to God’s will.” (Pete Greig, God on Unmute: A 40 Day Journey of Prayer)
- Luke chooses to use Mount of Olives as his descriptor for the location rather than Garden of Gethsemane. Why do you think he may have done this? (Hint: read Zechariah 14:4)
If you’re interested in learning more about prayer, try this free online series by author and speaker, Pete Greig, Founder of 24/7 Prayer.