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Testimonies for the Church Volume 2
petitions through the entire night. He is our example. If we could
remember this, and imitate Him, we would be much stronger in God.
If the Saviour of men, with His divine strength, felt the need
of prayer, how much more should feeble, sinful mortals feel the
necessity of prayer—fervent, constant prayer! When Christ was the
most fiercely beset by temptation, He ate nothing. He committed
Himself to God and, through earnest prayer and perfect submission
to the will of His Father, came off conqueror. Those who profess
the truth for these last days, above every other class of professed
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Christians, should imitate the great Exemplar in prayer.
“It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the
servant as his lord.” Our tables are frequently spread with luxuries
neither healthful nor necessary, because we love these things more
than we love self-denial, freedom from disease, and soundness of
mind. Jesus sought earnestly for strength from His Father. This
the divine Son of God considered of more value, even for Himself,
than to sit at the most luxurious table. He has given us evidence
that prayer is essential in order to receive strength to contend with
the powers of darkness, and to do the work allotted us. Our own
strength is weakness, but that which God gives is mighty and will
make everyone who obtains it more than conqueror.
As the Son of God bowed in the attitude of prayer in the Garden
of Gethsemane, the agony of His spirit forced from His pores sweat
like great drops of blood. It was here that the horror of great darkness
surrounded Him. The sins of the world were upon Him. He was
suffering in man’s stead as a transgressor of His Father’s law. Here
was the scene of temptation. The divine light of God was receding
from His vision, and He was passing into the hands of the powers of
darkness. In His soul anguish He lay prostrate on the cold earth. He
was realizing His Father’s frown. He had taken the cup of suffering
from the lips of guilty man, and proposed to drink it Himself, and in
its place give to man the cup of blessing. The wrath that would have
fallen upon man was now falling upon Christ. It was here that the
mysterious cup trembled in His hand.
Jesus had often resorted to Gethsemane with His disciples for
meditation and prayer. They were all well acquainted with this sacred
retreat. Even Judas knew where to lead the murderous throng, that
he might betray Jesus into their hands. Never before had the Saviour
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