Today's Bible reading is the 14th chapter of the Book of Mark. You can read it here at Bible Gateway: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+14&version=NASB

With 72 verses, Mark 14 is a difficult chapter to pull a brief thought from. In this chapter Mark records the account of Jesus praying in Gethsemane after sharing in the Passover meal with His disciples in the upper room. He had already told them that one of them would betray Him, that Peter would deny Him three times and that all of them would fall away from Him. After arriving at Gethsemane, He had some of the disciples sit while He took Peter, James and John away from the rest. And then telling the three to remain and keep watch, He went a little further by Himself and began to pray, asking the Father, that if it were possible that "the hour" might pass Him by. He then affirmed His desire to do the Father's will and not His own. When He returned He found the disciples sleeping. Three times Jesus would go to pray and upon His return find the three sleeping.

It is not the disciples sleeping and their inability to do what He asked of them that I wish to write about. It is, what I believe to be, the wonderful example given to us by our Lord regarding prayer. After His first prayer, the text tells us that during each subsequent prayer He was "saying the same words". Again, I so much appreciate His example. Remember, "the hour" was near and it would be His most trying one. He does not continue to pray the same thing because He lacks faith. He continues to pray the same thing because He is showing us the source of His strength and His desire to do His Father's will. When we struggle through "the hours" of this life, we should never be ashamed for going to our Father time and again. He bids us to boldly come to the throne of grace and find help in our time of need. The worst thing we can do is stop coming.