Awaken The Dawn

On the Potter’s Wheel

would forcibly make Him king, He prayed; before choosing the twelve, again when at Caesarea Philippi He questioned them about the progress of the work, and when they returned from their mis- sion to the villages, He prayed. Heading southwards for the final challenge to Jerusalem, He lingered among the hills in Galilee for prayer and was trans- figured and fortified. As Peter faced his own testing-time, Jesus prayed; and in the Upper Room He prayed for them all. Before distributing the sacramental bread He prayed again, and later in the Garden facing out the full hor- ror of the cross, three times He prayed. And as He had lived in constant prayer, so He died: “Father, forgive them…Why hast Thou forsaken me?…Father, into Thy hands…” All this, be it noted, is remembered and set down, though the record is far from complete, and a habit so constant called for little repetition in the story. 2

His Regular Response Concept 3. Prayer was Jesus’ regular response to situa- tions of crisis and decision. There will always be inter- ruptions in our lives. Problems, people, situations have a way of breaking in upon us uninvited and unscheduled. The natural tendency is to grapple with the intruder and solve the problem by keen evaluation and firm control. We think of Jesus and His serenity, so we then make the supreme mistake of trying to be confident and self- assured like our model Jesus, but without tapping into His source of strength.

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