3月24日

標　　題： 與神稍往前走

經　　節： 祂就稍往前走，俯伏在地，禱告說：「倘若可行，便叫那時候過去。」（馬可福音十四章35節）

有些基督徒僅以能與神維持膚淺的表面關係，就心滿意足。有些人卻企望與祂同在，享受聖潔的時光。耶穌在客西馬尼園神聖祈禱的那一夜，人們對祂的反應各有不同。有些人對耶穌漠不關心，甚至沒有察覺耶穌就在園裡。猶大知道耶穌在那裡，然而，他正處心積慮地要落實自己的計謀，帶人捉拿耶穌。剩餘的門徒雖然與耶穌同在園中，卻分心睡著了。耶穌告訴他們時間的急迫性，但他們不能理解耶穌的話。彼得、雅各及約翰是耶穌最親密的核心門徒。他們剛開始時與耶穌一同祈禱，只不過也沒能把握住這重要的時刻。最後，耶穌孤零零地一人獨自禱告。祂稍往前走，離開門徒一段距離，繼續禱告。在這人類歷史中最偉大的代禱時刻，居然沒有人願意與耶穌同去，與祂一起守望禱告。

在整個人類歷史中，神找尋那些願意奉獻全部所有給祂和祂救贖世人計畫的人。有時候，祂詫異居然沒人願意與祂同行（以賽亞書六十三：5，五十九：16）。先知們好像較能捉住問題的命脈，然而，當時的社會卻繼續前行，好像沒啥問題一樣。先知們為了神下一步行動而煩悶、哀哭。

神呼召你與祂進入更深的禱告生活。如果你願意讓耶穌帶領你進入那最神聖的時刻，你將嘗到的經驗，是那一夜在客西馬尼園只有天使與耶穌分享的經歷。

Going Farther with God

He went a little farther, and fell on the ground, and prayed. (Mark 14:35)

Some Christians are satisfied to have only a surface relationship with Christ. Others desire to share the holiest moments with Him. On the night Jesus spent in sacred prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, the people responded to Him in various ways. There were those who were so indifferent to Jesus that they were unaware He was even in the garden. Then there was Judas, who knew where Jesus was but was too busy with his own schemes to join Him. The rest of the disciples joined Jesus in the garden, but they were distracted by sleep. Jesus told them the urgency of the hour, but they did not comprehend it. There was the inner circle of disciples, Peter, James, and John. They initially prayed with Jesus, yet even they could not grasp the significance of the moment. Ultimately, Jesus prayed alone. He went farther than His disciples and prayed longer. At the greatest moment of intercession in human history, there was no one willing to go with Jesus and watch with Him.

Throughout history God has looked for those willing to yield everything to Him and His desire to redeem a world. At times God has marveled that no one was willing to go with Him (Isa. 63:5; 59:16). The prophets seemed to grasp more than the common people, for while society carried on as though nothing were wrong the prophets agonized and wept over what they knew God was preparing to do.

God is calling you to go deeper in your prayer life with Him. If you are willing to be the person Jesus can take with Him into the most sacred moments, you will experience things only the angels shared with Jesus in the garden that night.