Ever pray for something you desperately yearn for, and yet know that the prayer can never be answered as you wish? If we believe that all things are possible for God, then how do we turn to him when hope seems impossible? How do we find the joy of prayer in the midst of suffering? Again and again, I’ve found it helpful to turn to the biblical story of Jesus’ own suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane.
The vivid scene of Jesus praying to his father for deliverance the night before the Crucifixion is narrated in all four Gospels. Only two name the location, Gethsemane, likely an olive garden equipped with an olive press. And indeed, Jesussymbolically crushed in his prayers.
