The Power of Prayer in Life’s Darkest Hours

Matthew 26:36

Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder.

Jesus, being the Son of God, knew what was about to happen to Him in the next few hours. He knew that He was about ready to die. He knew that evil people would come and say false things about Him, and that they would spit on Him, curse Him, and crucify Him. The Scriptures say that He was sorrowful and very heavy. Yet, His response was not to run and hide and to feel sorry for Himself, but His response was to go to prayer. Jesus knew that prayer is where you gain the strength to face impending tragedy.

At some point in your life, you will come to a point when you feel like everything is coming at you at once. Your response during these times is critical to making it through on the victory side. Sometimes those times are very heavy, and those times can make you feel like you're going to die, but your response must be the same as our Saviour’s was, and that is to go to God in prayer. Let me share four times when you need to make prayer your response.

First, prayer is the best response when you feel like you're dying on the inside. Have you felt that the momentum has stopped and that you're dying on the inside and don't have any answers? Prayer needs to be your response when it seems like you can see the doomsday coming. Prayer is the only thing that can turn impending death into a resurrected life. Prayer is the only thing that can give you strength in those days when your heart is heavy, and when it seems obvious that death will be your plot.

Second, prayer is the best response when you are very sorrowful. Someone has died or your heart has been broken, and sorrow seems to be the daily meal that you must consume; prayer is the only response that will help you through those days of sorrow. Prayer is where you find grace to make it through those heavy times of sorrow.

Third, prayer is the best response when you are struggling with God's Will. When God's Will seems to be making your life worse, prayer must be your response if you're going to continue in God's Will. God never said that His Will will make your life better, but it will make a positive impact on eternity. The only way you will make it through those days when God's Will is making your life worse is to spend much time in prayer asking God for His strength to continue.

Fourth, prayer is the best response when your flesh does not want to do what your spirit tells you to do. You will face a day when your flesh and your spirit disagree. The only way you will do the right thing in those days is by spending much time in prayer.

Why is prayer the best response to these things? Because prayer is where you gain the strength to continue. Prayer is where you are given God's grace to endure the hard times. Prayer is the place where you gain hope when hope seems to be gone. My friend, I am not saying that prayer will turn your life around for the better, but what I am saying is that prayer will give you the strength to make it through whatever you are going through. If Jesus knew that prayer was the answer through His deepest time of sorrow, then you would be wise to follow the Saviour’s model and make prayer your response in your dark days. Those who make prayer their response in the dark days are those who find light in the darkness of life.