| The last few verses of this reading are almost like holy ground. We find them a little hard to understand because they take us into places like the Garden of Gethsemane. We hear again the cry of the Saviour as he lies on the ground in prayer. Notice what verse 7 says. Every word here is strong. His prayer was intense. It was the begging cry of someone needing protection in a terrible hour of storm. In his great hour of need our Saviour turned to his Father in prayer. We can do this today. F. B. Meyer says that we should notice that the Gethsemane prayer was secret prayer. He did not share it even with the three disciples closest to him. There are burdens too that we can only share with the Lord himself. It was humble prayer. The gospel writers all tell us of his submission to the Father's will. It was prayer based on relationship-'Oh my Father' he cried. So our prayers are to our Father in the name of Christ. It was earnest prayer. Repetition is not always earnestness, but sometimes there will come to us the same prayer over and over again. And the Lord always said 'Not my will but thine be done'. What was the result? He was heard (v. 7). The cup was not taken away but the angel came and ministered to him and strengthened him. Again it can very easily be the same kind of answer for us. Secondly we are told he learned obedience (v. 8). We may not understand all that this means but again remember: he is the one we are dealing with now and he knows the cost of obedience. Finally he was made perfect through it all. The word 'perfect' here means fitted for the task. In others words all that the Lord Jesus went through made him more fitted for the work of being our great High Priest. Isn't that wonderful? | 
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