Dear children of God, I am here to encourage you again. This is Malia! I just read again the story of how our Lord Jesus Christ prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane! He was there with His eleven disciples. He knew His betrayer will come. He knew that He will be arrested and crucified the next day. He knew it was the will of God! He was ready to submit to the will of His Father. As you know, His sacrifice on the Cross gave us eternal life! Halleluiah! As a Man, for Jesus, this was the greatest trial He will ever face. He was ready to take all our sins on Himself and die for us! Please watch what Jesus does at the hour of His greatest pain: He told His disciples that He wants to pray. He said: “My soul is deeply grieved, so that I am almost dying of sorrow. Stay here and stay awake and keep watch with Me.” Then He went ‘a little farther’ and prayed. He went again a little farther and prayed the second time. Then He did the same thing again, the third time, ‘saying the same words once more’ (Mt 26:38-44). At last, He was ready to meet Judas who betrayed Him with a kiss. From there, He went to the Cross where He died for me and you. What a Savior!

What are the lessons I have learned from this passage? At the point of His greatest sorrow, our Lord did two things: He prayed, and He made progress. He went a little farther each time He prayed. Even when He prayed, He repeated the same words, three times. How many times we just get tired of praying? Jesus persevered in prayers! He also appreciated the fellowship of His disciples, even when they were so weak. I want to be and behave like Jesus! As I see it here, during the times of trial, we need to pray to God! Stay close to God! Man is weak to help but God is always stronger than your problems. The devil wants you to just weep, to become depressed, to doubt God and become defeated. He wants you to forget the powerful weapon of prayer. We must pray always especially when the flood of evil comes against us! After prayer, Jesus used His ‘left over’ strength to move ‘a little farther’. Like Him, you pray, and you move on! Even if you must crawl on the ground, still move on! Make a little progress! God will help you! Do not stay in the same place. Life is like a river: Move on with it! When life is good and when life is not so good, move on! You cannot go back! Even now, with broken hearts, we must pray and make progress! God is with us! God will help us! The church will stand strong! The worship must continue! I appreciate all your prayers! Each one of us may be weak, but together, in the unity of the Spirit, as a Body, we become a spiritual hurricane! Devil, back off! I am waiting for new testimonies how God has helped you to make progress, even now! A woman in labor has pain, but soon, the baby is coming out! At last! Then we forget the pain and rejoice! Pain is gone and progress was made! Is it not God? Dear children of God, be strong and be faithful! God bless you, your marriages, your children, your families, the work of your hands, your bodies, souls and spirits! Love in Christ alone, Malia

Pastor (Mrs) Silvia Lia Leigh 22-07-2020