The third day of the Easter retreat was characterized by great lessons from a book review, an awesome playlet, and a talk on the Gethsemane Experience. Prof Nze Jebbin reviewed the book “Digging Deep” by Apostle G. D. Numbere.

The book reviewer, Prof Nze Jebbin in conclusion said that “Digging Deep” stresses the importance of putting into action, the words and instructions of God. Details of the book review can be found here.

The next session led us into a talk from the President of the Women Fellowship International, Pastor (Dr.) N. E Numbere. The talk was titled “The Gethsemane Experience”. She highlighted the experience of Jesus at Gethsemane from Matthew 26:36-56, Mark 14:32-50, Luke 22:39-46, John 18:1-12. Gethsemane is the Hebrew word for the English word “Oil Press”. Some key points from this talk include:

• The Lord adjured His disciples to pray so they would not fall into temptation. Overconfidence was what made Peter deny Christ.
• As Christians, we must take the word of God seriously and be dependable when given a responsibility by God. God should be able to count on us to fulfil His tasks.
• Jesus was not afraid of dying.
• The Lord needed to be at Gethsemane so He could pray because of the task He had to carry out. He knew it was a time to pray, prevail and agonize.
• Christ agonized because he was going to make atonement for our sins in order to reconcile us to God (Hebrews 9:22, Revelation 14, Habakkuk 1:13).
• Jesus prayed until He got a breakthrough. The prayer of Jesus at Gethsemane was in three sections (Matthew 26:36, 39, 42, 44). If you do not pray, you will not hear God speak to you.

What made Jesus agonize more was the fact that God was going to turn His back on Him. When Jesus yielded to the will of God by saying “Let your will be done…”, He was able to pray through. Thereafter, He got up and faced the cross with so much might.

Other relevant points include:

• The victory on the cross was assured because of the victory in Gethsemane.
• Jesus had to be the Lamb that was slain in order to be the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Isaiah 53:7).

• When you learn to travail in the place of prayer, God will send His angel to strengthen you (Matthew 4:1). However, we are not to pray to angels but God will send them to us when it is necessary.
• The first Adam failed in a garden of Eden but the second Adam succeeded in the garden of Gethsemane (1 Corinthians 15:21-22, Revelation 5:1-9).
• God did not send His Son to die for angels but man.
• Without Gethsemane there will be no cross.
• The battle we are in, as Christians, is not a physical battle (2 Corinthians 10:4) and so we do not need physical weapons but spiritual weapons through prayer.

She concluded by saying, “If you want to see results, you must pray, as God is looking for those who will travail in prayers and achieve victory”.