Daily Devotional - Growing In Grace - Week 14 - Day 92 - 4/2/26 - "I Ain't Got Long to Stay Here"

Author: Evangelist Lisa Dalton

“I Ain’t Got Long to Stay Here”
Scripture: Matthew 26:26,36

“And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder.”

Devotion:
Recently I had a friend come to me asking that I be in prayer with her. You see, she received some not so good news from the doctor and wanted to reach out to me because she knows I’m a praying woman. She had already been in my spirit because I noticed she just wasn’t her usual joyful self. Now I know why.

In our lesson today, Jesus decides to have his final meal with his disciples and tell them about what was ahead for Him and for them. He has what we call Holy Communion with them and explains to them about the body and the blood which represents Him after His return. He then sets off to pray.

Jesus took the three people He felt understood Him the most - Peter, James, and John. Jesus just needed a little moral support as He was approaching the moment He was created for. He was approaching the moment He even dreaded. He was approaching the moment He had been sharing with them for some time now. He was approaching the moment He would be revealed as God in the Flesh. For Him, the garden was a place of peace, a place of vulnerability and a place of surrender.  He revealed His true divine identity in the Garden.

Praying just seems more powerful when you have someone praying along with you. "Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst", Matthew 18:20. Even Jesus lived by His own words.

Consider this:
Jesus shows us that true obedience is not just celebrated at the table—it is lived out in the garden.
He feeds us so we can follow Him.
He strengthens us so we can surrender.
He invites us close so we can walk with Him into deeper places.

Prayer:
Lord, thank You for the table where You feed me and the garden where You shape me.
Teach me to receive Your strength and to surrender my will. Help me follow You from communion to commitment, from comfort to obedience. May my life reflect the love You poured out for me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.