THE PRAYER WE KNOW BUT RESISTMark 14:35–36 (NLT) “‘Abba, Father,’ he cried out, ‘everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.’”This is the prayer most of us know by heart but struggle to pray with honesty: “Your will be done.” Sometimes praying can feel like gravel in the mouth, hard and uncomfortable. It’s easy to pray ...  Read More

THE WEIGHT OF SAYING YESMark 14:32–35 (NLT) “He took Peter, James, and John, and he became deeply troubled and distressed. He told them, ‘My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death.’”Before Jesus ever carries the cross, He carries the weight of choice. Gethsemane is where the real surrender happens, not on Golgotha, but here, in a quiet garden, late at night, when no one is watching.I thi...  Read More

The Entrance We Didn’t See ComingINTRODUCTIONThe following is a guide to help facilitate discussion between you and the person you’re studying with or with your Connect Group. Feel free to add, subtract, or change questions to fit the conversation, and pray for the Spirit to lead in all things.OPENING QUESTIONHave you ever met someone famous? A musician, an athlete, an actor, an author? What was i...  Read More

THE ROOT WORK OF PRAYERMark 11:20–25 (NLT)“The next morning as they passed by the fig tree he had cursed, the disciples noticed it had withered from the roots.”If you sit with this passage long enough, one phrase rises to the surface: from the roots. Mark could have said the tree died. He could have said it withered. But he adds that small detail, roots first. Underground first. The hidden place f...  Read More

THE TABLES THAT STILL NEED TURNINGMark 11:15–19 (NLT) “Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people buying and selling animals for sacrifices… ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.’”There’s a historic church on the East Coast with a front entrance that looks like something out of a postcard, broad marble steps, arc...  Read More

THE TREE WITH PROMISE BUT NO LIFEMark 11:12–14 (NLT) “He noticed a fig tree in full leaf a little way off… but there were only leaves because it was too early in the season for fruit. Then Jesus said to the tree, ‘May no one ever eat your fruit again!’”I remember the night we landed in Rome—9:37 p.m., jet-lagged, starving, wandering the streets looking for anything open. We found a family-run rest...  Read More