I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Saturday morning, the 7th of February, 2026, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go to the Gospel of Matthew 26:36:

“Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane,…”

Gethsemane is a garden. I have been there myself many times. There are olive trees there that they say are thousands of years old, and I sit there often and I think of what the Master went through. Gethsemane actually means, “the oil press”, yes, the place of intense spiritual struggle. 

Oh my dear friend, are you there this morning? Are you in an intense spiritual struggle? You see, it is the place where Jesus endured profound agony and emotional pressure. Are you emotionally under pressure at the moment? It was so much for the Lord that he sweated drops of blood when He was praying, but what did He say? He could have said, “Lord, I can’t take this. Please send a legion of angels down to take Me home.” No, if you look at verse 39, while He was praying He said,

“My Father, if it is possible let this cup pass from Me, nevertheless not as I will but as You will.”

So if you are suffering, that does not mean that you are not walking with the Lord. It does not mean that you are backsliding or that you haven’t got any courage. It means that you are in the garden, you are in the time in the oil press, in a time of exceedingly great pressure. Now, what is the answer? Well, the answer is to do exactly what Jesus did. What did He do? He prayed and He prayed, and then God, through the power of His Holy Spirit and His angels, gave Jesus the strength to do what He had to do for you and for me. 

Now this morning I want to pray for you. I just sense as I am sitting in my prayer room, that many people are in the garden, in the place called Gethsemane, and you are sorely pressurised on both sides and you don’t know what to do. Well, I am going to pray for you, and I want you also to pray this prayer with me:

Heavenly Father,

In the name of Jesus Christ and by the power of Your Holy Spirit, I bring before Your throne, my problems.

They are many, Lord, I cannot even find a way out, but Lord, I appeal to You now and I ask You to undertake for me.

I pray for strength for the strain. Lord, I know that this time will pass by, but at the moment, it seems like there is no way out.

I ask You in Jesus name to strengthen me Lord, so that I can endure that which has been put before me, and I will give You all the glory, all the praise and all the honour.

In Jesus’ name, amen.

God bless you and have a wonderful day.
Goodbye.