“Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, ‘Sit here while I go over there and pray.’ He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.’ Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.’ Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. ‘Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?’ he asked Peter. ‘Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.’” (Matthew 26:36-41)
There are things we can learn from the prayer
life of Jesus:
Jesus honestly expressed to the Father what
He was feeling. He was sorrowful and
troubled and told that to the Father.
Jesus’ prayer life teaches us that there is no need to hold back so as
not to shock or offend the Father. God
already knows what we are feeling, to be honest about it with Him is a positive
thing.
Jesus asked the Father for what He
desired. He asked that the cup, the
agony of the cross that lay ahead, be taken away. This, too, is a matter of honesty. Jesus knew what He was asking for was not
possible, if He was going to accomplish what both He and the Father wanted, yet
He honestly expressed His desire to the Father.
He teaches us to be honest with the Father about our desires -- even if
we know they are wrong desires we should own those desires before God and allow
Him to do His work on them.
Jesus was willing to accept whatever the
Father wanted. Jesus’ own desires did
not take precedence, the Father’s did.
“Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
This is the bottom-line in prayer and in discipleship. To ultimately and sincerely want what God
wants, not what is best for us.
And one more lesson from what Jesus told the
disciples when He found them sleeping -- that prayer plays a role in our being
able to stand up to temptation.
Jesus’ whole life was lived as an example for
us to imitate. Look closely at His
prayer life. Examine it and imitate it!
His, by Grace,
Steve
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