PRAYING THE HEART OF JESUS (7)

“Or do you think that I cannot now PRAY to MY FATHER, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?” – Matthew 26:53

There are few more important lessons to reaffirm about PRAYING the HEART of JESUS: “Or do you think that I cannot now PRAY to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels? How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?” (Mt.26:53-54). At the conclusion of the Gethsemane Prayer sessions, Jesus encountered an armed and angry crowd that came to arrest Him, with both sides brandishing swords. Jesus commanded His disciple to shelf his sword and allow God’s Will to stand. He could have prayed to the Father to release twelve legions of angels at His disposal, but He chose not to! Why? “But all this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled” (v.56). God’s Will was paramount to any personal wish or desire!

First, prayer is not always answered exactly as we might wish. Jesus, the perfect Son of God, poured out His Heart, longing to escape the ‘cup’ of the cross: “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me” (Mk.14:36a). But God said ‘No.’ There may be no fault in our praying. There may be nothing wrong with our prayer. Yet it would have made no difference if the prayer time had lasted all night, or if the prayer had been repeated a thousand times by a thousand people. The answer would still have been ‘No.’ The lesson: We can and should pour out our hearts to God, but with humility we must recognize that the Will of God we find may not be the same as the desire that we brought to the prayer. God is not obligated to answer anyone’s prayer. It is because we don’t always know how to pray that the Holy Spirit prays “for the saints according to the WILL of GOD” (Rom.8:26-27).

Secondly, the deepest of inner agonies can be shared with God. Jesus told His disciples His soul was overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death (Mt.26:38). Some believers erroneously equate any sign of depression as weakness of faith. If that were true, then many of the Bible’s greatest saints were weak in faith. Jesus was weak in the Garden of Gethsemane, but that was no sin or lack of faith. Weakness is common to human experience and, at times, it is the very thing that drives us to God. Was Jesus expected to feel excited when “all the disciples forsook Him and fled”? (v.56b). There is no sin in being real about our feelings and in coming to God acknowledging our struggles and need for His Grace. Remedies are rarely instant, but being open before God is always a right step.

Thirdly, the Will of God gets done. Jesus prayed: “not as I will, but as You will” (Mt.26:39). And God’s Will was done. For Jesus, the Father’s Will was the Cross, which was not a symbol of failure or defeat but of Victory. The Will of God may sometimes bring us to junctions where we are tempted to say: “How can God seem to be so absent? Where is He at a time like this?” The answer is: God is right there; just as He was in Gethsemane, at the cross, and at the tomb raising Jesus back to life. Through it all, God was there!

We are not to draw back from facing challenges: “Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him” (Heb.10:39). Challenges may try to overwhelm us and make us feel so alone; but God is always there. He doesn’t suddenly become unwilling regarding His promises. When Jesus left Gethsemane, the challenge of the cross was still ahead. But He came through Gethsemane strengthened; knowing God’s Will more surely and equipped to face anything God allowed in His life. He was fully prepared for the cross. May God make us ready for His perfect will, whatever that may be, in Jesus’ name!