Remember in this campaign we are looking at the prayer life of Jesus. This week we are zooming in on one of the most significant moments of Jesus' prayer life—his prayer in the garden of Gethsemane.
Matthew 26:36–46
36 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.” 37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” 39 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.” 40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. 41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42 He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.” 43 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. 44 So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing. 45 Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”
Here in the garden, Jesus models his teaching on prayer. As we saw in the Lord's prayer last week, Jesus taught his disciples to pray, "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." Jesus doesn't just teach this submission to God's will, but he lives it as well. In fact, this was his self-declared mission, "For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me." (John 6:38) Jesus' prayer here in verse 39 indicates a real wrestling with God's will. He prays for the cup to be taken from him, if at all possible. The cup is a common metaphor, especially in apocalyptic literature, for wrathful judgment from God usually involving suffering, pain, and death (Matt. 20:22-23; see also Psa. 11:6; 75:8; Isa. 51:17, 22; Jer. 16:7; 25:15; 49:12; Rev. 14:10; 16:19; 17:4; 18:6) Jesus seems to be aware of the suffering that awaits him at the cross and his prayer is for the Father to remove this path from him. Yet, even facing such bitter suffering and pain (both spiritually and physically) he surrenders to the will of the Father.
In this scene we can learn so much about our prayer life. We see Jesus, the perfect human, God in flesh, praying for a way out of suffering and pain from God's judgment. This we see in the life of David (2 Sam. 12:16, 22) and Daniel (Dan. 9:3, 16) as well. Yet, that is not his ultimate end. His purpose is higher than a pain-free life. Accomplishing the will of the Father is paramount, even if it means suffering and pain. So when we pray, we can certainly pray for God to remove pain and suffering from us, but it must always be followed by, "Yet not as I will, but as you will." This must not just be lip service either. We must not simply say this, then do everything in our power to avoid the will of the Father in favor of our own. As we see in the life of Jesus, his actions follow suit with his prayer. He doesn't run from the guards and flee the will of God. He courageously drinks the cup the Father has given him.
Isaiah 53:10 10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
All too often we think of prayer as trying to convince God do to what we want. This is not Christian prayer. There are some schools of thought within Christianity that suggest if we pray with the proper formula, God's hand will be forced to do what we want. If we say the correct words ("in the name of Jesus") with enough faith sprinkled in and we are living free from sin we will certainly get what we want. This is nonsense and absolutely catastrophic to the Christian life. It places our will and our desires above the will and desires of God. The mark of genuine Christian prayer is a submission to the will of the Father. Again, we can certainly petition God for our desires but that must always be followed by submission to God's will. If we pray this prayer enough, I think we will begin to see our will conforming to God's will. God will begin to change us. That is what tends to happen through a life of prayer—not that we change God, but he changes us.
Additional Content
Reflection
Reflect on your heart in prayer. Can you honestly, after presenting your requests to God, pray "your will be done"? What's holding you back from that type of prayer? Have you noticed, throughout your life with Christ, this prayer becoming easier or more difficult?
Audio
ff to 5:54 for additional content