What Can We Learn from Jesus’ Prayer?
Matthew 26:36-46
ILLUSTRATION… Children’s Prayers http://www.bible.org/illus.php?topic_id=1145
Dear God: Please send a new baby for Mommy. The new baby you sent last week cries too much. - Debbie, 7
Dear God: Who did you make smarter? Boys or girls? My sister and I want to know. - Jimmy, 6
Dear God: How many angels are there in heaven? I would like to be the first kid in my class to know the answer. - Norma, 8
Dear God: This is my prayer. Could you please give my brother some brains. So far he doesn’t have any. - Angela, 8
Dear Lord: Thank you for the nice day today. You even fooled the TV weather man. - Hank, 7
Dear God: Please bring me a new brother. The one I got socks me all the time. - Agnes, 6
Dear God: Please help me is school. I need help in spelling, adding, history, geography and writing. I don’t need help in anything else. - Lois, 9
Dear God: Do you have any helpers in Heaven? I would like to be one of Your helpers in Heaven when I have summer vacation. - Natalie, 7
Dear God: I need a raise in my allowance. Could you have one of your angels tell my father. Thank you. David, 7
Dear God: I am saying my prayers for me and my brother, Billy, because Billy is six months old and he can’t do anything but sleep and wet his diapers. Diane, 8
INTRODUCTION
I want to introduce you to a few people this morning. They will help us think about the prayer that we will read and also help us think about ourselves.
First, I want you to meet Tom. Tom is a young man in school. He is studying to become a pharmacist. He has been in school for three years and has three years more. His parents cannot help him financially through school and the bills are starting to mount up. He works as hard as he can in school and at a full-time job. He goes to school full-time and works full-time. He is almost to the point of having to quit school… the bills are overwhelming. And there’s this girl. He met her through some friends at work. He likes her. He likes her a lot, but she is not a Christian and his friends at church have been discouraging him from seeing her. His life just seems so stressful and he has decisions to make… but isn’t sure what to do. What does he do about school? What about his job? What about the new girl?
Second, I want you to meet Ted. He recently got back from Iraq. Before that, he had been in Afghanistan. He’s out of the military now, but is not sure what to do with his life. Unfortunately, he has been having some health issues… he seems to be sick. Some of the things he experienced in Afghanistan and Iraq have been troubling him emotionally. And on top of all that, while he was away, his father had a heart attack. He feel that if he had been home he could have helped his dad. He feels guilty. He feels guilty for a lot of things. What is he supposed to do? His health is not great and his dad is sick as well. It is hard to keep working steady… so money is tight. What is he supposed to do?
Third, this is Luis and Nina. Luis and Nina have been married for 6 years and they have no kids. They have a dog that they treat like a kid, but no human kids. Luis and Nina have it all. Both of them have good jobs. Luis works for a company with computers. Nina is a dental assistant. They are financially secure. They were able to afford a small house. They each drive a nice car. They have great friends. But, they struggle in their marriage. They don’t seem to communicate. They don’t seem to really love each other anymore. The only time they look happy together is when they go to church and put on their church faces. Luis wants a divorce. Nina wants a divorce. What are they supposed to do? Do they stay married? Do they quit? Do they ask for help? What do they do?
Fourth, I want to introduce you to Jerry and Rosa. They are enjoying the twilight years of their life. Both Jerry and Rosa have secure retirements and they enjoy traveling and cards and eating out. They also enjoy visiting most of their children and grandchildren. They have three kids and ten grandkids. Jerry and Rosa raised their children in the church, but the youngest seems to have gone his own way. He’s spent time in jail. He doesn’t go to church. He has struggled with drugs, but is doing okay with that now. He has a child from a previous girlfriend who he might loose. The mother is not in the picture and the child might go to foster care. They worry about him and their grandchild… it is stressful on all of them. What are they supposed to do? What do they do for their son… for their grandchild?
Life many times throws situations at us and we wonder what we are supposed to do. You have met several people this morning with their own set of issues that they are facing. Perhaps you can identify with them. Perhaps their situation is yours as well. Or perhaps their situation is one that you have faced before… or one you will face soon. In these types of difficult situations…
What decisions we are supposed to make?
What path are we to take?
What is God’s will for us and for our families?
How do we endure these stressful and faith stretching times?
How do we pray in situations like these?
SITUATION
I hope that we will answer this last question today. I would like us to look in Matthew 26 at a prayer of Jesus. Jesus is also in quite a difficult situation. How did He handle it? How did He pray? We can learn from Jesus’ example of how we should pray in difficult, hard, and emotional wrenching times.
READ MATTHEW 26:36-46
“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. "Could you men not 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 body 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 is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise, let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”
Jesus is in a situation that is quite stressful. Jesus knows what is about to transpire and it troubles Him greatly (verse 37). What was going to happen to Jesus? Well, the end of the passage that we read has a ‘betrayer’ coming to meet Jesus. This betrayer, Judas Iscariot, was one of Jesus’ closest friends who sold Him out to the authorities (Matthew 26:14-16). Judas came with armed guards who arrested Jesus. Upon Jesus’ arrest, the other disciples became afraid and fled (Matthew 26:56). Jesus was alone and was marched before the high priest who falsely accused Him. They told Him He was a liar. They punched Him and slapped Him (Matthew 26:67). Then Jesus was marched before the governor. The governor allowed the people present to have their way and consented that Jesus would be crucified. Jesus was beaten severely and mocked by the soldiers (Matthew 27:28-30). Jesus drug His own cross and was nailed to it. While on the cross, Jesus took on the sins of the world and was separated from God and punished for our sins. Jesus died.
Jesus knew that all of this was coming in just a few short hours. He did have a choice… He could run or He could face what was coming. Jesus knew that there would be emotional pain due to His dearest friends abandoning Him. Jesus knew that there would be public humiliation. Jesus knew the physical pain would be unbearable and it would kill Him. Jesus knew that He must take on the sins of the world. Jesus knew He would accept the wrath of God for us. Jesus knew all of that was coming.
What decision was Jesus supposed to make?
What path was Jesus supposed to take?
What was God’s will for Him?
How would He endure all of this?
How would He pray in this situation?
When we look at the prayer of Jesus in Matthew 26, we find that there are two anchor statements that will help us to understand Jesus’ prayer much better. These statements will help us in our prayer lives.
I. ANCHOR STATEMENT ONE: “The spirit is willing, but the body is weak” (verse 41)
The first anchor statement is found in verse 41, “The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” Jesus says this to His disciples. Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, but was not there alone. He took all of His disciples, but three of His dearest friends were with Him further into the garden where He prayed. Jesus asks them to “keep watch” with Him. The men knew Jesus was praying (Mark 14:32) and Jesus asks them to pray along with Him (Matthew 26:41, Luke 22:40).
Jesus goes by Himself and prays. Jesus was under such stress that the Gospel of Luke (22:44) tells us that “He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.” Jesus’ body was feeling the stress of His situation. The strain and agony and the knowledge of what was to come was bursting the capillaries in His head and He was sweating blood (http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/2223). Jesus’ body was weak. In addition, Jesus prayed and then went to His three friends who were watching and praying with Him… and they were asleep! Their bodies could not even last one hour praying. This did not happen once, but happened twice. The disciples slept while Jesus was having the hardest time of His life. Jesus’ body was weakening. The disciples bodies were weak. Jesus even tells them that He knows they are “willing,” but that their flesh is weak.
I think it is the same for us when it comes to times of prayer. We are willing, but our bodies are weak. Let me explain what I mean and see if you can identify with any of these situations.
* Some of us have committed ourselves over the years to times of prayer in the morning when we wake up. It goes fine for a few weeks, but then the snooze button gets pushed… and pushed… and pushed. Our body wants to sleep a little longer and our prayer times become a little shorter. Pretty soon we sleep until we need to wake up and there is no prayer time at all in the morning.
* Some of us have committed ourselves over the years to times of prayer at night before we go to sleep. We lie in our beds and reflect with God on the day. We pray for a little while and then go to sleep. Yet, one morning we wake up and discover that we fell asleep praying. I suppose that is not a bad way to fall asleep… but the prayer time was short. Each night, we just fall asleep faster and faster and then abandon praying seriously at night.
* Some of us have committed to different postures of prayer… the most common being that we get on our knees to pray. The problem is that when you are on your knees for awhile… they start to hurt. That’s why carpet installers and other folks that work on their knees have pads and such. The pain becomes a distraction. You may have tried laying down to pray… but that ends up in a nap!
Many times our bodies distract us when it comes to prayer. It could be sleep or a pain or hunger or thirst. We “WANT” to pray, but our bodies are weak. I am sure that Peter, James, and John wanted to watch and pray with Jesus, but their eyes were heavy and they slept instead. So we are left with our prayer life being prayers offered at the dinner table, in the car, in the shower, and whenever we happen to think of it. None of those are bad times to pray, but our extended conversations with the Lord fall by the wayside.
What then can we do? How can we tame our weak bodies in order to communicate deeply with our Heavenly Father? Jesus’ actions have a suggestion for us. I would like to reread a portion of our passage this morning. “Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Could you men not 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 body 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.”
I want you to notice that in Jesus’ extended time of prayer, He did not pray continuously, but broke it up. He prayed and then went to His disciples to check on them. These verses tell us that Jesus prayed for awhile, but did so in three separate times. Perhaps this could be helpful for us. We should set a time of prayer during the day or night… but plan breaks. Pray for 15 minutes and then go to the bathroom… but immediately go back to prayer. Pray for 20 minutes more and then change positions from a chair to the floor. Many times when we think of prayer we just sit and pray… and that is it. Even Jesus took a break, but kept Himself focused in the task that was prayer. In this way, I believe we can tame our weak bodies and cultivate a strong prayer life.
So our first anchor statement, “The spirit is willing, but the body is weak” has taught us that prayer is not easy, but that we must want to pray and intentionally practice it. We can remove obstacles and have a deep prayer life. Our second statement will be just as helpful.
II. ANCHOR STATEMENT TWO: “Yet not as I will, but as You will” (verses 39, 42)
The second anchor statement actually occurs twice in our passage. Jesus says in verse 39, “Yet not as I will, but as you will.” In verse 42, He says something similar, “may your will be done.” What Jesus says is the hardest lesson to learn about prayer… in my opinion. Jesus’ situation was one that brought Him a great deal of stress and agony. He says to God, “may this cup be taken from me” (verse 39). There was no doubt that the road ahead for Jesus was tough and we was hoping for another option, but He knew what had to be done. Jesus prayed that God’s will would be done, and not His own.
Last week we looked at a prayer of David that had so many promises and good things in it. David was thanking God for leading him and blessing his household. David was so thankful for the promises God had made. It was a wonderful prayer in the midst of the goodness that was happening in David’s life and David submitted to God’s will. It is easy to submit to God’s will when things are going good! Let me say that again, It is easy to submit to God’s will when things are going good. The true test for us is to submit to God’s will when things are going poorly.
People die. We get sick. Bills come. Kids make poor choices. Jobs downsize. Someone verbally abuses us. The car breaks down. Families fight. All of these things happen in our lives and create situations similar to Jesus when we are stressed and perhaps even in agony.
What decisions we are supposed to make?
What path are we to take?
What is God’s will for us and for our families?
How do we endure these stressful and faith stretching times?
How do we pray in situations like these?
* I believe the answer to these questions is that we must pray that God’s will would be done.
* I believe the answer to these questions is that we must pray that God’s will would be done and we must accept His will.
* I believe the answer to these questions is that we must pray that God’s will would be done and we must accept His will and we must follow it no matter where it leads.
Prayer will help us accept His will and also will help us to follow His will where it leads. Jesus knew the will of God for Him. His arrest, humiliation, beatings, and death were the plan from the beginning. It was why He was born… but it was not easy. Jesus’ time in prayer allowed Him to ACCEPT God’s will and helped him to FOLLOW it as well. Prayer helped Him stay in the garden and await His betrayer.
ILLUSTRATION… Pastoral Call, http://www.bible.org/illus.php?topic_id=652
A minister received a call from a church that offered him a salary four times what he was then receiving. Being a devout man, he spent much time in prayer trying to discern what God wanted him to do. One day a friend met the minister’s young son on the street. “Do you know what your dad is going to do?” he asked. “Well,” replied the youngster, “Dad’s praying, but Mom’s packing!”
Sometimes discovering God’s will is not so easy. So how to we discover God’s will? How do we know what His will is in difficult situations? I believe that Jesus teaches us that through prayer, we can discover God’s will
ILLUSTRATION… Take Another Look at Guidance, http://www.bible.org/illus.php?topic_id=652
Bob Mumford in Take Another Look at Guidance, compares discovering God’s will with a sea captain’s docking procedure: A certain harbor in Italy can be reached only by sailing up a narrow channel between dangerous rocks and shoals. Over the years, many ships have been wrecked, and navigation is hazardous. To guide the ships safely into port, three lights have been mounted on three huge poles in the harbor. When the three lights are perfectly lined up and seen as one, the ship can safely proceed up the narrow channel. If the pilot sees two or three lights, he knows he’s off course and in danger.
God has also provided three beacons to guide us. The same rules of navigation apply—the three lights must be lined up before it is safe for us to proceed. The three harbor lights of guidance are:
1. The Word of God (objective standard) = What does the Bible already tell you to do?
2. The Holy Spirit (subjective witness) = What feelings and answers do you get through prayer?
3. Circumstances (divine providence) = How has God already worked to show you the way?
CONCLUSION
At the beginning, I introduced you to a few folks. Let’s revisit them and see how their situations turned out.
First we met Tom. Tom is a young man in school. He is studying to become a pharmacist. There’s the new girl in the picture. Tom committed himself to praying about everything that was stressing him out in his life. He prayed about school. He still had three years more and money was tight. He prayed and felt that God had already sent him in this career path and God’s will had not changed. In fact, he went to the school, spoke to the financial aid people, and they are going to help him to apply for some new scholarships. He also prayed about the new girl he met. He likes her a lot. When praying, he remembered that the Bible speaks of Christians not being ‘unequally’ yoked with unbelievers. Through prayer, he decided that dating her would not be a good decision, but that a friendship would be best… as hard as that was.
Second, you met Ted. He recently got back from Iraq and has had some health issues. His dad has been quite a worry in his life. Ted committed to praying about all the stress and worries in his life. Ted has prayed often about the guilty feelings he has about Iraq and Afghanistan and about his dad as well. He prays each day that God would heal his heart. Each day he feels his heart healing and being put back together. He has realized that life is a process and God is helping him through it. Ted has made prayer an important part of each day and his communication with God brings him peace, comfort, and strength to face each day.
Third, we met Luis and Nina. Luis and Nina have been married for 6 years and they have no kids. They both want a divorce. Both of them continued to go to church and pretty much ignored the situation. They never really prayed about it. They knew what God’s word said about divorce, but thought it didn’t apply to them. They decided to live their live their way. They have now divorced. Luis lives with his parents and is miserable. Nina lost her job, living with a new guy, and is wondering what happened to her life… she is quite unhappy. Neither of them sought God’s guidance and are now are both quite lost in life.
Fourth, we met Jerry and Rosa. They are enjoying the twilight years of their life and are deeply concerned about their son and grandchild. Jerry and Rosa have been praying for their son daily. They believe that it has been their prayers that have helped him come back to his faith, work through prison, and get out of drugs. They pray daily for their son’s situation with their grandchild. They pray together about this. One day they felt that God might be asking them to take the child for a time. They are still praying about this. The situation has not come up yet, but they are waiting for direction from the Lord. They want to do what He wants, and not what they want.
CONCLUSION
