Let’s Turn Our Attention to Easter
This is Easter week, a wonderful time of the year where we remember the passion of Jesus to get us to know the Father. Everything changed that week. It was planned before the creation of the world. All of heaven and earth was watching and waiting for that to unfold.
Still, in the late night hours, before He was arrested, Jesus prayed.
I have two observations about this night of prayer (the second is up here).
May This Cup Pass From Me
The Gospels tell us that He prayed for this cup to pass (Mark 14:32-42), but adds something about God’s will. I feel this is what most Christians point to as proof to add “if it’s Your will” to their prayers.
Jesus was at the doorstep of entering the intensity of the beatings, rejections, pain, and torture to bring us back to God. He prays for the cup to be removed.
Jesus Didn’t Add “If It’s Your Will”
But, Jesus doesn’t add on “if it’s Your will;” Jesus adds on “but Your will.”
It may seem subtle, but it makes a world of difference. Jesus was not questioning whether it was God’s will; He was positioning His flesh under the rule of His spirit.
When Jesus tells Peter to pray against temptation because the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41), He was not only trying to help Peter out, He was showing us all what He was doing that night.
Why Was Jesus Praying in Gethsemane?
While admitting the feelings of trepidation of the coming event, Jesus was strengthening His resolve to follow the will of God. He was not uncertain about what God wanted to do; He was aligning His heart to God’s will was.
Let’s follow Jesus’ example. May our prayers be honest to God about our wants and desires.
And, let dive into God in order to know His will, and resolve to make His will our desires.
Let’s Stop Adding “If It’s Your Will” To Our Prayers
The flesh may be weak, but Jesus says that can be fixed through prayer. And, that prayer is reminding our flesh that it comes under the authority of our spirit.
Let’s stop adding “if it’s Your will” to our prayers. It’s sapping our faith. If God did spare his own Son for us, what would He possibly withhold from us He dearly loves (Romans 8:32)?
Find that breakthrough you need. Keep pressing in. The power that raised Jesus from the dead is living in you (Romans 8:11 & Ephesians 1:18-20).
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Jesus never prayed this way except at Gethsemane. He told us to pray”Your will be done,” but in John 14 and 15, He indicated that praying boldly brought glory to the Father. Read those chapters! Don’t listen to men! Start obeying Jesus! “If you remain in me, and My words remain in you, you will ask what you will and it shall be done unto you…”