Broken Prayers

Many times we find ourselves reaching out to the Lord in prayer when things are at their worst right? When we are in extreme distress. This is not a bad thing at all, in fact, this is what Jesus did.

The passover feast has just finished and Jesus knows what is coming. He knows what is about to happen to Him, and the thing that He does is turn first to God in prayer.

Mark 14:32–34 ESV

And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.”

Jesus uttering these words here that His soul is very sorrowful, even to the point of death is important. Again, He knows what is coming to Him, He knows that the time has come, and yet He is still troubled…Why

This part here where Jesus says my soul is not a coincidence either…it is reference to the book of Psalm

Psalm 42:5–6 ESV

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.

This was written by the Sons of Korrah, faithful people to the Lord, in a time of exile where they longed to be in the house of the Lord worshiping Him. Here they remind themselves of the Lord’s salvation, and they are commanding their souls to trust in the Lord.

Jesus is doing something similar here. He knows what is coming, yet He is so sure of the Lord’s salvation.

In the midst of our broken prayers…

Do we focus on the Lord’s salvation?

Mark 14:35–36 ESV

And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

First thing that is important to see here

Abba

Jesus cries out to God as Abba. This word is father, but more importantly this version of father is a deep intimate version. You would often hear this called out by children like “daddy” who are calling out to their dads in times of trouble.

Jesus is leaning to His father with a deep intimate cry to Him because He is hurting.

Sometimes we forget that Jesus was fully God and fully man. We forget that He would have had the human nature telling Him that what He was about to experience was something that no one willingly goes in to. That He was about to experience the worst form of death in human history.

Here in this moment Jesus demonstrates for us a form of prayer that I think we too often forget. We pray formally in church, we pray over our meals, we pray during our devotion, but

Do we come to God like a child?

Do we come to Him knowing that He is the only one who can fix our problems? Do we come to Him like a child runs to their dad when they have fallen off their bike and need their dad to carry them? Do we come to Him in the moments when we need protection because we know our dad can fight off all the big bad scary monsters that hide under our bed? Do we come to God like a child in our prayers?

In the midst of that though, Jesus did not come selfishly to the Lord.

Mark 14:36 ESV

And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

Jesus petitions God that if there is another way for salvation to come that it would happen. He knows the death is coming to Him, and He knows what kind of death.

He knows that the cross was, and still is, the worst way to die. The cross was not fast, and it was not designed to be so. A nail would be driven in one hand at one end, and then they would pull and stretch the person, dislocating their shoulder, or shoulders, until finally driving a nail into the other hand. Finally they would drive a nail through the feet and then raise the cross up. Hanging there on the cross, it would put so much pressure on your lungs that you would begin to suffocate, and in the design of our bodies, we fight against that. The person on the cross would feel that and then fight to pull themselves up by either pushing on the nail that is driven in their feet, or trying to pull themselves up with dislocated shoulders. The agonizing pain this would have caused…for hours…

So we can see why Jesus was asking that if it was possible that the Lord take the cup from Him, but in spite of that, in the same prayer, He prayed:

Mark 14:36 ESV

And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

How hard must it have been to pray that part of the prayer. Knowing what He was about to go through, Jesus still prayed “not my will, but Yours”

What selfishness do we bring to our prayers?

Too often when we pray, we love to pray for what we want, yet we leave out this little part. We all say that we believe and want to follow God’s will, and yet we do not ask for it because we bring our own selfishness and baggage to our prayers. We pray for our will. We pray for what we want. Let’s be honest, our prayers would have been different than what Jesus prayed here right?

In everything…in spite of knowing what Jesus was about to go through, He asked that

Yet not I will, but what you will.

He asked that God’s saving will be done. Jesus didn’t pray selfishly, but rather He prayed this prayer because He knew that God’s will for the lost was greater than the pain that He was going to experience on the cross. He prayed this prayer for the sinners like you and me.”

Mark 15:1–16 ESV

And as soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. And they bound Jesus and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate. And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.” And the chief priests accused him of many things. And Pilate again asked him, “Have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you.” But Jesus made no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed. Now at the feast he used to release for them one prisoner for whom they asked. And among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas. And the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do as he usually did for them. And he answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release for them Barabbas instead. And Pilate again said to them, “Then what shall I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” And they cried out again, “Crucify him.” And Pilate said to them, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him.” So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion.

To truly understand the significance of Christ’s death, we must understand who we really are.