Jesus Prays.

Praise and Prayer

This morning we are continuing our series on the journey to the cross, looking at different situation or different things that happened as Jesus made his way to the cross, as we make our way to Easter.

Last week, we seen that Jesus has conquered the world giving us victory through Jesus, we may face suffering and trials in this life, but through Jesus, and the blood he shed on the cross we can have victory over sin and death.

I had a different sermon planned for this morning, but God has really been working on my heart, and the one that I had planned to continue in the series, God said was not where He was leading.

This message in a sense still stay in the series of the Journey to the Cross, as we will look at a situation that leads up to the Cross, but will also look at a situation that had previously taken place with the disciples.

We will be looking at the prayer Jesus prayed right before he was arrested and what He asked of God the Father, and then also the time when the disciples were in the boat crossing the sea of Galilee and Jesus was in the bottom of the boat.

There are somethings that God has shown me through these two situations that I think sometimes we tend to forget, but need to be reminded of.

The first situation or set of Scripture we are going to look at is Matthew 26:36-46 Jesus has just finished having the last supper with the disciples, Judas has left to go meet with the Jewish officials, and Jesus has prophesied that Peter would deny him three times before the rooster crowed.

Then they leave the upper room Jesus leads the disciples out of the city of Jerusalem.

I. Jesus Prays in His Storm.

Matthew 26:36–46 CSB

36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he told the disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 Taking along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 He said to them, “I am deeply grieved to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake with me.” 39 Going a little farther, he fell facedown and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” 40 Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. He asked Peter, “So, couldn’t you stay awake with me one hour? 41 Stay awake and pray, so that you won’t enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42 Again, a second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43 And he came again and found them sleeping, because they could not keep their eyes open. 44 After leaving them, he went away again and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more. 45 Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? See, the time is near. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Get up; let’s go. See, my betrayer is near.”

Here we see Jesus arrive at the garden with the disciples, he takes his three main disciples a little further, before asking them to stay and pray as he goes just a bit further and prays.

He is overwhelmed with what is about to take place, the thought of what he is about to go through, what is going to happen is beginning to set in and take hold of him.

Jesus prays asking the Father if there is any other way let the cup pass, but if not let your will be done.

This is not just recognizing the physical agony he is going to face of his death and crucifixion, but more than anything it is the spiritual agony that he recognizes that he will bear the sins of the world upon himself, and it will cause the Father to turn his back on him, as the Father cannot look on sin.

This causes so much agony that Luke describes it like this: Luke 22:44

Luke 22:44 CSB

44 Being in anguish, he prayed more fervently, and his sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground.

The cup that Jesus kept asking the Father to remove, was not the cup of bitter drink that was offered to him on the cross, it was not the cup of death, it was not even the cup of the crucifixion, but it was the cup of the wrath of God that he would pay the penalty for my sins, and the rest of the sins of this world that he paid for.

Here we see Jesus facing what we may call a storm in life, not a physical storm, like winds, rains, tornado, hurricane, but a storm that causes one life to be put on the line, and Jesus’ life was on the line and would be given freely for you and me.

There are a lot of times we face storms in our life, storm that cause our lives to be put on the line, the can be physical storm, they can be mental storms, they can be spiritual storms, and they can be family storms.

But many times when we are going through those storms we do not see away out of them, we feel like we are stuck, like we are sinking.

Some times those storms are of our own fault, and some times they are not of any fault of ours at all.

But no matter what the cause of the storm, there is one thing we need to remember, that a storm is always designed to increase our faith, and deepen our experience with God.

This is what we see in our next set of Scriptures, after a long day of teaching Jesus tells the disciples lets cross to the other side of the sea.

II. Disciples in the Storm.

Mark 4:35–41 CSB

35 On that day, when evening had come, he told them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the sea.” 36 So they left the crowd and took him along since he was in the boat. And other boats were with him. 37 A great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking over the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38 He was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. So they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher! Don’t you care that we’re going to die?” 39 He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Silence! Be still!” The wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 Then he said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” 41 And they were terrified and asked one another, “Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!”

Jesus had just taught that day on the Kingdom, and having faith, now the disciples are in the boat, Jesus lays down, and goes to sleep.

One might ask did Jesus know that this storm would come, well, yes Jesus did know, He planned it, the storm was all part of the lesson for the day.

Our faith is always to be in action, and Jesus was seeing if the disciples were paying attention to the days teachings, and if they would apply it as the storm arose.

But the thing is a lot of times when we are faced with a storm in life, we run, we freak out, and we try to fix it, try to get out of the storm on our own, instead of turning to and having faith in the one who controls the storm.

Again we must remember that a storm is always designed to increase our Faith and deepen our experience with God.

Are we going to trust in God in the storm, are we going to turn to him, or are we going to run or try to fix it our self.

This storm arose and the waves began to come into the boat and the water began to fill the boat, and all while Jesus was sleeping, therefore, the disciples wake him up and say don’t you care that we are about to die.

We must remember some of these guys were experienced fishermen, and probably had been in storms on the Sea of Galilee, therefore, this must have been a pretty fierce storm to frighten these men.

There are some things we need to be reminded of here about storms and making it through them.

Jesus told the disciples, Let’s cross over to the other side, therefore, they could be assured that they would make it to the other side, but he did not promise it would be an easy trip.

When Jesus calls us to something, he will get us there, that does not necessarily mean it will be a smooth and easy trip.

Next Jesus was in the boat with them, therefore, what was there really to fear?

Joshua 1:9 CSB

9 Haven’t I commanded you: be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

We can face anything that God leads us too, even when storms arise, because He is with us, therefore, we need to be strong and courageous.

The last thing, the disciples could see that Jesus was at peace asleep in the boat, even in the midst of the storm.

We might not see Jesus physically asleep in the boat, when we are going through the storm, but we can be assured that Jesus is with us, and we have him in us.

1 John 4:4 CSB

4 You are from God, little children, and you have conquered them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

When we have God in us, we have the one who is in control, and who created not just this earth but the universes and he is overall.

Therefore, we have nothing to worry about, we just need to trust in God at all times, even in the storms of life.

III. Be Humbled under God

1 Peter 5:6–7 CSB

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time, 7 casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you.

We all go through storms in life, Jesus even went through storms in his time here on earth, he face persecution, people hated him, they spit at him, and just before the cross He was in a storm knowing that God the Father was going to turn his back on him because he was taking our sins on him so that he could pay the price for us.

We must humble ourselves before God, and realize that sometimes the storms are there for a reason, God will use storms for a purpose, to grow our faith, to drawl us closer to him, and some times separate us from others.

But he says, he will exalt us at the proper time, when he is ready, he will move the storm out of the way, but when we are going through the storm, we need to cast all our cares upon him and he will take care of us because he cares about us.

1 Peter 5:10–11 CSB

10 The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little while. 11 To him be dominion forever. Amen.

We go through these storms, but just as Jesus was raised from the grave, he was resurrected, Jesus woke up and calmed the storm and the disciples were good to go, God will take care of us, we may suffer for a little while but God will restore us.

We need to trust in God, we need to understand that we have to trust God in everything.

Proverbs 3:5–6 CSB

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight.

See God knows the big picture as I call it, He knows what tomorrow brings, He knows what next week brings, next month, and next year brings, therefore, we must trust in Him.

Isaiah 55:8–9 CSB

8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways.” This is the Lord’s declaration. 9 “For as heaven is higher than earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

We must also remember God’s will, his plan, his ways are not ours, He again knows things we do not, but his plans a lot of times take us out of our comfort zone.

When we are faced with a storm in life, we need to seek God in prayer, there is no exact amount of time that a storm may last, it can be a few days, a few months, or can be a year plus.

I have been going through a storm in my life, for about the last seven months, I have been praying and seeking God in many different ways.

I have sought Godly counsel through multiple different sources and they have prayed with me and for me about this storm.

This storm has affected me, mentally, physically, and Spiritually and I have prayed long and hard about it, my wife and I have prayed and talked about this storm long and hard.

With a very heavy heart I William Chris Priest am resigning my position as the senior pastor of the Red Level Baptist Church, effective May 31, 2022.

I am very thankful and appreciative of the time God has allowed me to be the Pastor of this church. I have learned a lot and grown greatly in my spiritual walk with Jesus.

I am very thankful to this body of believers for the opportunity to lead here and grow here. But God has shown me that it is time for me to move on.

He has a new direction for not only me but for this church, and unfortunately that does not include us together.

I love each and everyone of you and cherish all the great memories I have of this church.

It will always, be my home. But when I surrendered to God’s calling, I surrendered to go wherever He sends me, and He now is telling me it is time to pack my bags.

This is one of the hardest things I have ever had to do, but I must do what God leads me to do. I must strive to remain in God’s will, and that is not always easy, or comfortable.

He has told us in His word that following Him would not be easy, and that following Him would cost us, and sometimes it would cost us everything.

And therefore, I must follow His direction for my life.

I will preach my last sermon here on May 29, 2022, may God always bless and use the Red Level Baptist Church.

Let’s Pray.