The Prayer of The Savior

Intro

- Illustration- Changing the oil in a car

o “This is just a ploy from car mechanics to keep us coming to their shops!”

o When you understand what the oil does, or if you see what happens when it’s not regularly maintained, you understand the importance of it

- Many Christians do not understand the importance of prayer

o It’s something we know we need to be doing, but how often do we really do it?

o Maybe some ask, “Well what does prayer really do? I’ve prayer so many times for things and I didn’t get what I asked for.”

o “Prayer with so many of us is simply a form of selfishness; it means asking for something for ourselves—that and nothing more.” E. M. Bounds

o Prayer is one of those things that when we truly understand what it does and how important it is, we will spend a lot more time doing it

§ But he opposite of that is true. If we remain content in a limited understanding of prayer, it will occupy little of our time.

o Jesus had a great understanding of prayer and its necessity in his life

- Last week we talked about the reality of darkness and suffering in our world and that we should expect it in our lives.

o Jesus, through his teaching and example, equipped the disciples with essential truths that would help them when the difficult times came.

o Those same truths are essential for us

- Jesus’s journey from the upper room into the garden to pray.

o The place of prayer

§ Alone

§ Jesus separates himself to pray- urgency- removes all distractions

o Jesus sacrificed himself willing for us

§ But in his willingness to die on the cross was dependent on his surrender in the garden

o Our response in trials depends on prior surrender- Gethsemane before Golgotha

o This is where the battle begins- surrendering to God's will

o For Jesus, this pain seemed greater than the anguish of the cross

- While prayer is always important in our lives as Christians, it should be the first place that we turn when the trials of life come.

- Read Mark 14:32-42

Prayer is the necessary response during difficult times because it reveals our dependence on God, it centers us in His will, and it strengthens us for what lies ahead.

Prayer Reveals Our Dependence on God

A. The posture of Jesus’s prayer

1. “He fell on the ground”

2. The greatness of his sorrow and grief

3. But also His submissive position before his Father

B. We are calling out to an all-powerful Father

1. All things are possible for you

a. Jesus was calling out to the creator of the universe, the almighty, sovereign ruler of the world

b. Psalm 121:1-2 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth.

2. Not only was he calling out to the Lord of all, but he was calling out to his father- Abba

a. Because of Jesus we have this same relationship with God

b. In Galatians we talked about our adoption into God’s family- we are heirs with Christ

c. Illustration- There is perhaps nothing sweeter to hear my kids say than “daddy”

(1) And if I hear them cry daddy when they are in trouble, you better believe nothing is going to stop me from rushing to their side to help them

3. Failure to make prayer a priority in our lives reveals a lack of dependence on God

a. And know this, if our dependence is not on God, it is resting on something or someone else that has little to no power to sustain us

b. We all run to something when things get difficult- like Jesus we out to run to the Father in prayer

- There is a vulnerability in dependence, but that is what God wants

C. God wants to hear our hearts

1. It’s not just about saying the right words, asking in the right way, or praying the perfect prayer. It’s about bearing our hearts before God in complete dependence

2. This is why we don’t often pray memorized prayers- not that they have no benefit, but they do not reveal the personal desires and agonies of our own heart

3. God wants to hear our thoughts and desires because it is in prayer that he begins to shape them to his own

Prayer Centers Us in God’s Will (36)

A. Jesus prayed that this hour would pass and that this cup of suffering might be removed altogether

1. The cup is a picture of God's providence- the amount of trials and burdens each Christian is given to bear (and the strength to bear it)

2. We may think, how could Jesus ask this? Was he afraid of death?

a. His trembling and agony was not for fear of death, the pain of it or separation from this world, but because of the reality of the wrath of God.

b. He knew that he would stand before God and bear the weight, responsibility, and punishment for every sin, for every crime, for every evil the world has ever known. He would take it all on his shoulders

c. He knew what he would have to endure. He would be cut off from God- “my God, my God why have you forsaken me?”

B. Despite his human emotions, Jesus quickly submitted to the will of his Father

1. He let God know what he was wrestling with and what he desired, but he was content in whatever God had planned

2. We should always pray with a desire that God’s will be done.

a. We share our hearts with God, we speak honestly with him, but more importantly we desire to see his will be done and ask him to shape our will to his own

C. There is so much in this world and in our minds that competes to shape our will

1. Our culture tells us how we should think and feel

2. Consumerism tells us how we should live, what we should buy, what our priorities should be

3. Illustration- zeroing in a rifle- there is always a constant

a. Something is influencing your will right now, if it is not God and his Spirit within you, then it is the way of the world

4. Emotions can cloud the greater picture of what God is doing, but like Jesus, we must quickly recalibrate our thinking to the will of God

Prayer Strengthens us for What Lies Ahead

A. Jesus was overcome with emotions as he entered the garden

1. Greatly distressed, troubled, his soul was sorrowful- Luke tells us that he was in agony and that his sweat became like drops of blood

a. This is an intense moment for Jesus- perhaps the most vulnerable we see him in the Gospels

2. As Jesus wrestled with the reality of his own death, the reality of God’s wrath, and what it meant for the world, we see his humanity

a. We may think, Jesus came knowing the plan from the beginning, why is he second guessing it now?

(1) Or some may think, this can’t be right. If he was truly God, he wouldn’t have wrestled with this!

3. It is part of our humanity that makes us fear the prospect of persecution and suffering- nobody looks forward to that.

a. But, as Jesus shows us, that can be overcome as we look to God and his will

b. Jesus’s weakness in much different from our own. Ours is always accompanied by sin

c. When Jesus felt these fears, he did not give in, he went straight back to the will of his father.

B. It was not God’s will to remove the suffering, but he sent an angel to strengthen Jesus (Luke)

1. Prayer will not always remove us from our present trial, but as we align our will to God’s, he gives us the strength to persevere

a. 2 cor. 4:16- So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.

C. Jesus had hope beyond the cross

1. Heb. 12:2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

2. Illustration- promising dessert if they eat their vegetables

3. Because of Jesus, we have this same hope

a. 2 Cor. 4:17-18 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Conclusion

- And with his will aligned with God’s and his strength renewed he rose with perseverance

o “It is enough; the hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”

o Just moments ago, he was on his face before God asking if this hour could pass, not he stands resolute and says, “The hour has come.”

- We don’t face this agony as Christians because Jesus faced it for us. We have no fear of death

o What do we fear?

So What?

- What is your prayer life like?

- Does it reflect your dependence on your Heavenly Father?

- Do you pray with a desire to see God’s will done?

o or to bend God’s will to your own?

- Are you running to God for strength in difficult times?