Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Matthew 26:28-39 Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me." 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."
TAKE IT TO THE LORD
When Jesus felt the pressure of His mission bearing down on Him, He went to the Father in prayer. He went boldly, asking to avoid the unimaginable suffering that He knew was coming His way. So we don't think that Jesus was wrong to ask so bold a thing, let's remember how He ended each prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. He always closed by saying, "Your will be done, Father." Even if the way is painful, Your will be done. Even if the way is scary, Your will be done. Even if the way ends in death, Your will be done.
In having His prayers recorded for us, Jesus is teaching us to react to pressure in the same way. In our times of trouble the first and best thing that we can do is to go to the Father in prayer like Jesus did. We will receive help from the God who never sleeps.
By bringing all our sorrows and troubles to God in prayer, we not only exercise our trust in Him, we also bring Him honor. By calling on God we are making the statement, "God, I trust that You CAN help me. I confide in You because I believe You WILL help me."
As we wait for God's answer to our prayer, we should return to His throne often. He is not bothered by our repeated prayer. He sees our continual knocking on His door as an expression of our trust that only He can provide the answers we need.
". . . call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me" (Psalm 50:15 NIV).
