Luke 22:39–46 -
"Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. 40 On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” 41 He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” 43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. 44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. 45 When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. 46 “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”
How should
we pray?
When faced
with difficult circumstances and the way forward looks very difficult and even
painful. When we have the choice of
accepting the situation or running away and hiding. The advice we always receive
is to pray about it. Then we are often told that God will change the
circumstances for us if we have enough faith. So, we go and pray, pleading with
the Father to remove the difficulties from our path. We are earnest in our
prayers and firmly believe that He can change the circumstances, and He can,
but He doesn’t. We may even be told that we don’t have enough faith, but this
just adds to our misery.
We find in
this passage the road to peace in all our difficulties. It is a road that is
not natural or easy for us. Jesus sweated blood for something like three hours
to find it, Paul pleaded on three occasions before he found it (2 Corinthians
12:7-9). It is the path of prayer that Jesus taught his disciples and is in
fact the only way to live at peace in this troubled world.
This is how
you should pray: “…Thy will be done…” (Matt 6:10).
Understanding that the
Father knows what we really need (Matt 5:8) and He will not be slow in giving
it to us (Luke 11:12). It is the prayer of complete surrender of our lives, our
hearts and our wills to the Father’s purpose. A purpose that we cannot see at
the time. It is only in that surrender that we can receive the comfort and
strength of the Holy Spirit. And then we can go forward knowing that God is in
command and working His purpose through all the tragedies of life. At peace
while all the world around us is falling apart.
As you
continue the story of Jesus’ journey to the cross you find He is the only
peaceful figure in the scenario. The light in the darkness, the stillness in
the chaos, the One who has already won the victory.
I trust
that as you pray this most powerful and simple prayer, “Thy will be done” you
will find God’s strength and peace in your life through this troubled world.
Our devotion this morning has come from the pen of Hugh Till - many thanks for your insights Hugh.
Living in Grace
D3LM3
