Jesus's Prayer

Ok, I have two things today. I'll write the other in the next post, but for now, I'd like to talk a moment on Jesus's prayer in Gethsemane. It's in Matthew 26:

36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, "Sit here, while I go over there and pray." 37And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38Then he said to them, "My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me." 39And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will." 40And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, "So, could you not watch with me one hour? 41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." 42Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, "My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done." 43And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. 45Then he came to the disciples and said to them, "Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand."

This has always been a special passage to me. I think it really shows Jesus's humanness, and shows us clearly how we're supposed to respond during trials. He tells His disciples to pray so that they "may not enter into temptation." They had gone through a long day, and they were doing what probably any of us would do to regain our strength: sleep. Jesus didn't sleep, however. Even though He had gone through a long day already, and He knew the next day would be the hardest of His life, He didn't sleep, but spent the night in prayer.

I think you can see his strength building as He prays. Compare the two segments of His prayer that we have: The first:


"My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will."

And the second:

"My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done."

There's a subtle, but I think important difference. They are essentially saying the same thing, but the in first statement, Christ is asking that He in some way be allowed not to have to endure the torment of the next day. The second statement is saying "Your sill be done, even though this cannot pass unless I do it." Just look at the core sentences if you take the grammatically "extra" words out:

First: "My Father... let this cup pass from me."
Second: "My Father... your will be done."

When we need our strength the most, we need to look to God in prayer. He is the source of all of our strength.