Hi
Have you ever prayed and prayed and prayed about a situation and
NOTHING?
When that happens, it’s hard to get past that moment.
Wellllllllllll – consider today’s Holy Nougat
“He went away a second time and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done.”
So, leaving them again, He went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words once more.” Matthew 26:42, 44 AMP
Can you imagine! Even Jesus’ prayer was not answered in the affirmative. Three times He went before God; thrice His prayer failed to change the course of history. All because He prioritized God’s will before His own.
As in:
Jesus’ human will: to be spared the road ahead
Jesus’ spiritual will: whatever God permitted
God’s will: Jesus’ glory THROUGH the Cross
If Jesus were just a superhero god posing as a human, He probably would not need to pray. And He definitely would not have taken the Three along, although they had fallen asleep. But Jesus was Fully Human, although He was still Fully God at that time. (Please don’t ask, that’s for another day.) Since He was both, and He had access to the mind and will of God; it seems to me that Jesus’ prayer may have had a teachable moment embedded within it:
Jesus’s repeated request reminds me of His teaching that we press on in prayer regardless. In that teaching found in Luke 18; the widow keeps returning to the judge to seek justice. Jesus ends the parable by noting God’s righteousness virtually assured Our prayers getting the yes when we press in prayer. But that is Not what happened for Him.
I could argue that it was a justice issue. It was. But our lives meant more than Jesus‘ escaping; rather bypassing; death. In that case, I would note that
a) even requesting prayer from others doesn’t mean that we don’t pray;
b) we pray until we get release; and
c) having given the situation to God, we are yielding to God’s mercy, not our own
Easier said than done
And yet I remember a year of prayer, and the day my sister and brother taught me about yielding.
To God over self
For God’s glory, not our own
A sobering lesson.
One I’m still learning.
Not my will, as I press on in prayer
In Christ’s love and grace . . .
