Oct 23 2007
praying with Jesus - nine
We pick up our series on the prayer of Jesus with the final prayer scene of the Gospel of Mark. We find Jesus in a time of crisis, praying in the garden. Take a moment and encounter Jesus in prayer.
And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.”
And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.”
And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words.
And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they did not know what to answer him. And he came the third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? 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.”
It is hard for me to focus on lessons for prayer as I approach this text. I am again so struck by the passion and suffering of Christ. I am teaching Romans right now and it is easy in the midst of Paul’s grand theology to lose the personal character of the cross. But in this text it is impossible to miss. You may need to stop and thank God and give praise to Christ who chose to suffer a fate he did not desire so that he could be reconciled to rebellious sinners like us.
The second thing that distracts my attempts to learn from Jesus is the faithlessness of the disciples. I know that failure. How often I have failed to persevere in prayer for a friend. Perhaps it was callousness: I did not care for their need. Perhaps it was faithlessness: I did not believe that my prayer would help. Or perhaps it is weakness.
When I am able to turn to the prayer of Jesus I am struck. His prayer seems so timid and humble. He addresses God boldly. He proclaims God’s sovereignty. He states his true desire. And then he says, “Yet not what I will, but what you will.” What a startling prayer. In the language of some modern prayer teaching, Jesus “names it” but he does not “claim it.” Is this a pattern that I am meant to follow? Does this pattern offer a clarifying perspective to the teaching “Whatever you ask in my name….”? I have more questions than answers.
On the heels of these theological questions, a whole host of personal questions arise. Can I pray this prayer? Is my will this submitted to the will of God? What good does it do to share with God the desires of my heart if they must all be sacrificed before God’s will? I feel like the answers to these questions lurk just our of reach, in the corner of my vision.
I need to pray more. And as do I will take these questions to God.
on the walk
-Ethan
