Luke 22:39-46 (NKJV): Coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him. 40 When He came to the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” 41 And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” 43 Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. 44 And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. 45 When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow. 46 Then He said to them, “Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.”
Jesus’ prayer here seems like He was going to back out. However, what we see is a time where He had intimacy with The Father. He wasn’t begging His Father to not have to go through this. He knew this had to be done. What we see here is the human side of Him coming out.
In Matthew’s account, we see Him chastising Peter and the others for falling asleep.
Matthew 26:40-41 (NKJV): Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? 41 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Notice what He said to them, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Am I saying He was weak? No, but we do see His human side here in the garden. Why is this important? Because it shows that even with the temptations that came His way, He chose to not react/sin in them, He chose to go to The Father and ask for strength. This is a great example for us when we are dealing with temptation.
Jesus knew that His Sacrifice on the Cross was the only way we would be redeemed. His Sacrifice was the perfect sacrifice for our sins. It is because of that, we do not have to sacrifice every year or every time we sin. He made the way for us to have access to The Father.
This time in prayer is yet another example of how we are to be when we are growing in our Relationship with Him. Have you earnestly prayed for The Father’s Will for something or someone? Have you been willing to spend a time of prayer with Him even though you may have been tired? Have you asked for His Strength to carry on with something you knew He wanted you to do?
I want to encourage you to spend time in prayer, like Jesus did, and wait for His Answer, wait for His Strength, just wait for Him to reveal to you what you need to see or hear.
It starts with Our Relationship with Jesus. If you don’t have a Relationship with Him or you need to rekindle that Relationship, do it now. Call out to Him and seek his Love and Forgiveness. It really is as hard or easy as you make it.
We should look to Him daily to seek a relationship with Him. I want to encourage you to seek Him today, if you haven’t already. If you need help, have questions or need direction in this regard, please, feel free to let me know.
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Any scripture referenced here is taken from New King James Version (NKJV) unless otherwise noted
