gethsemane prayers
Jesus, in the Garden of Gethsemane you showed me how to pray. Seldom, if ever, have I prayed with the kind intensity that you prayed that night. I’m much more like Peter, James, and John who didn’t fully grasp the significance of that moment. Help me, Lord, to understand the magnitude of spiritual issues, the importance of your will in any matter. Keep me awake, not just physically, but spiritually to the movement of God. Keep me from sleeping at those critical moments when I should be listening to you.
Jesus, you also showed me the importance of persistence in your Gethsemane prayer. I find it encouraging that even though you understood God’s will for your life, you prayed three times to let that cup pass, to be free from this difficult task ahead of you. I see that’s it’s okay for me to do the same–to pray again and again. You don’t see that as a lack of faith or an act of disobedience. Rather, you understand it for what it is–a plea from deep in the soul that cannot be satisfied easily.
Jesus, your prayer is a model for how I should pray in God’s will. This is difficult for me. How do I balance the prayer of “Your will be done” with the prayer of “Ask and you shall receive”? I think most of my problem is that I don’t listen very well. I’m too busy figuring out what I want and fail to hear what you want. Help me begin with the latter. Help me hear your desires for my life first. Then, when there is a battle between your will and mine, as you experienced in the Garden, I’ll see the selfishness of my own will and be ready to long for yours.
Jesus, in the end it was inevitable. God didn’t change the divine will. You still were required to go through with the sacrifice. And in the end you accepted it in obedience. No, it’s more than an acceptance. You embraced it because it was God’s will for you. Teach me to embrace what is your will for me, Lord. Rather than moping around filling sorry for myself, give me the courage and grace to open my arms wide to the circumstances before me.
Jesus, thank you for your obedience. It has made all the difference in my life. Teach me to also pray as you pray that I might act in obedience and make a difference in your kingdom. Amen.
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