Matthew 26:36-46
Praying in Great Distress
Jesus is our example in all things, and today he shows us how to take our anxious thoughts to God. I heard about a guy who was anxious in his driving. He was cutting off people, weaving in and out of traffic. Then he got inpatient at a yellow light, as the cautious driver in front of him slowed to a stop, so he laid on the horn and shouted some obscenities. Well, a cop pulled him over, checked his ID and registration, and actually took the guy in, had him searched, finger printed, and put in a holding cell! A couple of hours later, another officer approached the cell, opened the door, and escorted the man back to the booking desk, where the arresting officer was waiting with his personal effects. The officer said very politely, “I’m sorry but I was very confused. I pulled up behind you when you were honking and yelling and flipping off the driver in front of you. I happened to notice on your bumper a “What would Jesus do?” sticker and a chrome Christian fish symbol. Naturally, I assumed you had stolen the car!”
That driver certainly could have used some prayer time! The larger the challenge before us, the more we need to pray. Dag Hammarskjöld, the second Secretary General of the United Nations, said he always got up an hour early to pray, and then he added, “But when I’m extra busy, I get up two hours early!”
In today’s scripture, set on Thursday evening of that first Holy Week, Jesus was about to endure the worst ordeal any human has ever been through: to be cut off from his heavenly Father, even though he had never sinned. So, after the Passover meal, he retreated into the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. This was not a quick, “Help me, God!” prayer, although that’s a fine prayer, too. This was an intense prayer, a desperate prayer. Jesus needed God more than ever. He took with him his inner circle of disciples—Peter, James, and John—and asked them to pray for him as well. This is where we catch our first lesson:
1. We need others to support us in prayer. If Jesus needed support, you and I need support. It’s okay to let people know you need prayer. I know, sometimes we feel selfish bringing up our own needs. And sometimes we fear gossip, too many people knowing our business. But the bottom line is: God designed us for community. There are 50 “one another” expressions in the New Testament, and one of them is to “pray for one another.” James 5:16 says, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed.”
Prayer really is a mystery. We don’t fully understand why God chooses to work through our prayers, but he does, and he certainly works through the prayers of others on our behalf. I think about the fellow who couldn’t walk, so his friends tried to bring him to Jesus for healing. But the crowds were too intense around the house where Jesus was teaching, so these fellows lowered their friend down on a gurney through the roof! Embarrassing friends to have, huh? But note what happened. Luke 5:20 says, “When Jesus saw their faith, he said, ‘Friend, your sins are forgiven.’” And he healed the fellow, who got up and walked. Jesus didn’t heal on account of the lame man’s faith; he healed him because of the faith of his friends who were interceding for him. I want friends like that! What about you?
If we need others to support us in prayer, then we should return the favor. We should look for opportunities to pray for others. For instance, if someone mentions a prayer request, what if you asked, “Would it be okay to pray with you right now?” And then pray a simple prayer for that need. I try to do this, because if I wait, I might forget about it. And isn’t it powerful to pray with the person instead of saying, “Sure, I’ll pray for that,” and just walking away?
Here Jesus needed his closest three disciples to stay near him and uplift him in prayer. Unfortunately, they let him down. Guess what? Sometimes people will let you down. But if you want to be like Jesus, don’t completely count them out of your life. Maybe give them a second chance. We need people to uplift us in prayer. And secondly,
2. We need to bring our anxious thoughts to God. God wants to hear from us. Don’t buy into Satan’s lies that God is too busy for you, or that it’s selfish to pray for yourself. God is our perfect Heavenly Father, and he wants to hear from all his children as any good earthly parent would.
God wants to hear from us about the small things—thanking him for a tasty new dish or asking him to take away a headache. And God wants to hear from us about the big things—stuff outside of our control, which is a lot! When you have something that’s bothering you, you have two choices: you can worry about it or you can pray about it. Worrying is talking to yourself about things beyond your control; praying is talking to God about things beyond your control. Walter Kelly said, “Worry is wasting today's time to clutter up tomorrow's opportunities with yesterday's troubles.” Maybe you can identify with the comic strip character Charlie Brown, who said, “I've developed a new philosophy... I only dread one day at a time.” Worrying will shorten your life. Praying will lengthen your life, as you cast your anxieties onto the Lord.
Maybe Peter learned this lesson at Gethsemane. Even though he couldn’t stay awake, maybe he thought later about how Jesus took all his anxious thoughts to God. Maybe that’s why Peter would write to believers, many years later in 1 Peter 5:7, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
If you notice in today’s passage, Jesus brought the same thing to God over and over. He basically asked the Father to let this cup pass from him. Dr. Luke records (Luke 22:44) that Jesus was so anxious about this that he was sweating drops of blood. I don’t think it was a fear of pain or even death, but of a spiritual separation from God, as Jesus literally became sin on our behalf (2 Cor. 5:21). What did he do with his fear? He took it to God. And he did it over and over.
We can bring our most urgent needs to God as many times as we need to. He doesn’t get tired of hearing from us. Isn’t that the point of Jesus’ parable about the persistent widow who bugged a judge all night long until he finally gave her what she wanted? Luke said Jesus told that story “to show them that they should always pray and not give up” (Luke 18:1).
We need our friends to surround us with prayer. We need to bring our anxious thoughts to God. And lastly,
3. We need to submit our will to God’s will. Don’t we pray that in the Lord’s Prayer? “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” We pray, not to tell God what to do, but to avail ourselves to him to shape our will to his. We bring our prayers honestly to God, thinking we know best, but wisely leaving the outcome to him. After all, he may have something better in store! And how often does God change our own hearts through our honest prayers?
A Veteran called the other day and asked me if Jesus ever lied. I replied, “Why do you ask?” He shared how he thought God had clearly told him he was healed from his cancer, but now the doctors are suggesting it may be back. He found himself arguing with his doctors, insistent that God had healed him, but wondering whether Jesus had lied to him, and thinking he might resort to suicide if he finds the cancer is back.
We talked about the distresses of life and the difficulties of hearing clearly from God. I commended him for seeking out the Lord’s will about his cancer. And I said, “No, Jesus never lies, but sometimes we misunderstand him. Sometimes he might not heal us exactly like we think, on our timetable or in the way we think is best. Maybe he wants to do something else through your cancer, if it is indeed back.” We continued to talk about how his life belongs to God. He can bring his request to be cancer-free to God, but he doesn’t have to worry about it, because, either way, he can praise the God who gives him eternal life.
This Veteran’s story reminds me of Daniel’s three friends in the Old Testament book of Daniel. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego all were arrested by the king for refusing to bow down to his statue. When he gave them one last chance to recant their position before being thrown into the fiery furnace, they replied, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” (Daniel 3:16-18)
Now that’s gutsy, and their comments really ticked off the king. If you know the end of the story, God did indeed deliver them from harm. But notice how they were willing to trust God regardless of how their prayer was answered. “God is able ... but even if he does not.” Do you pray this way? Do you leave the matter in God’s hands, and make your own will as neutral as you can? God may not deliver you from the fiery furnace, but he will deliver you in the end.
Jesus prayed this way. Jesus persisted in prayer until he was able to make his will neutral regarding the cross. “Father, if there is any other way ... nevertheless, not my will, but thy will be done.” Jesus prayed from the heart, desperate for God’s strength to sustain him through the spiritual ordeal ahead. And as you read the rest of the story, you realize that God did answer Jesus’ prayer, as God answers every prayer. God did not remove the cross, but God sustained Jesus through it, through every illegal trial, through every emotional taunt, through every physical abuse, even to the point of death. You never see Jesus respond without perfect control. The writer of Hebrews says it like this: “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission” (Hebrews 5:7). God brought Jesus through it all, and he will bring us through it all, whatever we face. But he wants us to trust him and to bring it to him in reverent submission. Let us pray:
Thank you, Father, that you do indeed hear our prayers—each one. Thank you for calling us to pray. Thank you for our example, Jesus our Lord, who called on you in the hour of his greatest need and found sustainment for his mission. Thank you for sustaining us. Help us to trust you as we call out to you. Help someone to honestly call out to you for the very first time, as they submit their life to you to follow you. We pray all this in Jesus’ name, amen.
