“In the Garden” is one of my favorite songs
It reminds me of Easter, but we use that song a lot at funerals
I believe that is because it talks about meeting Jesus
Today, I want to talk about meeting Jesus before we pass away.
This is obviously just before Jesus is arrested
“Pray that you may not enter into temptation”
Jesus also was praying
Consider this, if Jesus, one part of the Trinity, needs to pray when faced with adversity,
Shouldn’t we follow His example?
The problem for many is they say, “I don’t really know how to pray”
Unfortunately, prayer is one of those things that isn’t really taught to believers
There is this thought that prayer must be some specific format
Look at vs 41-42
Jesus is troubled by what is about to happen, and He asks God to remove it
Some say, “Well I shouldn’t ask something that is specific”
Jesus did, so why shouldn’t we. This is how we get to know Him before death.
Jesus prayed from His heart.
That is the model of prayer we all need to follow, pray from your heart
Have a real conversation with God, just as you would if you were face to face
God wants a relationship with you, which means, He cares about the things that are troubling you
Yes, Jesus ended his prayer with “not My will but Yours be done”
But before the end of His prayer look at verse 43-44
Jesus was praying with all his being. He wasn’t leaving anything out
He prayed so hard, His sweat became as drops of blood.
Too many times our prayers are superficial and not truly poured out from our heart
How do you pray? Follow this model from Jesus
He prayed His heart but He knew that His heart might not be God’s will
So as Jesus closes, He says Your will be done, meaning He would accept God’s will
The thought here is that the disciples were exhausted from seeing the agony of their Lord
Jesus bookends this passage with “Pray that you may not enter into temptation”
Are you ready to Pray?
