MIDWEEK LENT 3
March 10, 2010
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Mark 14:32-36

“PRAYING THE PERFECT PRAYER”

Mark 14:32-36 (NIV) “They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, "Sit here while I pray." 33He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 34"My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death," he said to them. "Stay here and keep watch." 35Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. 36"Abba, Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will."

“Help!” I’ve often thought of that as the perfect prayer to pray. Help! Think about it. It’s short. It’s to the point. It goes right to God which confesses trust in His ability to help. It does not try to tell Him what to do or how to help. It’s a good prayer. The word of God I just read to you painted a portrait of Jesus praying the perfect prayer. We know it’s perfect because it is prayed by the perfect Lord Jesus. As we look at this portrait of our Savior we’ll see that Jesus’ perfect prayer is a prayer that is about us. And it is a prayer that empowers us.
At first it might seem that Jesus’ prayer was not about us, but it is. We are told the details. After the Upper Room Jesus took His disciples up the Mount of Olives to the Garden of Gethsemane. He left most of the disciples in one place and took Peter, James and John with Him a little ways away. Then He left Peter, James and John and went further to pray. Perhaps you have seen the famous portrait of Jesus praying in the Garden. Perhaps you have one of the ceramic sculptures at home. Jesus at rock, praying, the sweat like drops of blood, praying the perfect prayer. Let’s look at the content though. "Abba, Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will." Jesus prays the perfect prayer. First, it’s directed to His heavenly father, the only true God. Secondly, it’s addressed within the framework of love. “Abba.” That’s not originally the name of a popular Swedish rock group. It’s Aramaic for “Father” and while “Daddy” probably isn’t the best English counterpart it is a term of endearment and makes us think of Luther’s explanation to the Lord’s Prayer where in the Address he reminds us to pray as dear children would pray to their dear father. Thirdly, it expresses confidence in the God’s power. “Everything is possible for you. There is no doubt here. He boldly prays for another way. Can we blame Him? He is true God Himself. He knows what’s coming. He will pay for the sins of the world. He can’t put it on a credit card. He must pay it Himself. Not with gold or silver but with His holy precious blood and His innocent sufferings and death. He literally has Hell to pay. Hell is something we dread and we don’t even know bad it is.
That being said, listen to how He prays. “Yet not what I will, but what you will." See it’s a prayer about us. He does not demand what is best for Himself but submits Himself to His Father’s plans. He lives the adage, “Father knows best.” And it’s a prayer about us. He is willing for God’s answer to be in our best interest, not his. As we look at the portrait of our Savior praying the perfect prayer do you see His great love for you. Truly you are always on His mind. Remember that when the Lord allows a hardship or trial in your life and the Devil is tempting you to question Jesus’ love for you. In His hour of anguish He prays a prayer about us.
And He prays a prayer that empowers us. I have to confess I have some mixed feelings about the hymn verse we sang before this sermon began. “Go to dark Gethsemane all who feel the tempter’s power. Your Redeemer’s conflict see. Watch with Him one bitter hour. Turn not from His griefs away. Learn of Jesus Christ to pray.” My mixed feelings come from the fact that Jesus’ praying in the Garden of Gethsemane was not done first and foremost to teach us how to pray. Rather it is a portrait of our Savior’s love. It shows another aspect of the lengths He is willing to go to save us. At the same time you can’t help but be amazed at this perfect prayer.
It’s a prayer that empowers us to Christ-like trust in our own prayer lives. When you are a young man or woman and you have your heart set on a certain someone and you pray to the Lord to bless that relationship, make it work, it can be hard to say, “Nevertheless your will be done,” and mean it. When someone you love has a potentially life changing or life ending medical problem and you take that problem to the Lord in prayer it can be hard to pray, ”Your will be done,” and actually mean it. When you have no work and a job offer is pending and you are convinced that job is an answer to your prayer it can be hard and scary to pray to the Lord, “Your will be done.” If you have your heart set on a certain thing happening or getting something as small as a game to as big as a house it is challenging to take that to the Lord and add “Your will be done,” and mean it. Jesus’ perfect prayer empowers us to pray the same way by showing us we can trust the Lord, to place decisions in His hands and mean it. How did things work out for Jesus? Well He suffered physically at the hands of the chief priests and the Roman soldiers. He suffered Hell which wasn’t fun. He died. But then He rose again. And now God has given Him the name that is above every name and at His name every knee will bow. He is seated at the right hand of God with all authority and power and honor. That turned out pretty well for Him.
And it will turn out well for you too. Jesus’ prayer empowers us to trust our heavenly Father in all things. Even though submitting to God’s will might mean some suffering for a time we can count on the Father to make things right. Even though His answer to our prayers may not be what we were seeking or what we had our hearts set on, we too can pray, “Your will be done” and actually mean it. The Father does love us. He really does know best and when His answer appears to be a “No” like it appeared with Jesus it is actually the answer of “I have a better way.” Jesus’ perfect prayer empowers us.
Most artist’s depiction of Jesus’ praying in the Garden of Gethsemane have Him seated or kneeling with hands folded on a rock looking up to heaven. Actually in Matthew’s Gospel account we are told Jesus prayed with His face to the ground. All the Biblical accounts though show us a portrait of our Savior praying the perfect prayer. How thankful we are that it was a prayer about us. May His quiet trust also empower us. Amen.