Thoughts on Today’s Verse…
On seeing this verse, I only knew the Lord Jesus prayed 3 times before His crucifixion but didn’t have a deeper knowledge of this verse. Only after I read a passage online a few days ago did I gain new knowledge of the Lord Jesus’ prayers and turn around the attitude I take when I pray to God. God says: “Look at Jesus’ prayers (although His prayers are not mentioned here to make people assume His place or position): In the Garden of Gethsemane, He prayed, ‘If it be possible….’ That is, ‘If it can be done.’ This was said in discussion; He did not say, ‘I implore You.’ With a submissive heart and in a submissive state, He prayed, ‘If it be possible, let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless not as I will, but as You will’ (Mat 26:39). He still prayed like this the second time, and the third time He prayed, ‘May Your will be done.’ Having grasped the intentions of God the Father, He said, ‘May Your will be done.’ He was able to completely submit without making any personal choices at all. He said, ‘If it be possible, let this cup pass from Me.’ What did that mean? He prayed that way because He thought of the great suffering of having bled on the cross to His last dying breath—and this touched upon the matter of death—and because He had not yet completely grasped the intentions of God the Father. Given that He was able to pray like that despite the thought of the suffering, He was very submissive indeed. His manner of prayer was normal; He did not propose any conditions in His prayer, nor did He say the cup had to be removed. Rather, His purpose was to seek God’s intentions in a situation that He did not comprehend. The first time He prayed, He did not understand, and He said, ‘If it be possible … but as You will.’ He had prayed to God in a state of submissiveness. The second time, He prayed in the same manner. In total, He prayed three times (of course, these three prayers did not happen over a mere three days), and in His final prayer, He completely came to understand God’s intentions, after which He no longer implored for anything. In His first two prayers, He sought in a state of submissiveness.” In the face of being crucified, the Lord Jesus thought of the great pain, but He didn’t ask God to take away this environment. Instead, in order to let the Heavenly Father’s will be fulfilled, He sought and submitted in His prayers and made no demands, and finally He was nailed on the cross for the sake of mankind’s sin and completed the work of redemption. The Lord Jesus’ prayer has shown us the path to entering into true prayer. We must be reasonable before God and seek and submit in our prayers, and shouldn’t ask Him to do this and that for us. However, when I pray to God, I always lack reason and make unreasonable demands of God. For example, when I go out to spread the gospel, I pray to God and ask Him to protect me on the way and care for my family, in the hope of leaving home safe and coming back safe. After reading these words, I understood that many times my prayer is not after God’s heart, for in my prayer there are full of demands and extravagant desires of God, and I have no sense that one of God’s creations should possess. Thank God for guiding me to understand how to pray to be after the Lord’s heart later. Amen!
