Lessons on Prayer from Gethsemane (Mt. 26:36-46; Mk. 14:32-42; Lk. 22:39-45)

Wayne Galloway
03/13/12 - N/A

Series: Additional Studies

Introduction:

1.  Have you ever felt like you needed to pray more, but somehow you just never did?  Have you ever found yourself in a distressing situation, prayed fervently and then thought, with somewhat guilty feelings  “I should pray more, even when I am not distressed?” 2.  I have told you about the intensity with which I prayed when Daniel was being born.  Phyllis was bleeding profusely.  Her mother had almost died from excessively bleeding while giving birth.  The doctor was distressed and I was too.  I have prayed intensely under circumstances when congregations were troubled.  When division was threatening, when people were angry, when evil was rearing its ugly head. 3.  Can you imagine how you might pray if you knew that tomorrow you would die?  Such was the case with Jesus in Mk. 14:32-42.  The text says he was, “very distressed and troubled.”

a.  “Very distressed” (“echthambeisthai”) denotes an intense shock.

1)  Cranfield says it “denotes a being in the grip of shuddering horror in the face of the dreadful prospect before him.”

2)  Rawlinson says it suggests shuddering awe which excites terror.

3)  Krummacher says the term implies a sudden and horrifying alarm, something the sight of which freezes the blood in the veins.

b.  “Troubled” (“ademonein”) denotes great anguish.

1)  Benoit says, “it is used of a man who is rendered helpless, disoriented, agitated and anguished by the threat of some approaching event.”

2)  Lightfoot describes it as “the confused, restless, half-distracted state, which is produced by physical derangement, or by mental distress, as grief, shame,  disappointment, etc.”

4.  It was shock and anguish that drew Jesus into the Garden of Gethsemane to pray that night (Jn. 18:13). 5.  This is Mark’s description of what happened.  Reading Mk. 14:32-42. 6.  This episode points out key lessons about the motives for prayer, the basis of prayer, and the relationship between faith and prayer.

Discussion:

I.  “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak (v. 38).”  Weakness is the motive for prayer.

A.  Often have looked at this passage from the standpoint of Jesus describing the disciples as having weak flesh because they had fallen asleep. Probably correct to make such an application, but the statement is much broader in meaning.

1.  Not only are the disciples weak, but Jesus shares their weakness.

2.  He is being tempted by the stress he is facing.  The flesh says “No.”  The spirit says  “Yes.”  Like before open-heart surgery.

B.  The disciples did not pray more because they did not recognize how weak they were.

1.  They had fallen asleep while their hour of intense temptation approached.

2.  After the guard had taken Jesus captive Mark says, “They all left Him and fled.”

C.  We fail to pray because we fail to recognize our weakness.

1.  We can pray fervently when facing some distress.  “No atheists in a fox hole.”

2.   When our distresses are minimal we feel in control.  No motive for prayer.  When I am feeling powerful prayer is minimal.  When I feel weak then I pray.  Cf. James 5:13:  “Is any among you suffering?  Let him pray.”

3.  I need to feel my weakness more often.  It will make me pray more.  Cf. 2 Cor. 12:9-10.

D.  Jesus was feeling very distressed and troubled.  He was experiencing the  weakness of flesh and so he prayed.

II.  “All things are possible for the Father” (v. 36).   God’s power is the basis of all prayer.

A.  Why pray if God does not have the power to respond to our weakness?

1.  Do you appeal for help to those who have no ability to help?

2.  Our appeal is always up the ladder.

3.  Hannah prayed to God for a child (1 Sam. 1).

B.  Not only does God have power but he is anxious to use it in our behalf.

1.  The message of Lk. 11:5-13.

2.  Born out in God’s response to Jesus.  He sent an angel strengthening him (Lk.22:43).

C.  He gives to all life and breath and all things (Acts 17:25).

1.  Prayer is an acknowledgement of who God is.

2.  Different aspects of prayer reflect this.

a.  Thanksgiving for gifts given by God.

b.  Intercession—prayer for someone else.  Appeal for God to apply his for them in circumstances where we are not in control.

c.  Requests—for things outside our ability to supply (Matt. 6:11, 12, 13).

d.  Praise—(Matt. 6:9).

D.  Jesus prayed to the God of power “to let this cup pass from Me.”

III.    “Yet not what I will, but what Thou wilt” (v. 36).  Resignation to the Father’s will is expressive of the dependence of faith.

A.  “The prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick” (James. 5:15).  What other kind of prayer can be offered?

B.  “If we ask anything according to His will, he hears us.  And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him” (1 Jn. 5:14-15).

C.  Faith is dependence upon the power of God.  Prayer is our communication to the God of power in whom we trust.

Conclusion:

1.  God’s power is the basis of all prayer. 2.  Our weakness is our motive for praying. 3.  Resignation to the Father’s will is expressive of the dependence of faith.