Below is a portion of what I recently taught to a small group of mature believers at our church.
Matthew
26:36-46
Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called
Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and
pray." He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he
began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, "My soul is
overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with
me." Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and
prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet
not as I will, but as you will." Then he returned to his disciples and
found them sleeping. "Could you men not keep watch with me for one
hour?" he asked Peter. "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into
temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." He went away a
second time and prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to
be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done." When he came
back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. So he left
them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.
Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, "Are you still
sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed
into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us go! Here comes my betrayer!"
Mark 14:32-42
They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to
his disciples, "Sit here while I pray." He took Peter, James and John
along with him, and he
began to be deeply distressed and troubled. "My soul is overwhelmed with
sorrow to the point of death," he said to them. "Stay here and keep
watch." Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if
possible the hour might pass from him. "Abba, Father," he said,
"everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I
will, but what you will." Then he returned to his disciples and found them
sleeping. "Simon," he said to Peter, "are you asleep? Could you
not keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into
temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." Once more he
went away and prayed the same thing. When he came back, he again found them
sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him.
Returning the third time, he said to them, "Are you still sleeping and
resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is betrayed into the
hands of sinners. Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!"
·
What does it take to pray “Your will be done”?
·
What does Jesus ask of His disciples?
o
Sit here
o
Stay awake
·
What does Jesus ask of
the inner three?
o
Stay awake
o
Bear my sorrow
o
Watch with me
o
Pray for Me
We begin as disciples of
Jesus’ and we are called to “sit here” (remain connected to Him) and to “stay
awake” (don’t drift away from Him). But, as we progress in our relationship
with Jesus and in our maturity in our faith we become a part of the “inner core”.
As mature believers we are no longer given the simple instruction of “sit here”
and “stay awake” – remaining with Jesus without drifting away become the most
basic points of our commitment. As mature believers we are called to bear the
burdens of Christ – when His heart breaks, our heart breaks – we are called to
watch with Jesus – to recognize and confront evil and sin in the world around
us – and we are called to pray for Him – as the front line soldiers in this
battle with Satan we pray for Christ’s ultimate return and reign. 
No comments:
Post a Comment