(39) And he came out, and went, as he was wont, to the mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him.
(40) And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation.
(41) And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed,
(42) Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
(43) And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.
(44) And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
Luke 22:41-44
What was Jesus Praying for?
The cause of Jesus’ prayer is illustrated in the words that he spoke to his disciples. Jesus spoke to them as a father giving a lesson to his children, telling them that prayer is necessary so one does not enter into temptation. It was the eve of the greatest event in human history and Jesus was praying so that he himself would not “enter into temptation.” Jesus needed to pray in order to ensure that no aspect of his humanity would cause the deity inside of him to avoid going to the cross and dying for the sins of mankind. Matthew 26:41 gives a similar account of this prayer and adds, “the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” The spirit inside of Jesus had perfect intentions of going to the cross, but the flesh did not want to. How do we know this? Because in Luke 24:42, Jesus asks the Father if it is possible to take the burden of having to go the cross away from him. We see just how important this prayer really was because Jesus chooses to do the will of God rather than his own personal will by saying, “nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done.” From this, we clearly see the power of prayer to bring the necessary submission to accomplish God’s will in our life when we take the time to bring our burdens to the Father as Jesus did.
Background information about Jesus Prayer in Gethsemane
The prayer in Gethsemane followed the last meal that Jesus was going to have with his disciples. Although they were unaware of what was going to unfold in the next few hours, Jesus was not. He knew that very shortly he would be betrayed by Judas Iscariot, turned over to the Jewish leaders and crucified the next day. The emotional pain of betrayal, the physical agony of the cross and the crushing burden of all of mankind’s sins would certainly have been weighing heavily on his mind at this time. Without prayer, no one could imagine, much less actually go through with the events that were soon to proceed. Matthew 26:37 tells us that Jesus was sorrowful and his soul was very heavy. And who wouldn’t be at a time like this? This was his moment and he was not going to disappoint the Father, himself, or mankind. In order for him to go to the cross, he had to go to Gethsemane first and make this prayer.
John the Baptist called him the Lamb of God who was come to take away the sin of the world and Jesus knew that the one purpose that he had come into the world for was now at hand. (John 1:29) Like us, Jesus had friends, loved ones and acquaintances that he had grown to love. It would not have been natural for anyone to for him to know that he was going to die and willingly go forward with it. This is why he needed something supernatural. For him, prayer was not just an option at this time, it was a necessity. This prayer at Gethsemane propelled him toward the cross, rather than away from it. From his prayer, we learn that prayer is the necessary component to compel us to go forward towards God’s will, especially when we are resisting it. Prayer is necessary at those key, defining moments when we are trying to decide to accept or reject God’s plan for us. It changes our heart from being tempted to giving in to the weakness of flesh to following the desire of the willing spirit.
Key Elements of Jesus’ Prayer
1. Jesus withdrew from others to make his prayer
There is a time and a place to pray with others and there is a time when you must petition God for your needs alone. Jesus brought several disciples along not to help him, but to watch him pray so that they would learn what he was doing. After arriving at Gethsemane , he intentionally withdrew a stone’s throw away to be by himself. He understood that this prayer was to be about his humanity wrestling with the deity inside of him and the deity could not lose. At this point, there was too much at stake for him to be distracted by late night weariness and complaints. Everyone, including Jesus, was tired but Jesus had to somehow summon supernatural strength to pray. To endure the cross, he would need to be at his strongest even though he was now at his weakest. His decision to pray alone is reminiscent of what he taught the disciples during the Sermon on the Mount:
(6) But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
Mathewt 6:6
Like Jacob wresting at Peniel, humanity had to once again wrestle with deity for a people to survive. Because he had not intention of losing this showdown, could not afford distractions and needed the sure reward that only solitary prayer brings, Jesus chose to pray alone.
2. Jesus admitted his weaknesses
While it may be hard to imagine Jesus as having any weaknesses, the human side of him did. However, the wisdom of Christ was to acknowledge, admit and deal with it head on rather than ignore it. Pride would have overlooked the weakness of his flesh and could have quite possibly caused him to overlook the cross. Rather than overlooking the weakness of his human flesh, Jesus wisely leaned on the strength of his divine spirit and brought himself to a place of prayer where the weakness could be dealt with properly. It is extremely important to deal with any weaknesses that we may have by presenting it to God to deal with.
(16) Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
James 5:16
The only way to deal with our faults is to acknowledge them and not try to cover them up. Acknowledging and dealing with fault allows them to be healed and allows our prayers both effectual and prevailing. Many people see acknowledging weaknesses as a fault but the only true fault is in not admitting them so that God can heal and deal with them. A weakness that is not acknowledged can never be dealt with and will always be a hindrance to prayer, which leads to a hindrance in getting God’s will done. As a result of admitting his desire to not got to the cross, Jesus was persuaded let God’s will be done and go forward to the cross. His decision to follow God’s will was a direct result of prayer. I shudder to imagine what would have happened if our Lord had not made this prayer.
3. Jesus prayed with everything that he had
Many people fear getting to emotional when they pray, but prayer is all about emotion. Prayer is not a time to be reserved. It is a time to bare everything inside our body, mind, soul and spirit before our Creator. The scriptures tell us this:
(4) Hear, O Israel
(5) And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
Deuteronomy 6:4-5
Jesus reiterated this commandment in the New Testament, saying that it was the greatest commandment.
(36) Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
(37) Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
(38) This is the first and great commandment.
Matthew 22:36-38
If the greatest commandment is to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength, then why don’t we open up and show our affection with everything that we have? The prayer that Jesus made in Gethsemane was emotional, visceral and physical. The Greek meaning of the word Gethsemane means “oil press.” Gethsemane was an emotional place of crushing and grinding physically for olives and emotionally for Christ. There some prayers that will only come forth when our body and spirit has been crushed so that that the sweet oil of prayer can be released. Every prayer does not have to be like this, but great prayers do. With the sin of mankind on his shoulders and the outcome of eternity depending on this prayer, Jesus gave needed to summon every ounce of physical and emotional strength that he could muster in that late night.
So important was the success of his prayer, that Luke 22:43 tells us that angel appeared to strengthen him as he was praying. While he did not specifically ask for angelic help, God saw the effort that was being put forth and gave him help. We should understand that when God sees us giving everything we have in prayer, he will match our efforts and give us his best. If we pray mundane prayers, then we should expect mundane results. If we pray exceptional prayers, then we should expect exceptional results. Having received supernatural help, Luke 22:44 goes on to say that Jesus prayed even more earnestly. He did not allow himself the comfort of believing that his prayer had been answered just because and angel had appeared. No, he turned up the intensity and became even more determined when he saw that he now had God’s attention. Most of us would have stopped praying the moment an angel appeared, but not Christ. He ignored the angel because he was so focused on his goal receiving the necessary strength to go the cross for us. His intensity increased until sweat poured down from his face as blood falling to the ground. For him, this was more than prayer…more than communication with the Father…it was a wrestling match for the souls of mankind…and he was not going to lose. Jesus was wrestling with Satan to free mankind’s souls from the burden of sin and to bring us back into fellowship with the Creator.
When serious issues are on the line, such as the burden of souls, we have to be ready for the physical and emotional exertion that this kind of prayer brings. To deliver souls from Satan, we often have to break strongholds and chains of sin that are binding them. Jesus tells us that in order to save and heal those hindered by Satan, we must first bind the enemy:
(28) But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God
(29) Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.
Mat 12:28-29
If you want to save one person, let alone the entire world, you have to prepare to fight the one that has control over them. Jesus understood this and wrestled to bind Satan and free our souls.
4. Jesus was praying for others and not himself
Arguably the greatest prayers in the bible are those that have been prayed for someone else. Why? Because they include the act of selflessness. It is very easy to pray for ourselves, especially when we are in need or greatly desire something. It is an entirely different matter to pray for the needs of someone else. The unique aspect of Jesus’ prayer was that not only was he praying for others, but he was praying for others that had no concern for him. In fact, many of those for whom he was praying sought his harm and wanted to see him tortured and crucified. This did not faze Jesus. He had taught his disciples to pray for those who disliked them.
(44) But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Matthew 5:44
Not only is this difficult for most people, but I would even dare to say it is downright unnatural! Despite the difficulty, Matthew 5:45 goes on to say that this is the type of prayer that impresses God the most.
(45) That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
(46) For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
Matthew 5:45-46
If we want to pray great prayers, we must learn great forgiveness and great selflessness.
God Bless
