Title: The Prayer The Lord Taught
The prayer the Lord taught
“Going a little farther, he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; but not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39).
The excruciating pain of the crucifixion cannot be described in words. Whales are known to be the most brutal methods of execution devised by man. It's a shame that he died naked with his teeth completely exposed. Even God the Son, who came to this earth in a human body, cannot escape the pain and shame.
If the Lord uses divine power to escape the pain and shame, the cross is meaningless. The Lord had to accept God's curse on sin with his whole body. The whole world should be able to see and know for sure that the wages of sin is a terrible death. Of course, we had to go through the heights of shame as well. When Adam disobeyed God and became the master of his own life, he was overcome with fear and shame. It is to remove the yoke of original sin.
Without the cross, there is no way to save mankind who have fallen into sin. No, because the hill of Golgotha had been prepared before the foundation of the world, God tolerated Adam's fall. Just like a cult in the early days of Christianity, it becomes a false gospel by pretending to die on the cross with pain and shame removed. No good can be done with a lie, even more so with the salvation of the sinner.
The Lord's prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane is to testify that He suffered the agony and shame of the cross in the exact same form and intensity as any other human death row prisoner, and that He actually died and rose again. If you had realized the pain of the cross, would you have prayed so much that your sweat and blood came out? I don't know if it's because of my over-questioning, but isn't there a record that humans prayed so earnestly before or after that?
In other words, the Lord has shown a secondary way that prayer can reach its peak. When the Lord asked his disciples how to pray, he taught them specifically what to pray. However, the text can be a model of prayer that the disciples and future believers must learn. If it is a prayer that has reached its climax, isn't it something that believers should imitate?
However, this does not mean that believers must be martyred on the cross like the Lord did, and pray with sweat and blood about it. No one, even Peter, who was crucified upside down, can suffer the same suffering and shame that the Lord suffered. Although the Lord's earnest prayer is not recorded in the Bible, it must not have ceased to be just a request for relief from suffering. There must have been many agonizing intercession for the beloved disciples who were left behind and this land that is oppressed by the powers of sin, Satan, and death. In this respect, our prayers are still lacking.
No one will fully follow the Lord's prayer, but nonetheless, it is a sufficient example of prayer. No, you have to follow it this way. What if the prayer of all content of all believers of all generations was reduced to one word? Isn't it "Let God's will, not mine, be done on this earth"? Isn't the beginning of the Lord's Prayer also asking the Father in heaven to come to earth and say, "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10)?
But that doesn't end there. How did the Lord pray the second time? “My Father, if this cup cannot pass from me unless I drink it, then may it be done as you will” (Matthew 26:42). The text (first) was, “Your will be done.” The second is, “Your will be done.” The attitude of the heart to obey has changed. Second, his father's wish became his own.
Because this is simply a command from God, it is quite different from the meaning of obeying it. There is no difference between God's calling and our own calling. His plan and his own were perfectly aligned. In any case, you should not be misunderstood. This does not mean at all that Jesus has forgotten or ignored the vocation bestowed by God the Father. I hesitated for a moment at the thought of going through so much pain, but it means that I have completely overcome it.
It doesn't end there. Regarding the third prayer, the author Matthew is silent. Of course, when it says “after praying with the same word the third time” (verse 44), the content did not change. Was it because Matthew didn't want to write the same thing three times? Rather, it would mean that the Lord had found complete peace and freedom in going to the cross. Perhaps the ending was changed to this. “Now I am going to drink the cup my father gave me.”
On the other hand, what about our prayers? It is really the best for making my wishes and wishes come true. Everyone prays skillfully and fervently, even without being taught what prayer means or how to pray properly. In this part, I cry and pray every morning to the extent that blood is mixed with sweat.
However, he does not say anything that all prayers must have. “Father, please do as you will” is often not thought of at all, or even though it is known, it is often forgotten. Wasn't the reason the Lord prayed to the point where his sweat and blood were mixed with this confession? We pour our prayer efforts and devotion into completely wrong places. It means that you haven't done what you really need to pray for.
Moreover, in terms of the Lord's prayer, this is only the first ending. I don't even know that the second and third prayers have endings and have different meanings. “I wish more earnestly that God’s will be done” and “Now I stand up to see God do God’s will” have disappeared from all our prayers.
Of course, the hardships, problems, and wounds we go through are also very great. The cross of the Lord Although it cannot be compared with that, each has its own cross. God knows it well. So you can pray earnestly with tears to get you out of that pain. No, it has to be. However, in the midst of any suffering a believer suffers, God's wonderful and mysterious grace and power of which he is unaware are always hidden. Then, isn't it so natural that the confession of obedience to do God's will should be in the prayer, at least as a closing word?
Even if it doesn't happen until the end of the second and third prayers of the Lord, it would be even better if it could be done. Because most of us know in advance the will of God in our sufferings and problems, and few are willing to pray for it to be used. It is different from knowing in advance that the cross is your calling like the Lord and risking your life to obey it throughout your work.
And that's why all prayers should be able to end with at least "God's will." Again, the reason I pray to the point where my sweat is mixed with blood is to end my prayer with this confession. If you did not finish your prayer with this confession, you were not actually praying, and strictly speaking, it means that you did not follow the example of the Lord's prayer even by 1/3.
7/4/2012