This is the first of a 3-part sermon based on Luke 22:39-46:
Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, & His disciples followed Him. On reaching the place, He said to them, "Pray that you will not fall into temptation." He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down & prayed, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." An angel from heaven appeared to Him & strengthened Him. And being in anguish, He prayed more earnestly, & His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. When He rose from prayer & went back to the disciples, He found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. Why are you sleeping?" he asked them. "Get up & pray so that you will not fall into temptation.
The world is full of temptations and distractions, and the early believers were not spared. Judas fell into the temptation of greed and betrayed his Master in the hope of getting rich overnight. Peter felt intimidated by the servant girl; he was tempted to deny His intimate relationship with His Master, and eventually gave in. The early followers of Christ were afraid of losing their lives. They forsook Him and fled for their own lives at the time when He longed for their presence & support. As believers, we are never free from temptations, however, we can learn to overcome them without giving in to them. Our best example is the Lord Jesus Christ.
There are 3 important elements we can learn from our Lord Jesus Christ from the afore-mentioned verses.
The first important element found in Luke 22:39 is "Firm Commitment" to prayer. Our Lord Jesus was fully devoted to His prayer life. Nothing can move Him from being steadfast in this commitment. He went regularly to Mount Olives and pray. Throughout the four Gospels, the authors recorded that Jesus would withdraw from the crowd to spend His time alone in prayer. He also woke up early in the morning before daylight to spend time with His Father God in prayer. In the day, He did the work of His Father God preaching the Kingdom of God, healing the sick and delivering the demon possessed. After a whole day's work, He set aside time in the evening for prayer. No matter how physically weary He was, He would never miss this wonderful time of communion with God.
Again, when He needed to make an important decision in selecting the twelve disciples, He spent time in prayer. The days before His earthly life ended, He spend time praying overnight. In this passage, we read that Jesus was facing a great struggle in His life. His Father God wanted Him to drink that bitter cup of suffering which He found unbearable. His Father's will was against His. He prayed more earnestly at this time more than ever before because He saw the importance of prayer in His struggle against God’s will.
Have you ever felt a lack of strength to go through each day work? Are you making any important decision in life? Are you struggling, or finding it very difficult to do God’s will? If so, all the more you need to learn to pray like Jesus. Make a firm commitment today to set apart a regular time daily to pray. Seek Him for strength, wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel and grace to go through whatever you are facing in life. You will experience the amazing strength of God flowing through. Then, you will be empowered to overcome every situation in life.
To be continued ...
Pastor Sarah
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