Morning by Morning, April 1 - Wrestling in Prayer, But Faithful in Obedience
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Wonderful, merciful Savior, let Your blood cleanse my sins and Your love fill my heart, as I begin my day thankful to You and all You’ve done for me. ...
“He came out and went, as was His custom, to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples followed Him. When He reached the place, He said to them, ‘Pray that you may not come into the time of trial.’ Then He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, knelt down, and prayed, ‘Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet, not My will but Yours be done.’ Then an angel from heaven appeared to Him and gave Him strength. In His anguish He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground. When He got up from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping because of grief, and He said to them, ‘Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not come into the time of trial’” (Luke 22:39-46).
On this Thursday before the Friday of the cross, as we journey with You in remembrance of the events of that holy week when You were crucified, dead, and buried, yet raised from the dead in the glory of Your resurrection, I’m remembering Your wrestling in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. You had shared Your last supper, what we now call The Lord’s Supper, with Your disciples; and now You were wrestling in prayer, in what we might call The Lord’s Surrender, with Your Father.
As courageous and as committed as You were to fulfill all You came to do on this earth on our behalf, You still asked our Father if He was “willing” to “remove this cup” from You. You had spoken of this “cup” and what it meant with Your disciples as You shared the Passover Meal with them that same night, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the New Covenant in My blood” (Luke 22:20). It would be Your blood poured out from Your cross that would forever seal the New Covenant for those first disciples and for every disciple to follow You in the generations to come.
But Your wrestling in prayer led to Your surrendering in trusting faith and faithful obedience to the perfect will of our Father and the only way of our salvation through Your sacrifice of selfless love. “Not My will but Yours be done” was Your prayer of surrender and our way of salvation. In many ways, the victory of the cross at Calvary was only possible because of Your decision of surrender in the prayer of Gethsemane. You humbled Yourself before our Father and “became obedient to the point of death -- even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8).
When You returned from Your prayer to find Your disciples sleeping and commanded them, “Get up and pray” so that they would “not come into the time of trial,” You had just passed Your trial through prayer. Their trial would be to be to stand by You in trusting faith and faithful obedience, as You had warned (Luke 22:28). But unlike You, they would not pass their trial, as they scattered and fled, instead of standing firm in the faith in You no matter the cost (Matthew 26:56).
Lord Jesus, just as an angel of the Lord came to strengthen You in Your time of trial, send the Spirit of the Lord to strengthen us in our times of trial. Give us courage and commitment to fulfill all You’ve created us to be called us to do as Your ambassadors of Christ in the body of Christ in our generation. Even when we wrestle with the cost of our faithfulness, give us Your grace of offer our lives as a living sacrifice to You, just as You offered Your life for us (Romans 12:1).
Father, awaken us from our sleep. Revive us by Your Spirit. That we might “not come into the time of trial” and fail to stand firm in our faith when our time of trial comes, no matter the cost. “Not (our) will but Yours be done.” In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
My friend, may you be awakened, revived, and strengthened in the Spirit to stand firm in your faith for Jesus no matter the cost whenever your time of trial may come, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you!
Tommy & Rocio Hays
Messiah Ministries
17503 La Cantera Parkway, Suite 104407
San Antonio, Texas 78257
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