During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered.
Hebrews 5:7,8
If you Google the word prayer, you’ll spend the rest of your days scrolling through all the screens. You’ll never reach the end. The reason that there’s so much written and recorded on prayer is that it’s one of those things we just do. It’s a natural act. Like breathing, prayer is something that we just start and never stop. Before we thought or spoke our first prayer, no one sat down and taught it to us. We weren’t given some short class on prayer. We didn’t watch some master class video on the whys, wherefores’, and how’s of prayer.
Yes, there are some really good books on prayer. There are valuable seminars and videos that can really help us with prayer. And some of the written prayers can be a powerful encouragement and guide on prayer. I’m all for anything and everything that motivates us to pray.
God tells us to pray[1]. Prayer is a way to serve God[2]. We are called to pray without ceasing[3]. The early church prayed[4]. And if that wasn’t enough, Jesus himself prayed[5]. Sometimes Jesus just looks up to heaven and prays right where he is[6]. When his disciples saw him praying, they asked Jesus to teach them how to do it[7].
The writer wants to remind the Hebrews that Jesus prayed in response to his personal heart-tearing and gut-wrenching anguish and suffering. When he faced evil and death itself, the Son of God prayed[8].
Because Jesus prayed, the Hebrews need to pray in their hour of need. They need to cry out to God and tell him all their feelings, pain, anguish, and wishes. When faced with their enemies, betrayal, arrest, torture, and death itself, they need to follow Jesus’ example and pray. Did you notice who Jesus prayed to? He prayed to “the one who COULD save him from death.” Not the one who “WAS” going to save him from death. You might think that I’m making a big deal over this one word. But the difference between could and was makes all the difference in the world.
Could save. Could says that God has all the power, authority, and right to save. Saving is nothing of ours and everything of his. No one can stand up against God and stop him. God has the power to save anyone from anything[9]. It’s not ours to do.
Was going to save. Again, Jesus put’s his Heavenly Father in control. When we say God was going to do something, we’re forcing God to do what we want. We put ourselves on the throne and God becomes our intern, doing small and unimportant things we want.
These are as different as a mountain is from a molehill. COULD says that God can save where Was forces God to save. COULD does not commit God to save. It doesn’t force God to save. It doesn’t paint God into a corner. WAS says that this is exactly what God needs to do. It leaves God no option. A WAS prayer says that we know best while a COULD prayer says God knows best.
Remember Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane? He knows exactly what’s coming. All the emotional and physical pain. The crown of thorns. The merciless whipping. Being hit on the head[10]. And with all that in his mind, he prays for his Father’s will to be done[11].
And that’s Job One when it comes to prayer. Yes, we bring everything to God. Yes, we cry out to him for relief and release. Yes, we beg for healing and comfort. Yes, we cry with our words and our tears. But then, we leave it to God. We submit ourselves to the one who made and loves us enough to die for us. He’s God and will walk with us through all the days of our lives. We won’t have to force praying when this is our heart. We’ll pray like CS Lewis did for the healing of his wife from cancer. “I pray because I can’t help myself. I pray because I’m helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn’t change God. It changes me[12].”
Why was Jesus’ prayer heard by God? Because of his reverent submission. He said that God’s will was more important than anything else. When will we learn this prayer lesson? What is it going to take us to start honestly praying for God’s will to be done and not ours? Getting God’s attention in prayer is less about what we want and more about what God wants. When God wants it. How God wants it. Where God wants it. And who God wants to use to make it happen. Now, that’s a prayer he loves to hear.
Noodling Questions
How do we try and force God to do what we want through prayer?
Describe the last time you let God choose how he was going to answer?
Describe how “Thy will be done” is the right way to approach all prayer.
[1] Philippians 4:6,7
[2] Luke 2:36,37
[3] 1 Thessalonians 5:17
[4] Acts 1:14
[5] Mark 1:35
[6] John 11:41,42
[7] Luke 11:1-4
[8] Mark 14:34-36
[9] Romans 1:16
[10] Matthew 27:28-31
[11] Matthew 26:39, 42
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