“From the magazine of the US Naval Institute, Frank Koch shares a story of a battleship assigned to a training squadron. They had been at sea on maneuvers in heavy weather for several days. Frank said, I was serving on the lead battleship and was on watch on the bridge as night fell. The visibility was poor with patchy fog, so the captain remained on the bridge keeping an eye on all activities. (NEXT)
Shortly after dark, the lookout on the wing reported, "Light, bearing on the starboard bow."
"Is it steady or moving astern?" the captain called out.
The lookout replied, "Steady, Captain," which meant we were on a dangerous collision course with that ship.
The captain then called to the signalman, "Signal that ship: 'We are on a collision course, advise you change course twenty degrees.'"
Back came the signal, "Advisable for you to change course twenty degrees."
The captain said, "Send: "I'm a captain, change course twenty degrees.'"
"I'm a seaman second-class," came the reply. "You had better change course twenty degrees."
By that time the captain was furious. He spat out, "Send: 'I'm a battleship. Change course twenty degrees.'"
Back came the flashing light, "I'm a lighthouse."
We changed course."
-Max Lucado, In the Eye of the Storm, Word Publishing, p. 153.
Today as we talk about praying through suffering, I think we’re going to discover that as much as we want God to change the situation, often God is like the lighthouse, saying to us, I want you to change your course, or perhaps more so, your perspective.
We as believers go through various forms of suffering here on Earth, such as chronic pain, mental anguish, grieving a loss, traumatic changes in life, and sickness, to name a few.
We are going to learn today from Jesus, how to pray through those sufferings in a way that we will not give up.
We come to a moment in Jesus’ life when he knew darkness was approaching, like the moment before a storm.
Jesus takes his disciples to a garden in Jerusalem, at night, to prepare himself and them for the ordeal ahead.
We look at Matthew 26:36-46.
Verse 36 says, “Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”
Into the prayer garden, the garden of gethsemane. It was an olive grove. The word gethsemane actually means “oil press.”
It still exists in Jerusalem today, and the olive trees there are ancient, and mysterious looking. Though probably not the same olive trees as the time of Jesus, they give us a picture of what it might’ve looked like that fateful night when Jesus went there to pray.
Gethsemane was an oil press. Do you know how the olive oil was extracted from olives in ancient times? The olives were crushed into a paste, by a large vertical millstone, the crushed olives were then placed in woven baskets and placed under heavy wooden beam, pressed down with large stones on top of them, to squeeze out the oil.
It’s fitting that Jesus would pray in such a place, where he would be so pressed and crushed by thoughts of the ordeal ahead of him.
We too are called by God into the prayer garden, when we suffer. The pressing in our lives is real. So, let us travel together with Jesus, as he heads into the depths of that mysterious garden.
First point today, when you find yourself suffering, enter the "garden of prayer" as Jesus did.
Next, verse 37: "He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled."
These are the same 3 that went with Jesus to the mountain, Peter, James, and John. He leaves the other disciples at the entrance, and they head in among the dark trees. It probably would’ve been bright that night, because it was a full moon, due to the fact that Passover always occurs on a full moon. If these events did occur in AD 33, on April 3rd, as some have speculated, NASA has indicated that there was a partial lunar eclipse that night over Jerusalem, which would’ve made the moon appear reddish.
But Jesus gathers his three closest friends, and begins to experience deep anguish and despair. He doesn’t avoid the emotions. He doesn’t pretend they aren’t there. He doesn’t stuff them underneath. He doesn’t try to have a few drinks to make them go away. Jesus simply allows the emotions to flow out of him.
We must learn to do the same, when we’re facing suffering, we have to let ourselves feel it. We can have a positive attitude, we can hope for the best, we can declare the scriptures, but at the end of the day, we have to let the tears flow, express the pain, and let it out.
Second point, once you enter the garden of prayer, let the real emotions flow from your soul, don’t hide them, or ignore them.
Next, verse 38: Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
Jesus doesn’t say, “I’m fine.” He tells them exactly what he’s feeling. Jesus is overwhelmed in his soul. Have you felt that yourself? You can’t cry hard enough. It’s overwhelming. You can’t stand how you feel. But it just won’t stop.
So he tells his friends. And he asks them to stay and watch with Him.
Third point today, bring your friends with you into the garden of prayer. If I’m struggling I’m asking my friends to pray!
Next, verse 39: Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
Jesus is going to enter a time of wrestling with His Father, on the topic of suffering. Jesus is so upset, he falls on his face, and he prays a prayer many of us I’m sure have prayed, “take this from me.”
Often suffering or judgment in scripture is pictured as a cup being drank from. Jesus knows he has this cup of suffering sitting on the table in front of him, and he is so overwhelmed, with what he knows is coming next, he asks that the cup be taken from him.
This is a very human moment for Jesus. We know Jesus is the son of God, the Lord, but sometimes we forget he was also fully human. And Jesus longs to be delivered from this suffering.
I think we can all relate to that. That’s often the first thing we do, we begin to pray, and ask God, please Lord heal this, change this, remove this, take this away.
There is nothing wrong with initially praying and praying for God to take the suffering away. Many times God will take it away, he removes the suffering, he heals us, he changes the situation suddenly, and the suffering is over. Though I think that's the exception, not the rule.
But for Jesus we know, this cup he will have to drink. He does ask for the cup to be removed from him, but he also says, yet not what I will, but your will be done Father.
That is a great way to pray, make your request, but include the heartfelt statement, 'not my will, but yours be done God.' We aren’t in control, God is. When we pray in this way, we surrender control to God.
Jesus is wrestling and the wrestling is occurring in His heart. His heart longs for the situation to change, but if it can’t, he declares: God’s will be done.
Begin to wrestle with God about your situation, and about the suffering you’re experiencing. Pray, and pray again, be honest, be real, lay it all before the Father, seek His face, weep and mourn before Him, and just bring it to Him. Maybe its as simple as praying: Father help me! Cry it out, let your heart declare it to God!
Next, verses 40-41 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. 41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
I want to hone in on this topic of watch and pray. What does that mean exactly? He wanted the disciples to watch and pray for one hour.
I don’t think Jesus was telling them to watch for Roman guards or something. He was referring to a different kind of watching.
I’m going to get a little deep, but I think we’ve all experienced this sort of thing before.
The Lord prompts us to pray for someone. Seemingly out of nowhere, even in the middle of the night. Someone comes to mind, and you start to pray. And honestly, you’ll begin to pray things out that you shouldn’t even know, yet something inside tells you, “pray this.”
So we go into the prayer realm, and receive data from the Spirit, and we pray out that reality into the real world.
Particularly if I’m fasting, these realities will be strong, and I will know, something is going on in the spiritual realm for this person and I need to pray, right now. And then I begin to pray, and the Lord will eventually say, OK, good, that reality has been dealt with in prayer.
That’s deep, but it’s the idea of fighting for someone in prayer, when we feel prompted to, and really running with that, until we sense the victory in the Spirit.
Notice, also, the classic phrase “The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
As we pray out these suffering prayers, we will face the battle between the flesh and the Spirit. The flesh doesn’t want to pray, the flesh wants to be entertained, but when we push into prayer ,even in suffering, we begin to feed the Spirit within, and the flesh begins to submit to the Spirit.
Notice Jesus says, watch and pray so that you won’t fall into temptation. Temptation is connected with the flesh, and if we pray, we strengthen our Spirit to be in control, instead of the flesh.
When we allow the flesh to lead us when we suffer and not the Spirit, our flesh reacts selfishly. But if we can learn to suffer in the leading of the Holy Spirit, we can bear up under the suffering with steadfastness, calmness, and strength. And the flesh will submit to the Spirit.
So next point today, praying strengthens your spirit, and helps your flesh submit to the Spirit.
Next, verse 42 He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”
Many times I try and try to pray for the suffering to stop. But, at some point, the Lord will make it clear, like Paul’s thorn in the flesh, this suffering isn’t going to stop immediately. It is going to continue for a season.
We’ve tried to escape it, but now face a new reality. We must accept the situation as it is now.
Jesus in this prayer, he accepts the cup of suffering offered to him. He says alright Father, if it’s not possible for this cup to be taken away, then may your will be done.
And as we pray through our suffering season, we wrestle with God toward the moment of acceptance. We wrestle in prayer, until finally one day, we say, Lord, I finally accept this suffering, as my reality right now.
We see the cup sitting before us, we realize it’s not going to be instantly removed, and we take the cup in our hand, and submit to God, and drink from it.
Often times, simple acceptance of the reality of the situation, can alleviate a lot of the confusion and frustration around it.
Now, if God is prompting you to keep seeking a solution, please do, if he’s telling you don’t accept this, fight it, listen to God. But, I think God often says to us, accept this as it is right now, as you work on a solution.
Now, this is not to accept defeat.
It’s not to get depressed and say well I lost.
But it is to accept the reality of the season you’re in, til it passes.
God’s will be done, not mine. I will glorify Him through this suffering.
He will see me through it.
This point is simple: Accept the situation as it is right now. Simple, not easy.
Next, verses 43-44: "43 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. 44 So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing."
These trials become harder and harder when we lack prayer. And for the disciples, their lack of prayer during these key moments will have real world results. As we know from history, the disciples fled, and went into hiding, and Peter denied that he even knew Jesus. I believe, if the disciples had been diligently praying that night the outcome might’ve been very different.
But even if we do fail to pray like we should, in suffering, the disciples were restored, by Jesus, Peter was forgiven for denying Jesus, the story didn’t end there, there is grace even if we fall in our time of trial.
So Jesus leaves the disciples, and goes and prays again, the same thing, Lord your will be done, not mine. He submits to God’s will completely. He accepts what is about to come. His heart has been shaped in prayer to a place of acceptance, and submission to God’s purpose.
Lastly, verses 45-46: Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”
The time has come. The moment has arrived. The son of man, Jesus, will be betrayed and crucified.
Jesus says let’s go, we’re going to meet it head on.
This last point is simple: Face it. Don’t ignore it, don’t pretend it’s not there, march toward it boldly.
Just like Jesus, he knew he would suffer. He got his heart ready in the garden of Gethsemane, the garden of pressing, so he would be able to endure everything he would face. He was in submission to the Father’s will. Jesus was ready, he endured ultimate suffering, he even walked through death. Yet he rose from the dead. He won the victory.
Thankfully, our season of suffering does not often lead to death. It’s almost always a season with a time limit on it, a season where we endure, die to self by submitting to God, drink our cup of suffering, and then rise from the ashes, a new person. You’ll find yourself a new, better version of yourself, and that’s the whole reason why God allows it.
He allows it, so it will mold our character into something holy and beautiful, humble, and lovely. There is nothing like coming out the other side of suffering, still hot like iron fresh from a forge, molded and shaped, into a stronger, better version of ourselves. And the way through is simple:
Pray, and then accept your time in the garden of pressing.
This point is simple: Accept the situation as it is right now. Simple, not easy.
Next, verses 43-44: "43 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. 44 So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing."
These trials become harder and harder when we lack prayer. And for the disciples, their lack of prayer during these key moments will have real world results. As we know from history, the disciples fled, and went into hiding, and Peter denied that he even knew Jesus. I believe, if the disciples had been diligently praying that night the outcome might’ve been very different.
But even if we do fail to pray like we should, in suffering, the disciples were restored, by Jesus, Peter was forgiven for denying Jesus, the story didn’t end there, there is grace even if we fall in our time of trial.
So Jesus leaves the disciples, and goes and prays again, the same thing, Lord your will be done, not mine. He submits to God’s will completely. He accepts what is about to come. His heart has been shaped in prayer to a place of acceptance, and submission to God’s purpose.
Lastly, verses 45-46: Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”
The time has come. The moment has arrived. The son of man, Jesus, will be betrayed and crucified.
Jesus says let’s go, we’re going to meet it head on.
This last point is simple: Face it. Don’t ignore it, don’t pretend it’s not there, march toward it boldly.
Just like Jesus, he knew he would suffer. He got his heart ready in the garden of Gethsemane, the garden of pressing, so he would be able to endure everything he would face. He was in submission to the Father’s will. Jesus was ready, he endured ultimate suffering, he even walked through death. Yet he rose from the dead. He won the victory.
Thankfully, our season of suffering does not often lead to death. It’s almost always a season with a time limit on it, a season where we endure, die to self by submitting to God, drink our cup of suffering, and then rise from the ashes, a new person. You’ll find yourself a new, better version of yourself, and that’s the whole reason why God allows it.
He allows it, so it will mold our character into something holy and beautiful, humble, and lovely. There is nothing like coming out the other side of suffering, still hot like iron fresh from a forge, molded and shaped, into a stronger, better version of ourselves. And the way through is simple:
Pray, and then accept your time in the garden of pressing.
