50 Days of Prayer for Fellowship CRC

 
 
Heb. 5:7, "In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission."

Ever have "one of those days," when things just go badly? I recall a bit of a joke when the NIV Bible came out, because it translated Luke 6:12 as, "One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God." The instructional point of the joke was, "if you're having a bad day, then pray, long and hard!" 

Jesus had a lot of hard days. He wore himself out in ministry. He grieved the deaths of relatives and friends. He faced physical deprivation and, more significantly, opposition to his ministry. The authorities tried to have him killed more than once. He even had hard days with his disciples, as any teacher does. 

Jesus is pictured as being in constant communication with God his Father. So, when Jesus was having a bad day, a good day, a day to celebrate something, a day to decide something, he prayed.  He also prayed when he contemplated his passion and death. If you want to know what Jesus prayed at those times, pray through Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53; you will get some idea of the depth of emotion the "Man of sorrows" felt.

Jesus submitted himself to the will of the Father (see Is. 53:10) in all things. Note that this submission sometimes came with "loud cries and tears." We take this to mean in the Garden of Gethsemane, but other times as well.  And his Father heard him. Jesus had learned experience that his Father always heard him (John 11:41-42). His Father heard his prayer in the Garden, too.  And Jesus submitted there to the Father's answer.

So we pray,
Lord Jesus, thank you for your example of prayer, of submission, of life, and of death. Father, thank you for always hearing Jesus' prayers and our prayers. Holy Spirit, help us to live and pray in submission to the Father's will. Amen. 

PS - No blog post tomorrow, as we focus on worship!  Hope to see you there!