Biblical prayer is a means of grace, a grace that changes us that conforms us to God's will but how does that happen? Jesus' prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane raises three questions for us to ponder including the linchpin on which to hang all true prayer. The questions we will address and apply to our prayer life are 1) Why did Jesus pray? 2) Why did the disciples have such a hard time praying (staying awake)? and 3) What is the goal of Jesus' prayers? We often ask "Why pray since God knows everything?" Yet here Jesus who is God prays is praying with such intensity that he "sweats drops of blood". Ultimately He is praying because of the loss He is facing - loss of relationship with the Father and that is our greatest loss as well and necessitates prayer. So why is it so hard? It is a spiritual battle and Satan wants us to loose, we get sleepy, distracted, and while the spirit is willing the flesh is weak; also our sorrow overtakes our emotions robbing our joy and "the joy of the Lord is [where we find] our strength." Finally we see the goal of Jesus' prayer and it is the crux of prayer, the linchpin on which all true prayer hangs it is simply "NOT MY WILL but THINE BE DONE!" We express our desires, , hurts, to God, we ask for our needs but all of it is submitted to the Will of God and this prayer conforms us to the will of God.
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