“Why We Pray” -- Matthew 26:36-42

Why do we go to church?

There are a lot of reasons why we go to church. For some, they enjoy the fellowship with the other members. Some like the music during the worship service, while others may enjoy the group Bible study. Some enjoy worshiping with others. There are even those who go to church because they have to, and some go because they want to be seen and because it’s good for business.

The point is that there are a number of reasons why people go to church, some valid and some not so valid. It’s not unusual for someone to come to church for one particular reason only to discover they received another benefit from being at church that particular Sunday. We may come to church for a variety of reasons only to find that we receive blessings on many levels when we come together for Bible study and worship.

In today’s passage, the main emphasis is on the acute distress that Jesus experience immediately before His betrayal. However, as we look at this passage, we also discover some of the reasons why we pray.

Background

For some time, Jesus knew His destiny on earth. He knew He would be betrayed and be tried by those who were in power. He knew His ministry would go through Calvary and the empty tomb. Jesus had tried to prepare His disciples for the inevitable end of His earthly ministry, but they were not prepared on any level to fully grasp what He was saying.

On the last night Jesus spent with His followers, He spent a lot of time teaching them of what His leaving would mean for them. Most of what we learn is found in John 13-17 in the Upper Room Discourse. While the other gospel accounts—Matthew, Mark and Luke—didn’t go into the events in the upper room, they did include the events that took place at Gethsemane. John alone does not include the time of prayer in the olive grove.

In looking at the passage, we gain a rare glimpse into Jesus’ emotional state. The Bible translates the Greek words as describing Jesus as sorrowful and troubled, and Jesus telling Peter, James and John that He is overwhelmed with sorrow. The English does not convey the full meaning of the depth of Jesus’ anguish as He prepared to pray.

We also learn from this passage of Jesus’ submission to the Father, and His willingness to face the pending horror of His betrayal, abuse and death on the cross.

Gethsemane was a place of prayer for Jesus, and in this passage, we find several reasons for why we pray. In each of these ways, we discover the following truth:

Central Truth: We pray to discern God’s will and draw strength from Him.

At Gethsemane, we find these reasons to pray:

1. A sorrowful spirit (36-38)

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.’ He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with Him, and He began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then He said to them, ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with Me.’”

It may come as a surprise, but the Bible is largely silent about when Jesus felt many of the emotions we feel each day. Even when we get a glimpse into Jesus’ emotions, we are not told why Jesus felt the way He did. When Jesus wept at Lazarus’ grave, we don’t know why Jesus was moved to tears. We read in Mark that Jesus did experience anger (cf. Mark 3:5). We also know that Jesus was a person of great compassion.

The events at Gethsemane gives us the greatest glimpse into Jesus’ emotional state. We know from His words to the three disciples that He was “overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” The awareness of what was waiting for Him had to greatly trouble Jesus. Anytime you or I face a crisis, our anxieties are heightened and our emotions become more acute. Jesus is no different. That’s one of the reasons why Jesus’ pray at Gethsemane is so important to us.

We know that Jesus prayed often, and we know that He was in constant communion with the Father. At this time of great distress, Jesus went to the Father. This is consistent with what Jesus taught. When Jesus taught us about worry, He told us that our focus must be on the kingdom of God first, and everything else will fall into place. Jesus’ great distress led Him to His knees to express to God the deep sorrow and dread that Jesus was feeling.

The fact that Jesus called upon Peter, James and John to pray with Him lets us also know that we need the prayers of our fellow believers when we are experiencing sorrow. We find comfort and strength in the prayers of others as we face crises in our lives. Though Jesus did not expressly say, “Pray with Me,” the implications of asking them to watch with Him indicates Jesus’ intent was for them to pray with Him and for Him.

Jesus’ desire to seek God in prayer while experiencing deep sorrow lets us know that we, too, should always go to God in prayer when we face trials and tribulations in our own lives.

And we should allow others to pray for us and with us during these times.

2. Tell God our heart (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.’”

Few things are more frustrating than to ask someone you love what’s wrong only to be told, “Nothing.” It’s clear from their behavior that the person is vexed about something, and simply asking, “What’s wrong?” is a clear indication that we want to see if we can address the issue. Instead, we are told that nothing’s wrong, and then continue to be snubbed with a cold shoulder.

Jesus knew that He could speak His heart to the Father, so He told God exactly what was on His heart and mind. Jesus asked God to show Him another way to achieve the Father’s purpose. In doing this, Jesus shows us that we can speak our heart to the Father and how we can approach Him.

First, notice that Jesus addresses God as, “My Father.” This is consistent with Jesus’ constant references to God as Father throughout His ministry and is consistent with Jesus’ teaching on how to pray.

Second, Jesus’ pray shows that His is not one of demand but of submission. Jesus understands that God is in control of all situations, and so Jesus doesn’t come to God with the demand of, “Give another option.” Instead, Jesus lets God know of the Son’s desire while expressing this in submission and faith in the Father.

God knows us. He knows us so well that He knows our hearts before we even speak to Him. In this verse, we learn what it is to trust in God and to speak honestly and openly to Him. We have nothing to fear when we express our hearts to the Father. If we are angry or frightened, if we have a wavering faith, God is not going to turn His back on us if we tell Him what we’re feeling. God knows our emotions, while valid, are generally ruled by circumstances. When we turn our eyes from Him and look at the circumstances, we lose sight of what’s real and where we really are.

By sharing our hearts openly and honestly with God, we regain our focus, trusting Him to see us through the valleys of the shadow of death we encounter throughout life. By sharing our hearts openly with God, we find our emotions becoming more in line with the faith we do have. Sometimes, our heart-felt prayers become similar to the father of the possessed son who says to Jesus, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24b).

When we pray, we know that we can share our deepest concerns with the Father, knowing He has our best interests always at heart.

3. Find strength and wisdom from God (40-41)

“Then He returned to His disciples and found them sleeping. ‘Could you men not keep watch with Me for one hour?’ He asked Peter. ‘Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.’”

I’ve been losing weight and getting in shape for 40 years. You wouldn’t know it by looking at me, but that’s been at the back of my mind all this time. There have even been times when I’ve actually taken steps to do something about it. I guess once again that the Bible is correct in saying, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

The fact that our flesh is weak is another reason we seek God’s counsel in prayer. It is as we pray that we are reminded to whom we must turn when temptation comes our way.

Jesus sees all three disciples fast asleep. It’s not uncommon for end-of-the-day prayer to end in slumber. Many a time, I’ve awoken in the morning only to remember to say, “Amen.” It had been a long day for the disciples, filled with anxiety and uncertainty after Jesus had told them the things they heard in the upper room. Now, Jesus, who is their rock and their security, has told them that He is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.

Knowing what the night had in store not just for Himself but for the disciples, Peter in particular, Jesus knew they needed to pray intensely for the coming events of the day. In Matthew’s account, the last thing Jesus had said before coming to Gethsemane was that Peter would deny Him three times. Peter needed to be strong against temptation.

We also need to seek God’s wisdom and strength in our fight against temptation. We cannot stand up against Satan on our own; we need to be close to the Father through the Son and by the power of the Spirit within us. Precisely because the flesh is weak, we need to pray in order to strengthen the willingness of the spirit.

4. Give ourselves to God’s will (42)

“He went away a second time and said, ‘My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may Your will be done.’”

“We’ll try it your way” are not always easy words to say. There are times we can believe our way is the best way, the smarter way, only to find that someone else believes just as strongly their way is the better, smarter way. “We’ll try it your way” is an expression of submission and trust, among other things.

When Jesus returned to pray again, He changed His prayer from a request to remove the cup into a prayer of submission to the Father’s will. From the first prayer and from His words to the disciples, it is clear that Jesus’ desire was to remove the cup from Him. Though that was his desire, His greater desire was for the Father’s will to be done.

I remember asking God to heal my mother. She had been experiencing the onset of Alzheimer’s for several years, but we weren’t sure what it was at the time. I was asking God to heal my mom, to restore her to the way she was before the forgetfulness began. As I was praying, God asked me, “Is that what you really want?” The question stopped me in my tracks. Of course I wanted Mom to be healed. But as the question sunk into my conscious and my heart, I realized that what I needed to be seeking was for God’s will to be done with Mom and my family. My prayer changed and became similar to Jesus’ prayer in this verse. “If it is not consistent with Your will to heal Mom, then let Your will be done.”

When we come to God in prayer, we must come to Him with an open heart and mind, knowing that He can change our desire and our awareness of the situation. He may not give us a definitive answer—I still don’t know why my mother had to die of Alzheimer even 31 years later—but when we submit ourselves to Him in prayer, only then can He open our eyes to the possibilities. When we submit to Him, He will give us the strength to endure and to see us through difficult and uncertain times.

Conclusion

When Jesus went into the garden at Gethsemane, He walked into a place where He was overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. He went into the garden wishing to avoid the events that would unfold over the next 24 hours. When Jesus got up from His knees after His third prayer, Jesus was ready to face the cross and all that would come before it. In that moment in the garden, Jesus showed us our need to pray in order to address our sorrow, to express our heart, to resist temptation through seeking God’s wisdom and strength, and to give ourselves to Him by surrendering to His will.

Living the holy life often involves facing difficult times of resistance and temptation. It is then that we need to seek God’s face in prayer and in faith.