13. Welcome to day 13 of our 4 week prayer adventure.

In Matthew 26:36-46, we read of Jesus’ agony in the garden of Gethsemane. Verse 39 says: “And going a little further He fell on His face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.’” This amazing passage contains many deep and mysterious things. Some people think they have it all figured out but they just end up ‘darkening counsel with words without knowledge.’

So, while there is so much here, let me just briefly mention three items of practical importance.

1. Prayer should always be our first remedy in times of trouble. Trouble comes to all of us, in a million different ways. How well we know that in these corona virus days. Notice what Jesus did in a time of extreme stress, He fell on His face, on the ground, and prayed. If He needed to do this, how much more do we? Let us go to our heavenly Father at the first sign of trouble and not as a last resort.

2. Surrendering to the will of God is a great mark of wisdom. Jesus gave us a great example as He prayed: ‘not as I will, but as You will.’ Then again in verse 42, ‘Your will be done.’ It is just as the great example He gave us in the Lord’s prayer as well; ‘may Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.’ Pray that God will line up your will with His, so that you will want and desire the same things He does! We usually switch that around and want God’s will to line up with ours!

3. We must always be on guard in our spiritual lives. 26:41: “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” In a culture that loves to cater to the flesh, so many people, instead of watching out for things that will tempt them to do wrong, run right into it and see how far they can go before they get burned by it. Let each of us learn this lesson well, that if we desire a close walk with God and not fall like Peter did or like David did, let us never forget to watch and pray.

I hope each of you are having a great Easter week! We are looking forward to livestreaming our Easter service this Sunday!