As Pastor Schwiger was teaching on the intimate relationship
between Jesus and the Father. He was relating what was happening in the garden
of Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed prior to His arrest, trials, and crucifixion.
When he made this statement about Jesus praying in preparation rather than
desperation, it hit me right between the eyes. YES! Pray in preparation! We see later, when Christ was on the cross,
He was not praying to the Father for deliverance. He had moved on from that
prayer. He was prepared for what was happening. Now He was able to pray for
forgiveness for those who, in ignorance, sought and were delighted by His
death. Jesus was prepared so He was now able to minister to the criminal on the
cross next to Him. He was prepared so He
was able to turn His attention to caring for his mother. He was prepared and in
a particular moment, He cried out to God as He experienced the separation from
God that sin brings. He was prepared for the human thirst He experienced. He
was prepared for the completion of the task (“It is finished”). And He was
prepared to be with His Father.
Jesus prayed in preparation for what was to come. Although
He knew what was to come (the purpose for which He was here) we have no clue
regarding what is coming down the line for us.
In light of this, I think we’d do well to imitate Him – to pray for the
Lord’s will to be done in our lives and then to meet our future head on.
No comments:
Post a Comment