Paul's prayer life revealed. Doctrine of prayer part 8./d. The Lord’s prayer in Gethsemane, humbling Himself under the will of the Father in spite of the suffering.\
Matt 26:36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane [the oil press], and said to His disciples, "Sit here while I go over there and pray."
Matt 26:37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed.
Matt 26:38 Then He said to them, "My soul is deeply grieved [surrounded by sorrow], to the point of death [Christ will be substitute for billions of spiritual deaths – he will die billions of times over]; remain here and keep watch with Me [be vigilant]."
He doesn’t ask them to pray with Him but to watch or to be alert. Christ right now is hyper alert to the plan of God for His life. It has all come down to these last few hours. The disciples must remain alert and vigilant to the plan of God or else they will suffer greatly for bad, emotional, and human viewpoint decisions.
Matt 26:39 And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as Thou wilt."
Think of a huge cup filled with the most foul smelling, gut wrenching, putrid liquid and you have to drink it empty. You have to do this to save your enemies. Think of what would be going through your mind as your approached it and started to get a hint of its stench and a view of its absolute disgustingness.
In the Garden of Gethsemane the Lord’s nostrils are starting to really get a whiff of what His last hour [figurative] will be like.
/It is possible for Christ to by-pass the cross because His humanity has a free will. He can say no, but that would go against the Sovereign will of the Father, which He never chose to do.\
It is important to remember here that in prayer we must acquiesce to the will of the Father. When great undeserved suffering is around the corner we may ask for a by-pass as well, but that would be against the will of God.
So if we have to go through the undeserved suffering that comes our way, why even bother going to the Father in prayer?
/The Lord has one last check-in with Headquarters as humanity before the final battle. “Now that the final battle has arrived, is there any other way?”\
Remember our Lord is true humanity. He doesn’t desire the cross. He doesn’t desire to become sin and then be judged for it. He doesn’t want the physical pain of His torturers nor the mental pain of separation from His Father while He dies billions of deaths. One last check in with Headquarters is one last contact with Author of the plan that will abolish death. Knowing the answer to the prayer does not prohibit Him.
/A check-in with Headquarters and the Father is a last comfort before the pain of the battle begins. Before we are about to face any foreseen suffering, we shall be comforted by doing the same.\
Matt 26:40 And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour?
We are not given all of the Lord’s prayer at this time since the one hour is literal. We are given what we need to know.
Matt 26:41 "Keep watching and praying, that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing [sincerity], but the flesh is weak [lack of courage or perseverance when we give precedence to our flesh]."
Now the command to pray has been given to Peter, but not to pray for Jesus, rather to pray that he pray not to enter into temptation.
/The Lord is praying for His own temptation, which is to by-pass the cross. Peter is commanded to pray for his own temptation that terrible night. Prayer for resistance of temptation is legitimate.\
Temptation is not sin. Temptation is a thought brought to our soul that reveals another option than the will of God. This is why Adam and the woman, the unfallen angels, and the Lord do not need OSN’s or fallen conditions to be tempted and thus fail. All creatures have fallen to temptation; only the humanity of Christ has not and that is why He alone is Holy. It is only when our volition says yes to the temptation that it becomes sin.
Matt 26:42 He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, "My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Thy will be done."
/ “Your will come to pass,” [better translation] = victory of the cross. Victory is always in doing the will of God. \
Matt 26:43 And again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy.
Heavy eyelids mean apathy towards doctrine. No matter how much sleep deprivation you have when the mind is engaged the eyes are wide open. Peter, James, and John are forgetting the implication of the last several days.
They have full bellies, a few glasses of wine, a nightly walk, a quiet place, but most of all; no doctrine circulating in the heart and so there is indifference and heavy eyes.
Matt 26:44 And He left them again, and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more.
/The Lord prayed the same thing three times but not in meaningless repetition of words but in supplication after supplication until the temptation was abated through repeated understanding of the Father’s will.\
We are commanded not to pray in meaningless repetition, like saying the rosary, but we see here that in legitimate requests to God concerning our temptations we may repeat our petition to Him as we wait for the temptation to be assuaged. It is vitally important that you do not think that we just same the same phrase over and over again until we lose the temptation, that violates the intimacy of prayer and legitimacy. Rather, we may ask God for help in temptation and He says yes and reveals the doctrine you already have in your heart. But we may again falter and there is nothing to prevent us from returning to the throne or even before we leave it and in the same prayer asking again for help in temptation.
/The response to the request for help in temptation will come in the form of revealed doctrines that you have already learned and then it is up to our volition to apply them.\
Therefore, prayer is not a problem solving device, but it can lead you to the proper PSD.
We will discuss repetition in prayer in relation to the timing of God, in other words, you’ve asked according to protocol and you have not received the answer yet, is it legitimate to petition again?
Matt 26:45 Then He came to the disciples, and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Behold, the hour is at hand and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.
Matt 26:46 "Arise, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!"
/e. The Lord’s prayer that could not be answered until after His death.\
/Matt 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, " Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? "that is," My God [the Father], My God [His own deity], why hast Thou forsaken Me? " \
This prayer could not be answered for three hours, the time the Lord was dying a substitutionary spiritual death for the entire human race.
For the choir director; upon Aijeleth Hashshahar. / Aijeleth Hashshahar = the doe of the dawn. The doe is TLJC on the cross and the dawn is the time of the hunt. This is a picture of a helpless animal.\
Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning.
Ps 22:2 O my God, I cry by day, but Thou dost not answer [He hears, but He cannot answer for three hours]; And by night [darkness on Golgotha], but I have no rest.
Ps 22:3 Yet Thou art holy, O Thou who art enthroned upon the praises of Israel.
Ps 22:4In Thee our fathers trusted; They trusted, and Thou didst deliver them.
Ps 22:5To Thee they cried out, and were delivered; In Thee they trusted, and were not disappointed.
Ps 22:6But I am a worm, and not a man [He was beaten so badly that He didn’t look human], A reproach of men, and despised by the people.
/Isa 52:14 Just as many were astonished at you, My people, So His appearance was marred more than any man, And His form more than the sons of men. \
/“I am tolah,” this is the worm which was collected and put in vats and crushed with a stone. The blood of this worm was used to make the crimson dye of the ancient world used for king’s robes.\
It was one of the most valuable of all the dyes and used for a king’s robe. So when Jesus Christ on the cross said, “I am a worm,” He was saying in effect that He would be crushed under the load of our sins, He would be judged for it. And because of that, we who are totally undeserving, we who did no sowing, are going to reap eternal life and we are going to wear the robe of the king forever and ever because Christ was the worm crushed on the cross by our sins.
Rev 19:11 And I saw heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He judges and wages war.
Rev 19:12 And His eyes are a flame of fire, and upon His head are many diadems; and He has a name written upon Him which no one knows except Himself.
Rev 19:13 And He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood; and His name is called The Word of God.
Rev 19:14 And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses.
Rev 19:15 And from His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may smite the nations; and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.
Rev 19:16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."
Ps 22:7All who see me sneer at me; They separate with the lip, they wag the head [not only does He die for our sins but He was ridiculed on the cross], saying,
Ps 22:8"Commit yourself to the Lord; let Him deliver him; Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him."
Ps 22:9Yet Thou art He who didst bring me forth from the womb; Thou didst make me trust when upon my mother's breasts.
Ps 22:10Upon Thee I was cast from birth; Thou hast been my God from my mother's womb.
Whatever your circumstances were and whoever your parents were are not hindrances to becoming the man or woman of God that you were predesigned to be.
Ps 22:11Be not far from me, for trouble is near; For there is none to help.
Ps 22:12Many bulls have surrounded me; Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.
Ps 22:13They open wide their mouth at me, As a ravening and a roaring lion.
Ps 22:14I am poured out like water, And all my bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; It is melted within me.
Ps 22:15My strength is dried up like a potsherd, And my tongue cleaves to my jaws; And Thou dost lay me in the dust of death.
Ps 22:16For dogs have surrounded me; A band of evildoers has encompassed me; They pierced my hands and my feet.
Ps 22:17I can count all my bones [He is naked on the cross]. They look, they stare at me;
Ps 22:18They divide my garments among them, And for my clothing they cast lots.
Ps 22:19But Thou, O Lord, be not far off; O Thou my help, hasten to my assistance.
Ps 22:20Deliver my soul from the sword, My only life from the power of the dog.
Ps 22:21Save me from the lion's mouth; And from the horns of the wild oxen [gored by the horns] Thou dost answer me. [The suffering is over]
Ps 22:22I will tell of Thy name to my brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will praise Thee.
Ps 22:23You who fear the Lord, praise Him; All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him, And stand in awe of Him, all you descendants of Israel.
Ps 22:24For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Neither has He hidden His face from him; But when he cried to Him for help, He heard.
Ps 22:25From Thee comes my praise in the great assembly; I shall pay my vows before those who fear Him.
Ps 22:26The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; Those who seek Him will praise the Lord. Let your heart live forever!
Ps 22:27All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, And all the families of the nations will worship before Thee.
Ps 22:28For the kingdom is the Lord's, And He rules over the nations.
Ps 22:29All the prosperous of the earth will eat and worship, All those who go down to the dust will bow before Him, Even he who cannot keep his soul alive.
Ps 22:30Posterity will serve Him; It will be told of the Lord to the coming generation.
Ps 22:31They will come and will declare His righteousness To a people who will be born, that He has performed it.[It is finished!]
/Heb 5:7 In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. \
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