There is a Struggle that Comes with Prayer – Part 1
Mat 26:36 Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder.
Mat 26:37 And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.
Mat 26:38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.
Mat 26:39 And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
Mat 26:40 And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?
Mat 26:41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
Mat 26:42 He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.
Mat 26:43 And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy.
Mat 26:44 And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.
Mat 26:45 Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
Mat 26:46 Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me.
It should be both a joy and privilege for the believer to talk to God.
But this story confirms something that most of us here this morning already know. Prayer does not come naturally to the natural man. It is not easy. It takes effort. It takes discipline.
Prayer is one of the most challenging spiritual disciplines a Christian can perform. The devil, the spirit of this world and the flesh do not want you to go there. Amen? It can be a mega battle to even go to a prayer meeting at times. Amen?
The reason why it is such a struggle is because it is such a potent and worthwhile endeavor.
This scene in our story this morning finds Jesus preparing Himself for Calvary. He retires to the Garden of Gethsemane to get alone time with His disciples and His Father. This is where He gained the necessary strength to go through what His Father wanted Him to go through.
He took Peter, James and John with Him as He went to pray. Jesus wanted His disciples to engage in prayer, as He prepared Himself for His darkest hour. But what did they do as He engaged in intense prayer? They fell asleep on Him.
This must have (naturally) been so discouraging for the Lord.
This shows us that there is such a spiritual battle with prayer.
What is prayer?
Prayer is essentially communion with God. It is not simply meditation upon God. It is actual direct interaction with Him.
Prayer is fellowship with Him. It is the way believers communicate their thoughts and desires toward God. It is when they open up their hearts and express themselves to the Lord. It is when they bring their petitions to God.
A.B. Simpson explains: “Prayer is the link that connects us with God.”
Think about this: prayer is our communion with the Creator. It is us talking with the One we purport to love and serve.
If you want God to draw close to you, you need to draw close to Him. You need to intentionally and proactively reach out to Him. Does it not say in James 4:8? “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.”
But here is the kicker:
Psa 145:18 The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.
Prayer involves quality time.. It is a godly duty. It is a necessity for the child of God. It is relational. It involves intimacy and openness between us and Him. The closer we get to Him the easier it is to glean the will of God. In fact, we hear His very whisper and we feel His very heartbeat. It is those who are not close to Him, that complain they cannot hear His voice and struggle with the will of God
Believers need Him more than anything. They desire to unburden themselves to Him. They need to hear His voice.
Basically: prayer is to the spiritual man what breathing is to the natural man.
The Old Puritan writer William Law said: “Prayer is the nearest approach to God and the highest enjoyment of Him that we are capable of in this life.”
Bro/sis, true prayer is when heaven and earth connect.
Prayer is aligning yourself with the heart of God and seeing Him work things out in you, through you and around you for His glory.
It should not therefore be underestimated.
Charles Spurgeon states: “True prayer is neither a mere mental exercise nor a vocal performance. It is far deeper than that – it is spiritual transaction with the Creator of Heaven and Earth.”
Bro/sis, true prayer is when heaven and earth connect.
Scripture often depicts prayer as a believer crying onto the Lord.
I went to a popular evangelical website that answered the question: what is prayer? It said: “The main idea behind prayer is petition, asking God for things.”
I do not necessarily agree with that statement!
To most Christians today, prayer is a selfish shopping list of their wants. But biblical prayer is intimacy with God.
While, we should bring our petitions (or requests) before God, prayer should be saturated in humble thanks, praise and worship.
In prayer, we take the low place and God takes the high place. We acknowledge that God is greater than we are and ultimately knows what is best in any given situation. In prayer, we acknowledge our utter dependence upon Him.
A.W. Pink: “Prayer is not so much an act as it is an attitude – an attitude of dependency, dependency upon God. Prayer is a confession of creature weakness, yea, of helplessness.”
Isa 66:2 to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.
We must come before God recognizing we are undeserving of the least of His blessings. We have no divine rights to anything of ourselves because we fall short of His glory and purity. Humility should therefore mark our petitions. We should not be presumptuous. But equally, faith and confidence should mark our petitions if they are energized by the Holy Ghost. We should be encouraged that God chooses to engage with weak frail creatures like you and me.
We can say like the centurion in Matthew 8:8: “I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof.”
All of us are probably familiar with the Lord’s prayer.
The background behind the Lord’s teaching on prayer is found in Luke 11:1:
11:1 And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray
As I highlighted a few weeks ago, the disciples did not ask him to teach them to preach or evangelize. They asked him to teach them to pray.
Jesus then advises them:
Matthew 6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye
What He was saying was: pray like this or pray in this manner or style. This was intended to be a model prayer. It gives us key points to cover and a general order to be mindful of.
After this Jesus gives them a blueprint prayer in Matthew 6:9-13:
9 Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Please notice, there is no personal requests at this juncture. It is all acknowledging God’s greatness and His supremacy. It is highlighting the importance of His will.
This word “hallowed” has always stood out to me in the Lord’s Prayer. What does it mean? It means holy and sacred. It means to venerate.
It is only after this that He exhorts us to ask for our needs:
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
God works, God meets our needs, when we make it all about Him.
After all, prayer is not primarily about what you need, but about who you need.
Here is the good news: God wants us to talk to Him. He wants a close healthy relationship. He is not aloof. He is not angry. He is not distant.
He even wants us to ask Him for things. But God wants you to approach Him with a proper understanding of who He is, what He teaches and what He is capable of.
Remember His Word says:
Eph 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
Surely these words should generate faith? Surely this should give you hope?
We need to come to Him realizing we are not trying to twist His arm, take a hold of His reluctance but rather align ourselves with His willingness to speak, lead and bless us. He delights in answering prayers that align with His will.
1Jn 5:14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
The reason many get discouraged and frustrated is because they pray according to their will and not His will!
How do we glean His will? Where do we find His will? By getting close to Him and by reading the Word of God.
It is only by praying “according to” the “will” of God that we can have “the confidence” and assurance that He will hear us.
If you divorce living in the Word from your communion with God you will be all over the place spiritually. So, my advice is: stay in the Word so that you are not ignorant as too how to deal with any given situation and pray into it. Through the Word of God, you will see how the great men and women of old engaged with God and how they saw mighty answers to prayer.
As Mary the mother of Jesus said in Luke 1:38: “be it unto me according to thy word.”
The degree of spiritual success you enjoy will be related directly to the degree to which you take God at His Word and apply it to the situation you are praying about.
God answers prayer requests in His own way in His own time, but will not grant requests that do not align with His overriding purposes.
A very powerful book written by four young writers from Oxford called The Grace of God in The Gospel explains: “We can now understand more fully the reason for so-called ‘unanswered’ prayers. God’s answer and His will may often be the very opposite of what would be most acceptable to the flesh.”
They continue: “A recognition of God’s sovereignty should make us more, not less, zealous in prayer. It is because God has promised certain things, that we can ask for them with the full assurance of faith. A true recognition of this doctrine will also result in a greater desire to worship and praise our sovereign Lord. Real prayer is an act of worship – an acknowledgment of His goodness, power, and grace, and a submission to His will.”
The good news is: when the Spirit is at work in your life, He will impress prayers upon your heart that align with His will. If it is your flesh, then you will be all over the place vomiting out your selfish deluded petitions.
Romans 8:26 gives us some real solid wisdom, “we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”
This is a very sobering truth to take a hold of but it is a very necessary one if we do not want to waste our whole Christian life talking to the air or missing the mark
We need to know: without the assistance of the Holy Spirit, we don’t have a clue. We are simply left with our own selfish impulses. This tells me that effective prayer involves a reliance upon the prompting of the Spirit within us. If we let the Spirit do His work He will reveal, burden and empower our words.
1 Corinthians 2:11
11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
If you and your prayers are not instigated by the Holy Spirit then they are nothing but your sinful selfish manipulative prayers – and God doesn’t hear them.
E.M. Bounds, the great authority on prayer, writes: “We must remember that the goal of prayer is the ear of God. Unless that is gained the prayer has utterly failed.”
Philippians 2:13 says, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”
Matthew Henry said, “What God requires of us He Himself works in us, or it is not done.”
Many people use God like a genie in a bottle. When troubles hit, they tell Him what they need. When God doesn’t stand to attention for them, they then point the finger of God and blame Him for not listening. Number one that is pride. Number two that is delusional.
Be under no illusion, God knows the sincerity of your heart when you approach Him. He knows the purity of your heart. You cannot hoodwink Him. He also knows what you need, when you need it.
If you’re foolish enough to come to Him and think you can tell Him what to do then you’re not getting it and you are deceiving yourself.
Prayer is a cooperation and movement with the Holy Spirit. This is where we are useable. This is where we become effective. This is where we partner with God.
The book I previously referred to written by the four young writers from Oxford called The Grace of God in The Gospel explains: “God in His infinite purposes has decreed that certain events shall come to pass, but He has also decreed that these events shall come to pass through appointed means … the preaching of the Gospel is the appointed means for the working out of the eternal purposes of God. Prayer is another means. God has decreed the means as well as the end, and among the means is prayer. And so, instead of prayers being in vain, they are among the means through which God fulfills His decrees. The design of prayer is not to change God’s will, but to accomplish it.”
It continues: “As we grow in grace and in the fuller knowledge of God, then His desires will become our desires, and our prayers will be in accordance with His will.”
Listen to what Jesus instructs in John 15:7
If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
God works within the parameters of these sacred pages. It doesn’t matter how much you complain, cry or throw a tantrum, God will do His thing, in His way, in His time.
If you are operating independent of the instruction of God’s Word then you are operating independent of God! Does that make sense? You cannot divorce God from His Word.
It doesn’t matter how sincere you are, it doesn’t matter how long you pray, it doesn’t matter if you do it with tears, if you are not praying His will then it is not being heard or will be answered.
A.W. Pink: “Prayer is not the requesting of God to alter His purpose or for Him to form a new one. Prayer is the taking of an attitude of dependency upon God, the spreading of our need before Him, the asking for those things which are in accordance with His will, and according therefore there is nothing whatever inconsistent between Divine Sovereignty and Christian prayer.”
Pink continues: “The same God who has decreed the end has also decreed that His end shall be reached through His appointed means, and One of these is prayer. The God who has determined to grant a blessing also gives a spirit of supplication which first seeks the blessing.”
If you grasp this, it could change your whole relationship with God and your whole approach to prayer.