Prayers

The Bottom Line

by Terry Barlow
11/18/16
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  That famous prayer Jesus prayed in the garden of  Gethsemane came back to mind today as I read part of chapter 22 in the gospel Luke.  Jesus was honest with his Father, admitting that he was hoping he could be spared the cup of suffering set before him, yet at the same time his bottom line was that he wanted the will of his Father,  whom he trusted completely, above his own will.  That was the same bottom line that changed all of our lives, all of us who believe in Him and have received His sacrifice on our behalf, a sacrifice we could never make on our own behalf.   It was that same bottom line through which we were granted eternal life, a life that we could begin living the very moment we received it, and a life that will never finish being lived.   Of course we know that the cup of suffering was not removed as Jesus asked that it would be.  The Father had to say what was in effect a "no" in that instance, but never was the saying more true that within the answer of "no" from our Father is contained a greater "yes!"  (The apostle Paul also  got "no" for an answer when he asked that his thorn in the flesh be removed.  2 Corinthians 12, v.7&8)

 We too can be honest with the Father as Jesus was, admitting to Father and Son our desires and preferences, and beyond that we too can reserve the bottom line for the will of God for us, wanting that the most, or at least wanting to want that the most, and leaving it to God and trusting God to work that in us.  I noticed that Jesus twice exhorted his disciples in the garden to pray so that they "would not enter into temptation."  For him to say it twice emphasizes that it’s extra important.  There was a lot of temptation at work in their midst.  Temptation to follow one’s own way, temptation to sell out and betray the Lord, temptation to deny him, temptation to run and leave him, or temptation to defend him the wrong way with the arm of flesh, just to name a few of those temptations.  It is no wonder he urged them to pray to be able to avoid these pitfalls, yet they slept on instead.

 Those exhortations are also for us today, to pray, to pray when we could sleep,  so as to avoid the temptations along our pathways, temptations to choose our own comfort and convenience rather than God’s plan,  or temptations to think in a certain negative or cynical, or judgmental or unbelieving way about ourselves or others.  We are being urged to pray so we can arrive at the same bottom line to which Jesus arrived.  It is urgent, an adjective that it is easy to see contains the verb “urge.”

It’s as if I can hear Jesus asking, “Can you spare some room in your hearts, for some of what I carry on my heart?”  Can we spare some room while there is still time?”