The Lord’s Prayer is arguably the most famous prayer Jesus prayed during His time here on earth. Christians all over the world recite the words of this prayer in unison, meditating on the model He provided us. However, if this is the only prayer of Jesus we focus on, we are left with questions regarding how to pray in other areas of our life- in particular, the area of suffering.
In John 16:33, Jesus says that, “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.” Being a Christian does not mean our lives will be absent of pain. For some believers, it means that their life will increase in pain and suffering simply because of their faith. So how do we as believers take our pain and suffering to the Lord? Should we ask Him to take our suffering away? What if we ask Him for relief but none comes? The prayer that Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gesthemane gives us a model in which to follow when faced with suffering.
The Garden of Gesthemane
The garden of Gesthemane is located near the foot of the Mount of Olives, and the name in Hebrew means, “oil press.” It sits very close to the route Jesus and His disciples would have taken journeying from the temple to the summit of the Mount of Olives and the ridge leading to Bethany. It is likely that Jesus often retreated to the seclusion of the garden to pray during his time in ministry.
The Call of Jesus
Jesus knew what was in store for Him, and soon before His death He told His disciples what would happen. “Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of Man [a title used for Jesus Himself] must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but three days later He would rise from the dead.” (Mark 8:31)
The disciples did not fully understand what was going to happen, but Jesus did. He knew that He would endure pain beyond comprehension, that He would soon take upon Himself the sins of every person born into this world, and that He would face the agony and hopelessness of being separated from His Father and His very being. The salvation of the human race rested on the shoulders of Jesus, and the time was drawing near for the most paramount sacrifice in creation to come to fruition.
The Night in the Garden
Many events had unfolded that day, as it was the day before Jesus would be crucified. Jesus and the disciples had just come from what many refer to as, “The Last Supper,” where Jesus modeled three-fold communion. The gravity of what lie ahead for Jesus overcame any desire for sleep or camaraderie, and He retreated to the Garden of Gesthemane to pray.
Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gesthemane, and there was a garden, which He and His disciples entered. An He said to His disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee- James and John- and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.
Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me. Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” He went a little farther [being] withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down on the ground and fell on His face, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him. And He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. If it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.
Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow.
Then He said to Peter, “What! Simon, are you sleeping? Could you not watch with Me one hour? Why do you sleep? Rise, watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, and spoke the same words, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.” And when He returned, He found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy; and they did not know what to answer Him.
So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. Then He came to His disciples the third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? It is enough! Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand.” *
Jesus’ First Prayer
My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me. (Matthew 26:42)
The first prayer of Jesus in the garden asked the Father to take the cup away from Him. The “cup” refers to the suffering and ultimate death on the cross that lie in store for Jesus in the coming hours. Jesus knew that He needed to endure death on the cross and separation from the Father in order to fulfill His mission here on earth- so why did He pray this prayer?
One could ask the same question regarding the prayers of believers today. If God has destined us to particular suffering, does it really matter if we ask Him to take it from us? If God is going to do what He wants to do, why does it matter if we pray?
We can find the answer to these questions in the very words and prayer of Jesus- “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You.” If anything is possible for our Father, He can take away our own cup, our own suffering, if it is within His will to do so. Even though Jesus knew that He was destined for the cross, He still asked His Father for relief, for a different way.
After Jesus prayed this first prayer, an angel was sent to strengthen Him. This was the Father’s way of answering Jesus’ prayer. Suffering on the cross was inevitable, but the Father heard Jesus’ prayer and provided what Jesus needed to endure what lie ahead.
Unfortunately, we live in a sin-filled world where pain and suffering are part of our daily lives. Sometimes it is within God’s will to relieve us of our suffering, and sometimes it isn’t. When relief of suffering is not within God’s will, we can rest assured that He will provide us with the strength and support we need to make it through. John 16:33 continues, “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
Jesus’ Second and Third Prayers
My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, Your will be done. (Matthew 26:42)
When Jesus went back a second and even a third time to pray, He did not continue to ask the Father to take away His suffering. The angel sent to strengthen Him was a sign to Jesus that it was not within the Father’s will to take the suffering away, but that the Father was providing Him with what He needed to endure.
The prayer Jesus prayed in these instances reflected an acceptance of the Father’s will, trusting that He knew what He was doing and Had Jesus’ best interest in mind. (Romans 8:28) Jesus most likely continued spending time in prayer because He knew the intensity of the struggle that lie ahead of Him, and He was gathering as much strength and comfort from the Father as possible before His intense suffering began.
Your Will be Done
In all three prayers, Jesus repeated the phrase, “Your will be done.” This repetition emphasizes mindset Jesus had, which is one we must have as well. Our lives are not our own, and we must be willing to accept the will of God in our lives, regardless of what He might ask of us.
When God doesn’t take away our suffering, it doesn’t mean that He loves us less, or that He doesn’t hear our prayers. It simply means that it is not within His will to take our suffering away. This is when continued prayer with God will help give us the strength and comfort to endure our suffering and bring glory and honor to His kingdom in the process.
Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory He will reveal to us later. For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who His children really are. Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as His adopted children, including the new bodies He has promised us. We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something, we don’t have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)
And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. for example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them. For God knew His people in advance, and He chose them to become like His Son, so that His Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And having chosen them, He called them to come to Him. And having called them, He gave them right standing with Himself. And having given them right standing, He gave them His glory. (Romans 8:18-30)
* Excerpt taken from One Perfect Life: The Complete Story of Jesus by John MacArthur, combining Matthew 26:36-46, Mark 14:32-42, Luke 22:40-46, and John 18:1b into one cohesive passage.
