Matthew 26:36-44
"Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, ‘Sit here, while I go yonder and pray.' And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, ‘My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.' And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt.' And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, ‘So, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.' Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, ‘My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, thy will be done.' And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words."

Praying doesn't always mean that God will do what we ask. I think that's a very important lesson for every Christian to learn because prayer needs to be more about what we do, about what we become than about what God will do for us.

There is a great deal of (in my opinion, wrong) teaching going around these days about how to access the power of God. There are formula prayers or formula beliefs that teach if we have enough faith, if we pray enough, if we pray rightly (etc.), God will do what we ask. The teachings are rampant throughout the Christian community: "Ask and you will receive." "Have faith and receive it."

Jesus asked . . . and didn't receive.

The Lord Jesus, Son of God, eternal member of the Trinity, prayed . . . and didn't receive. He prayed three times. And God said no.

"My Father, let this cup pass from me." Three times He prayed. Mark 14:36 says He prayed this (three time): "Abba, Father, all things are possible to thee; remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what thou wilt." Luke tells us that His agony was so great that He sweat great drops of blood (22:44).

Three times Jesus prayed. And God said no.

How blessed we are that God said no. Because if the Father had answered the Son's prayer, we would be lost in our sins. There would be no salvation, no Calvary, no resurrection of the dead . . . for us.

God's will is greater than ours. And even when we are in agony and think that we cannot suffer anymore, we need to remember Jesus, whom God denied. Jesus, Who in great wisdom, was willing to pray: "Not my will, but Yours be done."

There is so much we can learn from this. Are we willing to pray more than once (as Jesus did)? Are we willing to pray in perseverance, to the point of physical suffering?

A. W. Tozer writes:
"I have met some who claim that it is wrong to pray for the same thing twice, the reason being that if we truly believe when we pray we have the answer the first time; any second prayer betrays the unbelief of the first; ergo, let there be no second prayer.

"Let it be said without qualification that the effective intercessor is never a one-prayer man [or woman], neither does the successful petitioner win his mighty victories in his first attempt." (That Incredible Christian, p. 60-61).

Jesus won a great victory in Gethsemene, but it wasn't the victory He wanted. It was the victory God wanted. Sometimes the point of persevering prayer isn't to conduct spiritual warfare, isn't to somehow convince God of the validity of our prayers. Sometimes the point of persevering prayer is to convince us to submit to His will.

The Lord Jesus faced the greatest suffering ever to come upon any human being and yet He was willing to pray, "Not my will but yours be done."

In our moment of fear, of loss, of lack, of suffering, are we willing to learn to pray as Jesus prayed?

Copyright 2008 by Robin L. O'Hare. All Rights Reserved. Used by permission. Permission to reproduce will be