39 Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed Him. 40 When He came to the place, He told them, “Pray that you will not enter into temptation.”

41 And He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, where He knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me. Yet not My will, but Yours be done.”

REFLECTIONS

Written by Queenie Favelle

This is a very familiar passage for most of us. But I do notice a few things that were interesting in the way that Jesus approaches prayer.

Firstly, he prays often. In the passage it says, 'he went out as usual'. This highlights the fact that Jesus is always wholly dependent on the Father in whatever he does. This passage also alerts us that something significant is going to take place.

Secondly, he urges his disciples to pray in order to 'not fall into temptation'. I have to admit, asking to not fall into temptation is really not very high on my prayer list. I think we have a tendency to forget that temptation exists, perhaps we are so used to giving in to our worldly desires or we don't see sin as something so scary that we need to take precautions to avoid it.

Lastly, Jesus honestly asks the Father: 'if you are willing, take this cup from me'. Jesus never downplays how hard his task of dying on the cross is. Here, we see Jesus’ raw, honest humanity. Though he knows what needs to be done, he still dreads it. I think often, in our prayers, we could be more honest with God and in telling him what we want to see happen. But at the same time, we need to be prepared to receive God's answer, whether it’s ‘yes’, ‘no’ or ‘not yet’. I encourage you to take some time to pray now and to take prayer as seriously as Jesus did.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Queenie is a member of our Fairfield Morning congregation.