We are seeing that our desire for self-determination has got be curbed, checked, controlled, if possible eradicated or else it will lead us into ruining ways that are not the Way. ‘One of the characteristics of a radiant Christian’, says J. Oswald Smith, ‘is willingness to put his personal life and affairs into the hands of our Lord Jesus Christ–without qualification and without reservation.’ This is a real challenge, a war of decision inside oneself but it is what I believe Lord Jesus is referring to in part when He talks about taking up the cross daily. It means being prepared day by day to put self-interest to death and to say: ‘No longer my will Lord, but Yours be done in my life O God my Lord.’ It is a difficult kind of life to live because you have got to fight with a lot of counter decisions inside of your heart or mind and unless you are an embodiment of the Lord’s Word and a strong decisive Christ believing person with a strong fear of the Lord in your heart otherwise self and an inclination to what the people will say, will miss lead you to enter in the wrong way, the carnal way! When the urge towards self-assertion, self-aggrandizement and self-pleasing or satisfaction gives way to the desire to please and satisfy God, much of the stress and strain goes out of life. Dr William Sadler, a Psychiatrist tells of a lady he once treated who said to him, ‘You know, I am a very sensitive person.’ ‘Yes’, said Dr Sadler, ‘I know you are a very selfish person.’ ‘But I didn’t say “selfish”’, protested the woman. ‘I did’, replied the doctor. She went away angry, but ten days later she came back, and confessed it was true she is selfish. Because she after pondering deeply on the Dr’s alleging selfishness on her she realized that it was her self-centredness that was the basis of her poor mental health. We need to be very careful with ourselves and how we evaluates ourselves so that self will not always miss lead us and one way to be such careful is to be guided by the word of God in all that we do in life! Many of us go to Church on Sundays, hear the word of God but we don’t make it a part of us and we don’t live it in our daily life, too bad; which is why we fall into diverse temptations and troubles! When we pray the prayer…lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil…, one way that our Lord Jesus does this for us is through and by His Word, so if you don’t know His word then how can you follow? The man who was the healthiest Person who ever lived on our planet earth, a Man who radiated health –only to touch Him was to be made whole –followed the way of His Father right to the very end. When confronted by the Cross, His own cross in life He was greatly tempted to follow His own desires, His own selfish desire different from what His Father desired and take the way that seemed best, easy and safe to Him, but He came through the struggle inside of Him to say: having quickly realized Himself, ‘Father …not as I will, but as You Will.’ God’s way is not just a way, or even the best way –it is the Way; the Only Way!

Now let us read Matthew 26:36-46: 36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and He told His disciples, Sit down here while I go over yonder and pray. 37 And taking with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, He began to show grief and distress of mind and was deeply depressed. 38 Then He said to them, My soul is very sad and deeply grieved, so that I am almost dying of sorrow. Stay here and keep awake and keep watch with Me. 39 And going a little farther, He threw Himself upon the ground on His face and prayed saying, My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will [not what I desire], but as You will and desire. 40 And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and He said to Peter, What! Are you so utterly unable to stay awake and keep watch with Me for one hour? 41 All of you must keep awake (give strict attention, be cautious and active) and watch and pray, that you may not come into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. 42 Again a second time He went away and prayed, My Father, if this cannot pass by unless I drink it, Your will be done. 43 And again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were weighed down with sleep. 44 So, leaving them again, He went away and prayed for the third time, using the same words. 45 Then He returned to the disciples and said to them, Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of especially wicked sinners [whose way or nature it is to act in opposition to God]. 46 Get up, let us be going! See, My betrayer is at hand!

The disciples are about to go through an intense trial, and they will fail because in spite of the fact that our Lord Jesus was trying to prepare them ahead of the challenge, they did not take the training and this is the same with us; the Bible is the Lord God’s Word meant to train and guide us in like manner but yet we are not taking the training which is why every now and then we see ourselves fall into temptations and troubles which we ought to have avoided. Before that happened, Lord Jesus tried to prepare them for it. They don’t know what is about to happen or what they need to do to prepare for it just like us, so He shows a few of them. Wouldn’t that be great? Can you imagine if Lord Jesus came down and showed us what to do so that we could be ready for the trial we are about to go through? The text we read today is for our training. Lord Jesus trains the disciples, and He will train us if we let Him but we must know His Word so that by it He will be guiding us in life. Everything has been done to prepare for Lord Jesus’ betrayal except one thing. Before Lord Jesus is betrayed, He wants to go to God in prayer. This will be the last time Lord Jesus would withdraw to pray before being arrested. In this text, we see a different side of Lord Jesus than we have ever seen before from our reading of Matthew 26:36-46. Lord Jesus in Sorrow: In this text, we read about our Lord Jesus facing sorrow and grieving. He struggled with the pain and agony of betrayal, arrest, humiliation, and suffering on a cross in His mind. How did He choose to fight against His sorrow? He had time to escape. He could have prepared to fight. But He chose instead to pray. Did you get it? As all of these is going on too many things with regard to the challenges facing Him is going on in His mind as suggestive ways to deal with the situation facing Him, but according to the Will of God for Him while on earth, there is only one Way and Will to handle the situation, going to the Cross and not to escape or to fight! So having chosen that only Way and Will of God for Him, He decided to pray so that His heart and mind will be strong to face and take it! This is the example we ought to be following whenever we are faced by difficult decisions to make in life. We have got to know those ideas that God does not want, just as God does not want Lord Jesus to escape or to fight in this situation that is how in our own situations, there are certain things He does not want us to do the way those things are occurring to us! He want us to do it the way He want, but our greatest problem is that we lack the ability to hear direct from Him and we don’t even know the Bible, so how can we be guided? Once Lord Jesus and all of the disciples made it to Gethsemane, He told His disciples to stay in one location while He, Peter, James, and John went a bit farther. Then, Lord Jesus showed His three closest disciples what was on His heart. In this text, it appears that Lord Jesus lets go of the restraints on His sorrow. He was distressed, anxious, and in agony over what would happen to Him and His disciples. I’m tempted to think that the author got it wrong when I read this. Lord Jesus wasn’t the upset type. He knew everything that would happen before it happened, and He was always ready for anything. But knowing what was about to happen was the worst part in this case. Knowing that He would be mocked and humiliated, knowing that those He loves will fall away “because of Him,” and knowing that it would all end with torture on a cross is having its effect on Lord Jesus’ body and soul. Some things are outside of the control of a human being. Sometimes the body has a mind of its own, and it is debilitating. Lord Jesus shows all of this to His disciples to know that He is human after all and He has struggles that are beyond Him just like everyone of us. This is why He is our perfect example to follow because He exemplified every aspect of human life on earth and anyone who imbibe it by reading the story very well and practice it will not fail in life! Hebrews 5:7—10, says “7 In the days of His flesh [Jesus] offered up definite, special petitions [for that which He not only wanted [b]but needed] and supplications with strong crying and tears to Him Who was [always] able to save Him [out] from death, and He was heard because of His reverence toward God [His godly fear, His piety, [c] in that He shrank from the horrors of separation from the bright presence of the Father]. 8 Although He was a Son, He learned [active, special] obedience through what He suffered 9 And, [His completed experience] making Him perfectly [equipped], He became the Author and Source of eternal salvation to all those who give heed and obey Him, 10 Being [d]designated and recognized and saluted by God as High Priest after the order (with [e]the rank) of Melchizedek.” From this passage above you can see that too many things are involved in following God: you have to be very careful of what you are thinking, deciding and intending to do, so that you will not wrongly follow the wrong way and will and desire and thus shrank from the horrors of separation from the bright presence of the Father] and again you notice that no matter how close you are with and to God, you will learned [active, special] obedience through what He (you) suffered; this is why some time it is very important for us to treasure all what we pass through in life because many of what God permits us to pass through in life, are meant to teach us life lessons that will be of immense benefit to us in future but instead of us to learn we keep complaining of our present situation not knowing that it is meant to prepare us for future. This text displays what Lord Jesus was doing with His disciples at Gethsemane, He was teaching them life lessons. He offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to God. Lord Jesus, who healed thousands and won every argument against religious leaders, cried loudly over what He was about to go through. Is this not what we normally do and say, I remember when my late wife passed on, people are saying how, this woman who can prophecy, heal, divinely direct and even have an insight into what is about to happen, as a matter of fact she knew her time is up on earth and made certain preparation, so people will say oh she can die, why did she not know that she is about to die and ask God to prevent the death? So no matter how close we are to God, when it is time for you to die, death will surely come because all of us are humans on earth! What a tremendous example this is for us. How often do we face a trial that debilitates us? So often, we are sorrowful and troubled about things that might never happen, but Lord Jesus knows what is about to happen to Him. Can you imagine? If we knew what would happen, we might put on a show in front of our friends and family to keep them from getting worried, but Lord Jesus shows us that we don’t have to put on a show in front of God. We can let God see our deepest concerns and struggles. Lord Jesus exemplifies that for us. He wanted His disciples to know that He understood what that was like. When we compare this to the disciples, we see that they aren’t sorrowful. They are asleep. They aren’t concerned about the huge trial and test they will face. Can we relate to that? Did you ever stop to think about why they aren’t concerned? They don’t believe in the spiritual warfare that is taking place. Lord Jesus told them it’s about to happen, but they can’t see it, so they don’t believe it. Often, I think Satan wants us to be like these disciples. Satan wants us to live carefree because he knows that makes us easy targets. Lord Jesus shows us that we need a deep concern over the spiritual trials and tests that we are about to face. Then, He takes those concerns to God and asks for strength. Do we do exactly this; do we faithfully take our case to the Lord in prayers? If we do, do we ask aright or we ask amiss?

There is another attribute of Lord Jesus I want us to notice. Think about His reverence. Matthew 26:38--39 --- 38 Then He said to them, My soul is very sad and deeply grieved, so that I am almost dying of sorrow. Stay here and keep awake and keep watch with Me. 39 And going a little farther, He threw Himself upon the ground on His face and prayed saying, My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will [not what I desire], but as You will and desire. First, Lord Jesus tells His disciples that His soul is sorrowful, even to death. But, as He prays to God, He remains reverent. He does not become demanding or harsh toward God. He is not losing His grip on the faithfulness demonstrated through His ministry. He says, “If it be possible.” In Mark’s account, He says, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me.” We see in Lord Jesus the glory He gives to God. He calls Him “My Father” in Matthew’s account and “Abba” in Mark’s account, the word meaning Daddy. The first part of what Lord Jesus says is so respectful and full of praise. God is given the honor by Lord Jesus, saying that He is a good Father who knows what is best and can do anything. He speaks this way toward God, who will allow Him and His friends to suffer. So often, the world around us uses their suffering as justification for blaspheming God’s name or talking about Him like He is evil. They claim that God doesn’t care about them because they suffer. Notice that Lord Jesus shows us how wrong that is. God is not letting Lord Jesus suffer because He doesn’t care. He is letting Him suffer because He cares so much. How do you think a father would feel when his child suffers? It’s not something that the Father wants to witness. In some ways, it hurts the father more than the child. But a good Father lets the child suffer when it is for their good. Just think of your university education, in reality it entails a lot of suffering but it is for the good of the child so a good father lets his child suffer it. In this case, Lord Jesus is going to learn obedience and be made perfect or complete as He pass through all of this. Through this suffering, Lord Jesus shows His belief that God is still good all the time. People who stop revering God don’t believe God is good. They think that God wants to hurt them instead of serving them. We do the same thing. We don’t believe that suffering leads us to glory, so we don’t revere God. We should also have this attitude of reverence toward God. We should hope in His goodness. We should hope in His power and strength. We should believe that He is our loving heavenly Father no matter what we face. Notice that God heard Lord Jesus because of His reverence. Also, notice that God plans to make Lord Jesus perfect and the source of salvation for all of us. Aren’t you glad God wanted Lord Jesus to suffer? It resulted in our benefit! It is that suffering that brought salvation to mankind! Lord Jesus In Submission: In thinking about Lord Jesus’ prayer to God, it’s hard not to notice His submission. Lord Jesus knew that His suffering had a purpose. He wanted God’s will to be accomplished, but He asked God to find another way. He recognizes that God is over Him, and He tells God not to do what He wants but whatever God wants. These words are at the heart of what it means to be a follower of Christ. Being a Christian means that you love God so much that you would rather Him let you die than compromise His plans to glorify Himself through you. Wow! This is such an excellent example for us. Lord Jesus doesn’t want to die, but He is willing to die for God’s glory. What About Us? How does this affect our prayer lives and our view of suffering? When we see Lord Jesus being so submissive, we need to ask ourselves, “Why don’t we have a submissive heart like Lord Jesus?” First, notice that the disciples didn’t want to believe in God’s will. They wanted to believe that God wouldn’t let Lord Jesus die because that’s what they had imagined in their head. They worship a God who follows their rules and doesn’t let anyone suffer. That’s not the God of the Bible. Have you ever imagined a perfect picture in your head of the way things should go? What if God’s word contradicts that ideal? It’s easy for us to dismiss God’s word and hold on to our ideal. That’s what the disciples did. But that’s not what Lord Jesus did. He changed His ideal to include what He knew God wanted. Lord Jesus doesn’t assume that God’s will is different, nor does He demand God change His will to match His ideal (What many people do today). Lord Jesus asks God to make His will happen differently, but He ultimately submits to whatever God wants.

Lord Jesus shows us how to pray in trials. We need to believe trials and tests will come. We need to believe God still cares for us and works for our good when we suffer. We need to submit to whatever God’s will is for our lives. Lord Jesus recognizes this, He asks God to take away the suffering, recognizing that nothing is impossible for God, but He knows that God knows best. Sometimes we need God to say “No” to our prayers. God doesn’t want to say no. He wants to give us what we want as a loving Father would. Matthew 7:7--11 “7 [a]Keep on asking and it will be given you; [b] keep on seeking and you will find; [c]keep on knocking [reverently] and [the door] will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who keeps on asking receives; and he who keeps on seeking finds; and to him who keeps on knocking, [the door] will be opened. 9 Or what man is there of you, if his son asks him for a loaf of bread, will hand him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will hand him a serpent? 11 If you then, evil as you are, know how to give good and [d]advantageous gifts to your children, how much more will your Father Who is in heaven [perfect as He is] give good and [e]advantageous things to those who [f]keep on asking Him!” God wants to say “Yes” to our prayers, and we should expect Him to if we ask for things that we think are good. God wants us to use our imaginations and believe that God can do exceedingly, abundantly, above all we ask or think. But we also need to understand that He knows more than we do about it. He knows how to work things out in a better way than anything we could even imagine. So being okay with God saying, “No,” does not mean that we shouldn’t pray. It means we should pray more often. There is a spiritual battle that we are too weak to fight independently. We should pray all the time with our best understanding of what is good. However, we should have a reverence and respect for our Father’s wisdom like Lord Jesus, and we should determine in ourselves to be obedient no matter what the answer is. In the second prayer, Lord Jesus no longer says, “If it’s possible.” He says, “If this cannot pass unless I drink it, Your will be done.” We get the sense that He has accepted it. He is growing stronger in His prayer and more resolute to follow through with God’s mission for Him. Conclusion: In this event, the disciples are spiritually asleep and unprepared for what will happen to them. When the trial comes upon them, they haven’t prayed as they should. They lack the strength to stand for what’s right and glorify God because they haven’t understood how difficult this trial will be. That’s the disciples’ problem, and that is our problem. But this is not the end of their story, nor is it the end of ours. There is spiritual growth in their lives, and there can be spiritual growth for us. Incredibly, we will read about these same men being beaten and rejoicing over it. How were they able to do that? Acts tells us that they were devoting themselves to fasting, prayer, and the study of the word. We need to go to God in prayer for strength with reverence and submission. We would rejoice over the opportunity to serve Christ in that way. We need the spiritual awareness to know when our trials are coming and to pray before they get here so that we can stand firm for Christ. Lord Jesus endured tremendous suffering for us. What will we give to Him? Do we see our weakness, and are we praying for strength to be faithful to God’s will in the trials?