Not My Will,
But Thine Be Done
Matthew
26:39
MP3 Audio
Pastor Craig Ledbetter
19 September, 2010 PM
I.
Introduction
(Matthew 26:39)
A.
Matthew 26:39
And he went a little further, and fell on
his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup
pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
B.
What a prayer! Not many words,
but a whole lot of meaning!
C.
This is not a once off prayer,
only uttered by our Lord. It is throughout the Scriptures – Examples:
1.
2Samuel
15:25,26
And the king said unto Zadok, Carry back the ark of God into the city: if I
shall find favour in the eyes of the LORD, he will bring me again, and shew
me both it, and his habitation: But if he thus say, I have no delight
in thee; behold, here am I, let him do to me as seemeth good unto him.
2.
Judges 10:15
And the children of
3.
Job 1:20,21
Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon
the ground, and worshipped, And said, Naked came I out of my mother's
womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD
gave, and the LORD
hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.
4.
2Samuel
10:11,12
And he said, If the Syrians be too strong for me, then thou shalt help me:
but if the children of Ammon be too strong for thee, then I will come and
help thee. Be of good courage, and let us play the men for our people,
and for the cities of our God: and the LORD do that which seemeth him good.
5.
Jonah 3:6-9
For word came unto the king of
D.
Yet this kind of prayer is so
rarely said from our own hearts.
1.
Why? Because we really only want
OUR own way, never God’s way.
2.
God’s way is definitely scary –
definitely unpredictable – but definitely always right - never fails!
E.
Jesus in this passage of
Scripture in Matthew 26 shows us how to pray the Perfect Prayer!
F.
I want us all to learn how to
pray the Perfect Prayer from now on!
II.
Message – How
to Pray the Perfect Prayer
A.
Approach Unto
God
(Mt 26:36-39) – Don’t take Him for granted
1.
Draw nigh unto God and He will
draw close to us!
2.
We forget that GOD is THERE! In
your sorrow, and struggle He is near!
3.
He loves to hear us pray
(Proverbs 15:8)! He loves us to come to Him and fall upon HIM!
a.
Talk to God! Don’t just expect
Him to be YOUR SERVANT that you can command
b.
Use simple words, fumbling words,
as long as they are serious words!
c.
Talk to Him from the heart
1)
Out of great anguish and sorrow,
come great prayers – not from books, or from preaching, or classes, but from
the school of the valley; from the college of brokenness and sorrow!
2)
Jesus had just finished His last
supper with His disciples
3)
And now He was in the darkness of
the
4)
And in His sorrow, in His grief,
and under great stress, He drew nigh unto His Father
5)
He called God, “Abba”! His Daddy!
d.
But don’t wait for the trials to
drive you to prayer – He is there on the mountain-top as well
4.
He has the strength to carry us…
5.
And yet we usually walk alone!
6.
So, the perfect prayer begins
when you talk to God!
a.
That’s what it means to pray!
b.
You are not speaking into the
air! There IS Someone listening! Go to Him in prayer, as often as possible!
7.
You won’t ever pray the perfect
prayer unless you start to pray!
B.
Ask for What
You Want
(Mt 26:39)
1.
Jesus here in the Garden is
facing THREE battles:
a.
Satan was attacking Him
demonically here in the Garden (Mark 14:32-35)
b.
In just a few hours, religious
zealots would strike and torture Him for hours on end
c.
And then finally, on the cross,
for 3 long hours, GOD ALMIGHTY would pour out His perfect wrath upon the
body of Jesus Christ
2.
As a Man, Jesus asks what any of
us would ask… Do I “HAVE” to go through all this?
a.
He already is resolved to take
the cup
b.
But each resolve, decision we
make is going to be tested
3.
The perfect prayer is when you
ask for what you need
a.
That’s cool isn’t it?
b.
The perfect prayer is not totally
self-less
c.
It is you asking God for what you
need
1)
So, Present your requests (Philp
4:6) – no matter what they are.
2)
Pray about everything! Pray the
impossible prayers! Pray small prayers.
3)
Ask for God to intervene on your
behalf
d.
There aren’t many prayers that
you shouldn’t pray
e.
As a matter of fact, you should
know that God doesn’t mind you asking for anything (James 4:2)
f.
Jesus did that! He asked for what
He thought He needed
g.
And it was all part of The
Perfect Prayer
4.
So, you won’t ever pray the
perfect prayer unless you go ahead and go to God in prayer, and ask Him for
what you think you need. It’s okay. He won’t laugh! He actually delights in
our simple asking!
C.
Allow God to
be GOD
(Mt 26:39) – This is the Hard Part!
1.
God is not a Genie, sitting in
heaven like a Santa, waiting to just give us whatever we may want at some
whim
2.
Modern Christianity has one of
two extreme views of how God views prayer:
a.
To some people, God’s only job is
to keep us happy by giving us everything we ask for
b.
To others, God is too busy or
uninterested to be concerned with answering our prayers
c.
Both are views wrong!
3.
When we pray, God has to be
allowed to be God! To say Yes, or to say NO
a.
WHY was Jesus in the
b.
When Jesus asked that the cup of
torture be taken away from Him, He allowed God to tell Him to drink the cup
anyway!
c.
God MUST be allowed to say No to
our requests
d.
What are you willing to allow
God’s will to be for YOUR life?
1)
Would you be willing for God to
want for you to be rich?
2)
Would you be willing for God to
want for you to be happily married?
3)
Would you be willing for God to
want for you to suffer?
4)
Would you be willing for God to
want for you to be humiliated?
5)
Would you be willing for God to
want for you to be misunderstood, hated, spit upon, rejected?
e.
Yes, we should Ask, Seek, and
Knock as Matthew 7:7 says to
f.
Yes, we can come boldly unto the
throne of God’s grace and ask for anything we need
g.
Yes, we should believe God for
the impossible
4.
So…
a.
Don’t Demand – Depend, and trust
in Him, and lean on Him
b.
Don’t Command – Commit all your
cares into His hands
c.
Don’t Belittle (say in effect,
You won’t help me anyway) – Believe that God knows what He is doing!
d.
Don’t Rattle off just words –
Reach the heart of God with your heart’s deepest need
e.
Don’t try and Show-Off – try only
to show-up at the throne of God, in humble dependence
f.
Don’t Fight God – Fight fear,
sin, temptation, and the flesh
5.
Let God be in charge of your
life; of your valley; of your trial; of your heart
6.
The perfect prayer …
a.
Begins when you talk to God! When
you look toward heaven, maybe with tears, maybe in defeat. Present your
requests (Philp 4:6) – no matter what they are.
b.
It then Asks for what you need,
whatever it may be
1)
Pray about everything! Pray the
impossible prayers!
2)
Ask for God to intervene on your
behalf
c.
It then yields, and steps down,
off the throne of your life, and allows God to be in charge, and to command
you to do as HE sees fit. Yield to God’s decision – remind yourself, NOT my
will, but God’s be done!
7.
There two more ingredients to the
Perfect Prayer
D.
Trust God When
You Pray
(Mt 26:39)
1.
What is Jesus teaching us when
He, of all people, yields to God’s will?
a.
That we can trust God! That we
can leave the details to Him
b.
That we should Believe God – Have
faith in GOD, not in your praying, or in your persuasiveness, but in GOD
1)
God must be trusted to know and
do better than you would do
2)
God must be trusted to be busy,
working where you cannot see Him
c.
That we can obey God, no matter
what He asks us to do
2.
Will YOU trust God?
a.
Enough to do as HE thinks best?
b.
That when God asks you to do what
you do not want to do, or feel you cannot do, that God will actually,
supernaturally, come along beside you and enable you?!
3.
So, The perfect prayer …
a.
Begins when you talk to God! When
you look toward heaven, maybe with tears, maybe in defeat
b.
It then Asks for what you need,
whatever it may be
c.
It then yields, and steps down,
off the throne of your life, and allows God to be in charge, and to command
you to do as HE sees fit
d.
It then believes God – trusts His
will enough to obey
4.
There is one more ingredient to
the Perfect Prayer
E.
Rest Upon God,
Not in Your Prayers
(Mt 26:40-44)
1.
Notice how long Jesus prays
a.
For an hour!
1)
Jesus finds no comfort with His
disciples, or with His mother
2)
His comfort is coming from time
with His Heavenly Father – it always had!
b.
Jesus prays again, for another
HOUR, and then a third time, for another HOUR!
c.
That’s THREE hours of praying!
2.
Why did He pray so long?
a.
If it had been us, it would be
because we were arguing with God, and trying to find a way around His will
for us
b.
But with Jesus, it was because He
was resting in the time spent with GOD!
c.
Yes He also was wrestling against
Satan - His great sweat drops of blood were not spilt because He was
wrestling with God’s will, but rather against the attacks of Satan
3.
You WILL find rest when you spend
time with God! It is what makes believing prayer so precious! The result of
prayer is a heart at rest
4.
Listen to Philp 4:6,7 “Be
careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace
of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus.”
F.
That’s when you will know that
you have prayed the Perfect Prayer!
III.
Conclusion
A.
Matthew 26:39 “And
he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my
Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I
will, but as thou wilt.”
B.
What a prayer! Not many words,
but a whole lot of meaning!
C.
Jesus shows us how to pray the
Perfect Prayer!
1.
Approach Unto
God
(Mt 26:36-39) Talk to Him from the heart
2.
Ask for What
You Want
(Mt 26:39)
3.
Allow God to
be GOD
(Mt 26:39)
4.
Trust God When
You Pray
(Mt 26:39)
5.
Rest Upon GOD,
not your Prayers
(Mt 26:40-44)
D.
That’s how you can pray the
Perfect Prayer!
E.
Every prayer from now on ladies
and gentlemen, from our lips can be Perfect Prayers!
F.
Don’t settle for anything less!