September 17, 2010
Praying with Jesus
Get Up and Be Going Today
“Get up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!”
Matthew 26:46
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In law school, I had a professor who said his son was like an automobile with a big, strong, beautiful engine. It roared to life quickly when you turned the key, idled beautifully, responded to the gas pedal nicely, and never missed a beat. That car would just roar and roar with power and potential, but it never moved, because it lacked a transmission. All the power and ability meant nothing in the end, until the car actually moved. He meant that his son had a brilliant mind and great aptitude, but he did nothing with all his ability. In the same way, God gives us great power and ability to serve Him, but unless we actually get up and get going, we are just revving our spiritual engines, but getting nothing accomplished.
In Matthew 26:45, we see Jesus urging His sleeping disciples to get up and get going. He knew, as we have seen, that Judas Iscariot, the betrayer, was at hand and all that Jesus had prayed about was now near. Like Jesus taught us in this passage, prayer must be linked to doing. We pray so that we may do the will of God. We pray to submit our will to God’s will, so that we will be ready, after agonizing prayer, to meet the challenges God sets before us. Jesus had prayed, and He issued a new command here: Get up. In contrast to the sleeping disciples, we see a praying Savior, now knowing that He was about to be betrayed.
Jesus did not run from betrayal, and He kept His disciples close by. He did not abandon them because they disobeyed Him by sleeping in the garden. He gave them new commands, and never gave up on them. They were going to learn about the strength and courage of Jesus as they watched Him being betrayed, just as He predicted. The disciples would know that Jesus had been praying while they had been sleeping. He had prepared His will, made His choice, and found His strength in God’s power to face the day’s events.
For all of us as believers, we need to put our prayers into action. We should be sure that our prayers link up to action. Remember the professor’s son who had all the ability, but no drive to move forward. For Jesus, prayer often focuses upon future events so that you may meet them spiritually prepared to endure the difficult times. We triumph through them by following Jesus.
So, we learn some more about sharing and praying with Christ.
● We learn to pray by focusing our attention upon doing the will of God, even when our “friends” betray us.
● We learn to pray better when we link up our prayers with an honest talk with God about submitting our wills to the will of God, and focus our requests for help upon meeting the great challenges facing us, instead of vague and non-specific requests. Do not misunderstand. At times, we simply do not know what to pray, and have no specifics before us. But when we know, as Jesus knew, that a very difficult time faces us, we need to pray that our will will be submitted entirely to doing God’s will.
● We hinder our prayers when we do not prepare for strong challenges through prayer, even when our friends stop praying or abandon us.
Application for Today
Today, I want to pray to Jesus, knowing that he really understand prayers. I want God to guide my prayers, and make me more like Jesus. I want to be ready to get up and go with Jesus wherever He goes, and do all that He wants me to do today. I hear Him saying to me: “Get up, and let us be going . . . .” Do you hear Him saying those words to you today?
