Matthew Pt. 99 - Jesus In the Garden

You can turn in your Bible to Matthew chapter 26.

Matthew 26 · chapter mention

We're in our last three chapters of Matthew.

Today is Matthew Part 99 for anyone who's keeping track and

taking notes. Almost to 100, everything is

slowed down. We're really chopping up what

happened in the course of a few hours at this point, and we're

taking our time because I can't lay it out as well as Matthew

did. I don't preach as good as Jesus

did. So we're pointing out what we

can as we go. Our passage this morning is

chapter 26, verse 36 to 46. I'll read it to you then.

Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane.

And he said to his disciples, Sit here while I go over there

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 you will.

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, your 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 again.

Then he came to the disciples and said to them, sleep and take

your rest. Later on.

See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into

the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going.

See, my betrayer is at hand. Heavenly Father, thank you so

much for Jesus who is victorious, Jesus who is strong,

Jesus who depended upon you for his strength, Jesus who

conquered sin, Jesus who defeated temptation, Jesus who

did it without any strength or assistance from man, but he did

it entirely with the assistance of you.

Lord, without him, without His victory, we couldn't make it.

Without his victory, we wouldn't have deliverance or salvation.

This morning, Lord, I pray you would just open the eyes of our

hearts again to see His glory, to see His beauty, to see His

goodness, to see His power, that we would marvel, that we would

worship, that we would love, and that we would obey.

Make us more like you, Lord, Now that your spirit has come to

fill us and to equip us, we're not just reading lessons from

history. We are reading lessons from

history, but we're reading your living and active word that

brings US power to obey. And Holy Spirit, now you equip

your Saints. You fill your Saints for the

work of ministry. Not only that we would overcome,

but that we would help others and that we would lead many to

become the sons of of light in Christ.

In Jesus name we thank you. Amen.

What a moment, what a night as we've taken our time with the

Last Supper, the Passover meal that they took together.

Jesus, of course, does the entire reframe and says you

always thought this was about Egypt and they said, yeah, it's

about Egypt. And Moses, he says it's always

been about me. This is the cup of the new

covenant in my blood. I am the Passover lamb and I'm

being killed on the Passover so that the death Angel will

Passover all humanity, whoever would put the blood of Jesus on

the doorposts of their hearts. He says 1 of you is going to

betray me. And they go is it me, is it me,

is it me? Satan enters Judas, Judas leaves

to go betray the Lord. Jesus says you're all going to

fall away on account of me tonight.

So he says one will betray all will desert.

They sing together, and now they go to the Garden of Gethsemane

where they often prayed. This is an olive Grove on the

mountain. And oftentimes history tells us

that this is also where they would crush the olives.

So very appropriately symbolic that this is where the Lord

Jesus is being crushed, where the oil is going to flow, and

where he's going to continue, where he begins the process of

giving his life. No one takes it from him, but of

course Jesus gives his life. Verse 36 Then Jesus went with

him to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his

disciples, sit here while I go over there and pray.

This is a place he came to often.

Gethsemane was most likely a walled garden.

So it was a place where they felt they had privacy.

It was a place where they, probably, the disciples

especially, probably felt they had some additional security.

So they still don't get it. He's told them what's going to

happen. He's told them what's going to

happen. He's told them what's going to

happen. And here we are on the night of

and they're falling asleep. They still don't get it.

They still really don't apparently believe that hundreds

of soldiers are getting ready to March into this garden with

torches and arrest the Lord on this night.

If they had, of course they would have stayed awake.

But his word was the thing that they should have believed.

Verse 37. And taking with him Peter and

the two sons of Zebedee, that's James and John, 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.

What's happening here is the weight is crushing the Lord as

was always intended. He is feeling the pressure.

Jesus is experiencing anguish. This is the beginning of his

passion. This is the beginning of his

suffering. He has been a man on a mission

for 3 1/2 years. Really for 33 years he's been a

man on a mission, focused. Nothing would turn him away from

this. Peter tried to say, No, Lord,

you'll never be crucified. He told Peter, get behind me,

Satan. You're thinking about the things

of man and not the things of God.

Don't tempt me with that. I'm going to obey my father.

I'm going to fulfill the plan that we came up with before the

foundation of the world. I was always supposed to be the

lamb who was slain. But now he's experiencing that

pressure and that grief, that anguish, the weight of wrath,

the cup that he references when he prays, Father, could this cup

pass from me? That's an Old Testament

reference to the wrath of God, the cup of God's wrath.

And the Scripture also references it being drank down

to the dregs. And that's what the Lord will

make his enemies do. He'll make him drink it down,

down to the bitter particles that are left behind in the cup

of wine. And Jesus, instead of the whole

world in this moment, is coming to drink the cup, and he's going

to drink it all the way down to the very last drop.

And then the bitter dregs, the sediment and everything that was

resting in the bottom. This is what he's consuming for

us, not because He deserves it, but because we deserve it.

And He has come to be our substitute and our salvation.

He's experiencing the dread of the torture that's coming, the

dread of the separation of his Father and the pressure that the

Father is putting on him even now.

He has always known this hour would arrive, and now it's come

and it's pressing down on his human soul.

Jesus was 100% God. He was 100% man and his 100% man

human soul is experiencing torment and pressure and grief

and overwhelm and anguish. Can you think of a time when

you've experienced a deep anguish?

Can you bring that memory up? It's an, it's an unpleasant

memory, whatever it was, a deep, deep, deep anguish of your soul.

We all probably have a moment where we can think of an anguish

that we would have experienced, a pressure that was like, I

could die. I could die from this, from this

pressure, from this anguish. If you've experienced any heavy

grief, hopefully we all can't relate.

But if you can, then it's a small glimpse of, of course,

what Jesus is feeling and the fullest weight possible.

He's not just dealing with natural anguish, He's dealing

with supernatural anguish that God Almighty, the Father is

pressing upon him. He chose this.

He wanted this because He loves us.

He says my soul is very sorrowful, even to death.

That's overwhelm. That word sorrow there is

overwhelm. It's great distress.

It is extreme grief. He feels like he could die under

the pressure before the nails ever even enter his body.

This is the perfect man, remember?

The obedient man, the sinless man, and this is the torment

that he feels. 2nd Corinthians 5 tells us for our sake, He made

him to be sin. Who knew no sin, so that in him

we might become the righteousness of God.

So Jesus somehow is becoming sin.

According to Second Corinthians 5, the Father is making Jesus to

be sin through some supernatural means, through some supernatural

horror. God is putting at your worst on

his best, his Son, and He is also punishing his Son for your

worst. That's the anguish that Jesus is

just beginning to experience. What does he do here?

As he enters the garden, he tells the 8 who are still

remaining remember where to put it.

We don't have 12 anymore. We have 11.

Judas is gone. He's doing.

He's meeting with people. He said, hey, come on, I'll tell

you where to find him. So he tells the eight, you stay

here. And then to the three.

You boys come with me deeper into the garden.

The 8 maybe were likely posted at the gate.

That's where they sat down. They probably fell asleep pretty

early on. And then he tells the the other

three, Peter, James and John, hey, please come with me deeper

into the garden. Jesus genuinely wants their

fellowship. Jesus genuinely wants their

prayers. I think he wants some comfort in

his anguish. So he asks them to stay and

watch and pray with him. He also wants them to pray for

themselves. But I think the humanness of

Jesus wanted some comfort and some fellowship.

He knows he's got to drink this cup and nobody else can drink

it. And also he goes in he goes,

Peter, James, John, would you please come pray as pressure is

crushing the human soul of Jesus.

Would you please come in deeper into the garden?

Please, boys, guys, please pray. And he goes farther and it's

they said he fell on his face. That's the posture of someone

who crumples. That's the posture of somebody

who says, what good is my face at this point anyway with what's

coming to me in in the next day? What, what good is anything like

with the pressure that I feel? Have you ever felt that kind of

anguish before? That there's nothing else that

could have externally happened because of what you were feeling

internally was so was so massive.

I've felt an anguish before, whereas if someone had walked

into the room and pointed a gun at me, I would not have been

distracted by that because of the internal anguish that I

experienced. Jesus falls on his face because

he is overwhelmed with anguish. He wants the fellowship of his

friends and his disciples. He genuinely wants their prayers

and he wants some comfort. But there's something else I

think that's going on here that we need to notice.

Just in Jesus's relationships with his disciples.

We can learn and we can pick up from this that Jesus doesn't

treat everybody the same way. Jesus doesn't give everybody the

same access all the time. This is a simple relational

point for you and I to take note of and to realize that

relationships have different degrees of trust.

Relationships have different degrees of access, and this is

something that you and I have to grow in wisdom in to understand

that you're not required to treat everything and all people

with equal access. There's people that you trust,

there's people who have earned that trust, and there's people

who for certain reasons and certain seasons you can give

more access to. But Jesus didn't treat all the

12 the same. Not everybody gets equal to what

trust in your relationships either.

Certain people can handle certain things and certain

seasons for certain reasons, and even the Son of God had degrees

of relational access within the 12.

We see that repeatedly where He calls apart the three and they

have a higher access and they have more intimacy with Jesus.

This is important in a generation that is tempted to

put our moods and our emotions on the Internet anytime we feel

them for the world to see. Jesus models discretion.

He shares sorrow when it is appropriate with who can handle

it and where it is trusted Wisdom is knowing who can handle

your grief or any other emotion for that matter.

Proverbs 2911 says a fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a

wise man quietly holds it back. I have foolishly before said,

well, I'm I'm going to be honest.

I'm going to make sure that I'm always always honest, honest,

honest. And I thought that meant that I

had to tell the whole truth all the time to everyone.

And it was actually extremely foolish that now you can, you

can go on the other side of that ditch and you can say I'm

extremely secretive and no one knows anything and I'm

completely isolated and I call it wisdom.

That's also completely foolish, but we need the wisdom of God to

navigate to know what should I say?

So my temptation is to be an oversharer.

Any other anybody else tempted towards to be in the oversharer

in the room and then others will say I'm I'm tempted to kind of

lock it all more down. What do we need?

We all need wisdom. We all need maturity.

We all need to grow to look more like Jesus, who is always the

right thing at the right time. We depend upon him.

We need him to be the right thing at the right time.

Because I don't have the wisdom in myself to do that.

I'm tempted to be the fool. I I feel this.

So I'm going to give full vent to it.

Full vent. But a wise man quietly holds it

back. A wise man has gears that he can

shift to and he doesn't always bring Full disclosure to all all

things, all people or all situations.

So Jesus steps in deeper with the three, and then even then he

leaves the three. Verse 39 And going a little

farther, he fell on his face and prayed.

Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.

Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.

There are some things that don't even go to the three.

There are some things that are just between you and the Father.

There's some things that nobody can help you with.

I love you, I'm your pastor and there's things that I can help

you with, but the most important thing I would tell you if you

ever wanted to meet together is I would say I really can't help

you, but I can give you some tactics.

I got a lot of them and that they might be helpful, but you

need power and you actually need God to move in your situation.

That's what you need above it. Anything and everything else.

We're going to continue to talk about the build your life

boosts. We're going to continue to talk

about this is a blessing and that would be a blessing.

Hey, this is bringing order to chaos, and A is certainly better

than B in this circumstance. And consider this and consider

that those are good. Those are helpful, and I've got

spiritual tactics that I can encourage you in as well.

But the thing that we need is we actually just need the Lord.

We actually just need power. We don't just need people.

Jesus didn't need Peter, James, and John.

He needed strength from heaven. He needed power to come from on

high. And there are some things that

you're just going to have to go to the Father for and that

nobody can do it for you. Well, guys, would you please

pray for me? Well, maybe they will, maybe

they won't. Maybe they'll sleep.

But the Father was available, and the Father met Jesus in the

garden. Luke.

Luke tells us that the Father sent angels to comfort him and

to strengthen him. It wasn't a cheat code.

It wasn't because, well, we're going to make sure that Jesus

has everything he needs to succeed because if he messes

this thing up, this isn't like the CEO father looking out for

his, like his son who's completely incompetent and he's

like, oh, we're just going to hide his incompetence and

pretend he's not incompetent. That's not what's taking place.

That's not what's happening. What's happening is Jesus

actually ascends to the throne as anyone can pray and ascend to

the throne and receive power and help in a time of need.

Jesus didn't do anything with a cheat code.

He did everything as a man anointed by the Spirit of God,

and that's how he was able to gain the victory.

That's why there's such encouragement for us, because we

can follow in his example, because He gives us His power.

Some anguish is too sacred for any other ear to hear.

Only one can give you real power.

Jesus knows how to go deeper alone, and you need to know how

to go deeper alone as well. Alan told us pray, Hey, there's

good advice for Christians. You should pray and your prayer

should look like actually penetrating through in prayer,

actually being real in your heart and real with your

thoughts. He already knows your thoughts.

Stop trying to out thinking with your prayers and tell him what

you think he wants to hear. I'm not talking about the fist

raising. I'm mad at you ignorant kind of

prayer that some could talk about.

I'm still talking about prayer that's based upon truth, but I'm

talking about prayer that also allows for the upheaval of your

emotions, like David all throughout the Psalms.

You look at David throughout the Psalms, you see the real thing

coming out. He doesn't stay there.

He starts with his anguish, and He ends with the gospel.

But you are my Redeemer. But I will trust you, but you

will deliver me. So he starts there, and then He

receives the strength even as you read through the Psalms.

So you can pray the Psalms in your anguish.

Alan said we could pray the Lord's Prayer, which is good.

You can pray the psalms, You can pray whatever is coming up and

out as long as you don't stop there just with anguish, because

the Lord will deliver through in the prayer time.

The Lord will deliver the peace through the prayer time.

Even if all the the natural things haven't changed that we

can see the Lord will still bring power.

Jesus praying that the cup could pass from him.

The cup does not pass from him. He drinks every drop, but he got

what he needed. He was able to drink the cup.

He got the strength that he needed to actually drink the

cup. That'd be a tough thing to do.

Someone hands you a cup of poison and you know it's going

to take your life and you force yourself to drink it.

People can give you sympathy, but they cannot give you power.

And sometimes we're, we want sympathy more than we want

power. Come on, I just want sympathy.

I just want you to. I just want your pity.

That's all I really wanted. I called you not for prayer.

That's kind of my Christian reason that I used.

But I really just wanted pity. And I want you to go.

Oh, my goodness. Now I'm so sorry.

Oh, man. Oh, that's not fair.

They did your own. That's not right.

It's so hard. It's so bad.

I'm like, yes, give it to me. Yes, yes.

Yeah. Well, enjoy the pity, Joe

Michael, because that's all you're getting.

I mean, make the most of it, buddy.

There's nothing. Because when you hang up that

phone, there's nothing else coming.

There's still no relief. All you do is you have to go to

somebody else and get another dose.

Now, let me tell you what I just told so and so.

And they told me what I needed. You tell me too.

What? There's no power in it.

It's just petting my flesh. Yes, flesh.

Yes, flesh. No one has it as hard as you.

Flesh. Flesh.

No one's ever known it like you. You're just like Job.

You're just like Jesus in the garden.

Flesh and I love it and I eat it up and my ego is like, yes, yes,

this is true, this is real. I know what it's like to suffer

and drink the cup instead of I need power.

That's what I really need. I need power to overcome.

I need peace that delivers me. I need strength that gives me

hope. I need real strength from

heaven. You got to resist the temptation

to go seeking pity and go seeking sympathy.

Do we want compassion from one another?

Absolutely. Do we owe compassion from one

another? Absolutely.

And that compassion includes a direction upward.

My brother, I'm so sorry. Oh, that's heavy.

Let's go to the throne together. I'll go with you.

Let's go get power, bro. I got no power.

I couldn't heal a mosquito of a headache.

But I know where we can go to get power, and I know that's

what you need. So I'm not going to belittle it.

I'm not going to. I want to weep with those who

weep. I want to mourn with those who

mourn. I want to rejoice with those who

rejoice. I want to fit the moment and fit

the occasion. But we don't stay there.

Oh, I see you're down in a hole. I'll climb down in the hole with

you. Now we're in a hole together and

just feel the holiness of the hole.

That's nonsense. It's fruitless.

It doesn't help us to ascend. Jesus saw us in a hole and he

said, I'll come down in the hole, you know, on my back and

I'll climb out of the hole and I take you out of the hole.

You don't have to stay in the hole.

So we need power, not just sympathy.

We need power, not just some tenderness and some

understanding. Good friends will always tell us

the whole truth. They'll be compassionate and

they'll draw us vertically to the Lord.

Keep going. Verse 39.

And going a little farther, he fell on his face and prayed,

saying, My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from

me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but

as you will. So he reveals his desperation

here. This is not performance.

This is not polished spirituality.

This is pleading. This is the Son crying out to

the Father. Notice what he prays.

He prays honestly, what he's actually thinking and feeling.

This is Jesus, 100% God, but also 100% man.

And the 100% man right now is saying, Father, I know that I'm

the land who was Lamb, who was slain before the foundation of

the world. I know this was always our plan,

but now I'm here in this moment. Is there any other way we could

do this? I know I've got to save the

world. Is there?

Is there another way? Is there another way?

This is Jesus praying this way and he is not sinned in any of

it. Is there another way?

The dread, the pressure, the anguish, the crushing.

Is there another way, Father? And even in that request, Father

is there? Is there another?

If it's possible, is there anything else?

He still immediately says, but your will be done.

He doesn't deny the weight of it.

He brings it into prayer so he won't fall into temptation.

What's his temptation? To save his own life?

His own temptation? He could call down 10,000

leagues and legions of angels. He could destroy everybody.

He could do whatever he would want to.

That's his temptation. His his temptation is to run for

his life. He could leave the garden.

They're coming to get somebody. If he's not there, they're not

going to know where he went. He could leave and go to the

countryside. As long as he vanishes and as

long as that that rabbi stops with all the stuff he's been

doing these past few years and he shuts up, then he can live to

be an old man. And that's wisdom, right?

I mean, sometimes we need to use some wisdom right now.

Wisdom is obedience to God and fulfilling God's will for your

life, God's will for Jesus life. It pleased the Father to crush

him and immediately he re emphasizes his submission.

Father, is there another way? Is there another way?

Let's thank Father, is there another way?

We could do this other than this?

Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.

That's his conviction to glorify the Father no matter what.

This is heavy, this is anguish. This really happened, Saints.

This really actually happened across that Atlantic Ocean.

There's a tiny little country called Israel.

There's a little hill, the Mount of Olives.

There's a garden. They think they still know the

the area of the Garden of Gethsemane.

I never know. I never trust, you know, the

guys over there because I'm like, yeah, they need a lot of

tourism too. So, like, this is the spot

where, you know, this guy picked his nose.

I'm like, I don't know. I I hope so.

But maybe they maybe they're sure of it.

But it's over there. Whether or not anybody knows

where it is, it's over there. Jesus's feet were on this planet

and they're coming back. His feet are coming back to that

same place, that same mountain, this place where he prays, this

place where he sweats great drops of blood, where the

anguish is coming out of him and his blood is already being shed.

That same place. That's where he ascended from 40

days later, 41 days later, and that is where he is coming back

to. He is coming back to put his

feet back on that same spot. That spot matters to him.

It's where he achieved the victory.

He brings his human will into alignment and he does it through

prayer. Again.

You can see it in real time throughout the Psalms.

You can see David and then you see him bringing his, human,

his, his, his. The only will he had was the

human will. He brings his will into

alignment through prayer. And you see Jesus doing the same

thing. He's bringing his will into

alignment through prayer. It's not just God.

Please help me today and moving on.

And then whatever happens, like, well, I prayed.

Did you though? Did you though?

Because Jesus prayed until he pressed through and acquired

what he needed, which was the power, and he also needed to

align his will to his Father's will.

And that's what he was doing. He's not trying to white knuckle

his obedience in the flesh. He is praying his own will until

it gets all the way into surrender.

There's a lesson in prayer. Did you pray about it?

Yeah. Did you though?

What are you trying to say? You're trying to make some

legalistic rules for prayer? No, certainly not.

And yet I want you to understand it.

We know that God does not allow us to earn anything.

We know He gives things. But Christians often

misunderstand. God is opposed to you earning.

God is not opposed to your effort.

You should have some spiritual effort in your life.

It's not that you will then achieve and deserve something.

He goes well, you earned it through your spiritual effort.

And yet still living for Christ takes spiritual effort.

That shouldn't be a scandalous phrase.

It should look like something though.

Man, Should marriage be so hard? What do you mean by that?

Marriage should take some effort, right?

Should parenting be so hard? You do know parenting would take

effort, right? I don't know what you're

implying we should following Jesus be so hard.

Well, well, he said it would literally and that you would

have to take up your cross and follow him or you're not worthy

to be his disciple. So he, he guaranteed you death

from the beginning. So in all fairness to him,

there's no bait and switch here. But does it?

Is it hard? He said his yoke is easy and his

burden is light. But he does have a yoke and he

does have a burden. So it takes spiritual effort.

And I think many Christians put forth zero spiritual effort and

they go, well, where's the Lord, dude?

The Lord don't say that stupid thing, man.

God is who he always has been. He always is where he always is,

which is everywhere. He is loving, He is good.

You're putting forth zero spiritual effort like the spouse

in a marriage who blames their spouse entirely for everything

and goes, what are you going to do?

What are you going to do? You going to do anything?

Well, what are they doing? Well, it's all in the Lord.

That's a convenient theology. It's just not true.

It's just not biblical. Your Christianity needs some

spiritual effort. I didn't tell you what it should

be. Alan did.

So blame him. Read your Bible and pray.

And then when we pray again, it's not a God.

Please bless the squirrels. What if Jesus had gone to the

garden? Father, please give me strength

for everything I need to face over the next, you know, 24

hours. And then he laid down and went

to sleep because he prayed, didn't he?

Didn't he? God give me strength for he's

laying down on his pillow in the garden.

Oh, Lord, Father, just give me strength for everything.

I'm going to be facing here. I just need some rest.

I've got to carry a cross tomorrow and be crucified on it

and bury. I need sleep.

What's wrong with sleep? I thought we're supposed to go

to bed. Pastor Michael, you told us

that's important. Sleep's important.

But there's a difference between praying and praying, apparently.

And Jesus did the latter instead of I prayed.

OK, I didn't say you earn anything with your spiritual

effort, and still you ought to put in some spiritual effort.

And Jesus is doing that now. Of course, the weight of what

he's feeling is helping him to do so.

Hebrews 5, seven through 9 says in the days of his flesh, Jesus

offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries

and tears to him who was able to save him from death, and he was

heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he

learned obedience through what he suffered, and being made

perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who

obey him. Hallelujah, I'm reading it

again. In the days of his flesh,

particularly that night in the garden, Jesus offered up prayers

and supplications with loud cries and tears to him who was

able to save him from death. And he was heard because of his

reverence. Although he was a son, he

learned obedience through what he suffered, and being made

perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who

obey him. Sounds like a man who really

cried out for help. Sounds like a man who was heard,

but he didn't get his prayer answered the way he initially

wanted because thankfully, Jesus's greater prayer was not

Father. Don't answer that prayer.

Answer this one. Your will be done and not mine.

That's a mature prayer, Lord. I don't know what your will is

in this situation. This is how you and I should

pray when we don't know the Lord's will because Jesus shows

us the opposite of what immature prayer does.

Immature prayer says God hears my will and I want you to align

to it. I am the cornerstone and I need

you to align yourself to me. And Jesus says you are the

cornerstone. Align me to you, Father, bring

me into proper alignment. My human will that is feeling

weak and looking for an escape? Father, strengthen me.

Prayer is not casual reciting of something.

Prayer is not just making requests of God and walking

away. Prayer is working out what is

inside of your soul. I read a book on prayer.

It's called Real Prayer by Frank somebody Ortega.

It's like my favorite book I've ever read on prayer.

And I read a lot of books on prayer and one line in it and he

was actually quoting somebody else.

He said, if you don't feel anything when you pray, you're

probably not praying what you feel.

If you're not, if you never feel anything when you pray, then

you're probably not actually praying what you feel.

You're just doing like brain prayer, Gray matter prayers.

I'm thinking about this, I'm thinking about that.

I'm thinking about this. Lord help me with that

appointment and this thing. And then there's my To Do List.

See you Sunday or see you tomorrow morning or see you

whenever instead of like, hey, what's going on in there?

Oh, my soul, I haven't gone in there in years.

OK, well, it's it's about time. That's where that's where the

issues of life are. That's where your life is

actually being lived out of. That's the place you need his

power. There's stuff in there I don't

want to give him. Yeah, I know.

That's why you've avoided it. And you're also enjoying,

unfortunately, the fruit of a life that doesn't really pray.

If you think prayer is boring and if you think prayer is lame,

you just, you just received your unlock and now you know why your

prayer is boring. Your prayer is lame.

Amen. That's the problem.

If you think like I've told you before, you think the Bible is

boring, you're boring, you're lame.

You think prayer is boring. You think prayer is lame.

It's not prayer that's the problem.

It's your fakeness in your prayer.

It's your braininess in your prayer.

It's what am I supposed to pray right now?

Go into the soul, Lord, what's going on in me?

Who am I? Where am I?

Lord, let me learn to fellowship with you.

Oh, and all of a sudden you have something to pray about that you

actually care about instead of the stuff that you were

pretending to pray about that you didn't care about anyway.

And he knew that. He's like, man, I'm bored.

Like, I wish you would stop. This isn't praying.

Whatever it is you're doing, just stop.

Stop talking to the ceiling like this is.

This is not fellowship. This is not anything.

What am I supposed to put power on?

Prayer is crucifying the flesh. Prayer is building fellowship.

Prayer is aligning yourself as a living stone back to the chief

cornerstone and making sure you're in alignment with him.

Lord, align me to you. I'm out of alignment.

That's real prayer. Verse 40 And he came to the 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.

They're exhausted. It's been a long day.

They hiked up a mountain. It's late.

They feel secure in the place that they visited.

Everything they're doing right now is completely

understandable. Everything they're doing right

now is completely explainable. It's not like how could you?

We kind of know how they could. We see how we could, and it's

still unacceptable. In the decades to come, I'm sure

Peter, James, and John would have given anything to return to

that night and pray with their master and their friend, not

just for him, but for their sake, that they wouldn't have

fallen into temptation. I deserted him.

I denied him watch and pray that you may not enter into

temptation. That means that their sin was

preventable. The prophecy he gave earlier was

warning. It was not forcing them.

It was not making it inevitable that they would then have to do

it. He's saying you're going to deny

me three times and you're all going to scatter.

And then he says, pray that you don't enter into temptation.

This is what's coming. If you don't do this, if you

don't actually receive power, He goes, I know I need power.

I know my temptation. If I don't go get power from the

Father, you better get power from the Father too.

I've given you the warning. I've given you the heads up.

Don't be surprised when it happens.

The Lord was warning them. He's not forcing them to sin

with His earlier prophecy. The prophecy was warning.

He was giving them an opportunity.

If you are falling into temptation, the first question

may be, are you praying anguish prayer, heart prayer,

surrendered prayer? Do you keep sinning in the same

way? Watch and pray that you may not

fall into temptation. I have prayed about it, but have

you though? But have you though is the

question. And then in prayer, did you get

an answer or a direction that you then said, I'm not willing

to go that far because the Lord said, here's how I want you to

cut off your hand And you're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

I just wanted like power and stuff.

I'm giving you power. I'm giving you solutions.

Here's how I want you to call it off your hand in this particular

area of your life, for this particular temptation.

Here's what it look like. Oh Lord, let's not get extreme.

The spirit is willing. Zeal is present, but zeal

without power through prayer, it will collapse under real

pressure. When anything real comes, when

anything heavy comes, you go. Now I'm tested.

Now we find out the strength of the metal.

A Christian who has not been real with the Lord in prayer

exposes themselves to the attacks of the enemy.

And then they frankly reveal who they are when pressures come to

their lives, when the heat is applied to the to the believer's

life, you go, oh, what's this reveal about me?

Well, it reveals that you have not been going into the place of

prayer that you need to and because that's why you don't

have any power right now. It reminds us that you're not

reading your Bible and praying not to expose you or humiliate

you before the rest of the body, but it's just a fact.

It's like if you keep running into this problem, oh wonder,

wonder what's going on with that?

It's not that complicated, nor is it to condemn, but it is

reality. Oh my goodness, what's going on?

You keep losing weight, losing weight, losing weight.

You're not eating food. Like, listen, there's no

condemnation in that. And yet this is the reality.

This is the inevitable outcome. You keep eating more calories

than you burn each day. Your body is getting larger and

larger and larger. It's not condemnation, but it is

reality of how it works. You're spiritually anemic.

You're always afraid. You continue into the same sin

over and over and over. You have things that are just

massive strongholds you never get free from.

Oh, no, I just don't know how to get free from it.

Well, thankfully, Alan told us how to do it.

Read your Bible and pray and those two things together are

going to be massively fruitful for us to build fellowship with

him. And that's the portal for

everything else he says. Now I can guide you now.

Now you're on the move. Now you have you have greased

the tracks and things can move forward easily.

Power will be made available. Power will be given.

Zeal is not enough. We need real power.

We need a a hard center, a hardcore they can withstand real

pressure. Verse 42 again for the second

time he went away and prayed my father, if this cannot pass

unless I drink it, your will be done the first time.

He said if it be possible, let this pass from me.

See how his prayer is already maturing and changing The first

time he said, Father make it stop.

Let's do something different. And the second time he is

reeling in his his will, he's getting it closer to the boat,

closer to the boat, closer to the boat every single time.

Father, if this can't pass unless I drink it, your will be

done. And again he came and found them

sleeping, for their eyes were heavy.

The second prayer he submits more deeply.

Now your will be done. He's getting closer and closer

into the fuller obedience. This is perfect prayer.

Devotion to God's glory over my personal comfort.

Devotion to the Father's will over my own desire.

Meanwhile, the disciples grow weaker.

He doesn't even wake him up the second time, and he only woke

Peter the first time. Peter, right within one hour.

Pray that you don't fall into temptation.

Yes, I'm going to. Lord, I'm sorry.

Yeah, I'm getting up right now. And he comes back again, three

of them in a pile here in the garden.

He leaves him asleep. Jesus will not control you.

He doesn't shake them awake and say, look at me.

Tonight's the night. This is your moment.

He's already giving them enough warning.

God's Word is enough. He hasn't said he'll give it to

you 15 times. Boys pray that was it.

And the second time, Peter got an extra warning.

The other two didn't. They slept through it.

Now he comes back again and he just leaves them right where

they are. The Son of Man had no help in

overcoming his temptations. No one stood by his side.

None of the fallen sinful people, the ones who were

clotheless and most devoted, offer Jesus zero assistance. 0

Encouragement. 0 Devotion in his moment of greatest need.

Jesus did it alone. Praise God, Jesus did it alone.

He went to the Father and Him. God saved us.

Nobody else saved us. Nobody else helped us, Nobody

else rescued us. He doesn't control his

disciples. He loves them, He warns them,

but they must pray. You must pray.

Jesus is praying for you. Jesus prayed for His disciples.

He prayed for all of us, and He still prays for us.

He is still the Advocate who prays for us.

That should give you great comfort to know that Jesus still

prays for you today in heaven. And also you ought to pray for

yourself. You need to pray for yourself.

Verse 44 So leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the

third time, saying the same words again, referencing what he

prayed the second time. Father, if this cannot pass

unless I drink it, your will be done.

And Luke tells us that the Father sent angels to come and

strengthen him and to comfort him.

So he pressed through in prayer. He got the supernatural answer

that he needed, which was strength to obey.

Then he came to the disciples and said to them, sleep and take

your rest. Later on, wake up boys, see the

hours at hand. And the Son of Man is betrayed

into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going.

My betrayer is at hand. So probably a mass of torches

likely is what Jesus is seeing working through the garden in

the distance and he comes back and he sees it voice, get up,

you have to sleep later. It's here.

What? What's that?

What what? My betrayer's at hand, Let's be

going. Jesus goes out to meet it.

Jesus goes and says nice to meet you, I'm the king.

I'm here to give my life. No one's here to take it from

me. Of course, as you know, the

soldiers say we're here seeking Jesus.

He said I am. And they fall down to the

ground. He first fell down on his face

and now all of his enemies fall down to the ground at his word.

Why? Because he went and got power.

He went and got strength. He got boldness.

He brought his human will, and his human will is completely and

perfectly resolved now. And he says, I'm choosing this

and I'm stepping into it. I'm not being dragged out of

this garden. I'm not being haunted down and

found there at hand. Rise, let us be going.

My betrayer's at hand. Let's go meet him.

Let's go see him. Welcome to the garden, To the

sacred place where I came to pray and where you came to

betray the Son of Man with a kiss.

Heaven met the Lord Jesus in prayer.

He received empowerment from above.

When he rises from prayer this third time, he is no longer

trembling, but he is resolved. He rises in strength.

He rises having already apprehended what he needed from

the Father. This is not a man who slept

through his trial and then blamed God for his weakness.

Well, I prayed and ask God for help.

Did you though? Like we said, God is not opposed

to you earning. Or God is opposed to you

earning, but He is not opposed to your effort and you do need

spiritual effort. Jesus displayed spiritual effort

and then Jesus got more strength from heaven.

The disciples attitude was completely different.

The disciples attitude was we got this.

I'm ready Peter, I'm ready. Lord, I'm a, I'm a blue collar

tough dude. I'm my word is my bond.

I'm a man of integrity who all that sounds good, doesn't it?

Whenever a man says I'm a man of integrity, it's like, it sounds

good. Makes me think more of them.

I'm like, OK, I like the sound of that, but I'm nothing.

I'm not a man of anything unless God gives me strength.

I want to be a man of integrity. I want to be a man who people

can trust when I speak. But I'm not apart from Christ.

But the disciples are still leaning on themselves.

I'm good. I'm going to get some sleep.

I know I'll never desert Jesus. And they wake up to what?

What? Whoa, Hundreds of soldiers, lots

of torches. And all of a sudden their

courage melts like a candle and they're going.

I'm not so sure anymore. They leaned on self-confidence.

Jesus, the perfect man, the strongest man, sought strength

from heaven. If anyone could have stood it

alone, it would have been him. And yet Jesus needed to fall on

his face and pray. Torches come in the dark.

Now. The General Jesus is actually

ready and his soldiers are not. Remember not to pity.

Not to pity him as a hostage or a victim.

He is neither. No one takes his life from him.

He lays it down. He walks into the fray as the

conquering king. He goes out to meet the battle

line. He does not wait for the combat

to come to him. Jesus deliberately walks into

the wood chipper of God's wrath so that you would not have to.

He fulfilled what God had prepared beforehand, before the

foundation of the world we're closing.

There's two things I want you to take away from today.

I want you to take your anguish to the Lord.

I want you to take your weakness to the Lord.

I want you to take your repeated temptations to the Lord in

heartfelt prayer. Do not move forward in the power

of flesh and expect different results in your life.

Amen. Who is it that's quoted with

that phrase? The definition of insanity?

Is it Einstein definition of insanity is doing the same thing

over and over and expecting a different result.

Stop doing things in the power of the flesh and expecting

victory and expecting breakthrough.

Doing it the way you done it won't get you where you need to

go. You really do need power.

Love Jesus again, be thankful again.

See the substitution all over again.

He endured anguish so that you would not face God's wrath.

Let your love lead to obedience. Jesus loved the Father and He

honored the Father. Honor Him with your prayer.

Honor Him with your surrender. Honor Him with your whole life.

Real prayer. If your prayer is boring,

remember prayer is not the problem.

That's good news. I don't intend it as an insult.

I intended as, hey, good news, you can shift that go into your

soul and then pray something real.

I don't know what to pray. When you're reading your Bible,

you'll have plenty to pray because you'll continue to see

who have a lot of adjusting to do to get my stone to match up

with the Lord's. So your Bible gives you plenty

of content to pray about if you're still drawing a blank.

The first Adam failed in the garden.

The second Adam comes and he overcomes temptation in the

garden. Jesus is greater in every way.

Jesus is the savior of his people.

And Jesus, of course, is just getting started on this night.

We're going to continue through, we're going to see all the way

through the the brutality of all the the crucifixion, the

betrayal, the falseness, the lies of the false courts, the

deception, all the while Jesus marching forward to save you

with his blood. Heavenly Father, I pray that

every single person under the sound of my voice would be

stirred and would be moved to love Jesus more and to obey

Jesus the King and the author of salvation who earned it.

Earned it for all of us who experienced temptation in every

way as we do. And yet he was without sin.

He became sin who knew no sin so that we would become the

righteousness of God. What a gift and what a treasure.

I pray that your people would feel a deep gratitude today.

I pray they would feel a deep refreshment today and say, wow,

God really loves me. Jesus really did that for me.

Jesus, you are so worthy of my love and of my life.

And Lord, I pray that you would draw draw all of us deeper into

prayer, into a prayer that is exciting, into a prayer that is

an adventure, into prayer that is life giving and empowering.

We can bring you our joy. We can bring you our anguish.

We can bring you everything in between.

We can give full vent to you, Lord.

You're able to withstand it. You're able to change it.

You're able to correct it. God, I pray for any who are not

yet trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for their salvation and

given their lives to Him in surrender and obedience.

God, I pray that through this moment, or as they drive home,

or as they kneel to pray, or as they listen to a worship song,

that they would apprehend the thing that they need.

That they would fall upon their face in desperation and come to

the true Passover Lamb and apply the blood of the Lamb to their

hearts, seeking to love You and to obey Your law, to be spared

Your wrath and to enter into Your glory.

Thank you for building our lives.

Lord, continue to build our lives.

Draw us to Your word and draw us to prayer.

Prayer that brings breakthrough, prayer that brings revelation,

Prayer that moves mountains. We love you, we thank You in

Jesus name, and now the Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord make his face Shinedown upon you and be gracious to you.

The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you great

peace in Jesus name, Amen.