Then he said, “This sorrow is crushing my life out. Stay here and keep vigil with me.” Going a little ahead, he fell on his face, praying, “My Father if there is any way, get me out of this. But please, not what I want. You, what do you want?” . . . When he came back to his disciples, he found them sound asleep. He then left them a second time. Again he prayed, “My Father, if there is no other way than this, drinking this cup to the dregs, I’m ready. Do it your way.” When he came back, he again found them sound asleep. . . This time he let them sleep on, and went back a third time to pray, going over the same ground one last time. When he came back the next time, he said, “Are you going to sleep on and make a night of it? My time is up, the Son of Man is going to be handed over into the hand of sinners. . . Matthew 26: 38-45, MSG.
Dear God, please help us to realize that when we are praying for others, we are being blessed ourselves. Help us to understand this, I pray, in the blessed name of Jesus. Amen.
The last four days we have been sharing devotionals under the topic – Watch! The first was regarding the return of Jesus to earth. He advised us to watch so that we would not be taken by surprise at His return. Then we were advised to watch and pray, so as not to fall into temptation. Next we were to watch in prayer, to receive strength. Yesterday, we were to watch, so as not to find ourselves in strange places – places of temptation. There is another aspect of watching that I consider of importance. Watching as a means of self-help! For this, I am borrowing a slogan the Red Cross use in their blood drive: “The Life you Save May be Your Own!”
When Jesus asked His disciples to accompany Him in prayer; He was seeking help to be victorious in this hour for which He had come into the world (John 12: 27). The cup of our salvation was in His hands to drink or not to drink! “My Father, if there is no other way than this, drinking this cup to the dregs, I’m ready. Do it your way.” It is important that we pay attention to the fact, that Jesus submitted, to the Father’s will. It was His life, to “lay it down . . . [and] take it again” (John 10: 18). We talk about our salvation being free. And it is, to us. But at what a price it was acquired by the Savior!
What I want us to look at for a few moments, is, what was at stake. What was He asking the disciples to help Him pray about? Jesus had a choice. To save us, or to save Himself. That was the decision in the balance when His humanity was tested to the point where, “The fate of humanity trembled in the balance. Christ might even now refuse to drink the cup apportioned to guilty man. It was not yet too late. He might wipe the bloody sweat from His brow, and leave man to perish in his iniquity. He might say, let the transgressor receive the penalty of his sin, and I will go back to My Father” (The Desire of Ages, p. 609, emphasis provided). Nevertheless, He chose, to drink that cup; to the dregs, in order that we, you and I, might be saved! Oh, what love!
The disciples were really asked to pray for their own eternal salvation! Jesus had lived a perfect life! He had not sinned! If He decided not to go through with the remainder of the plan; He could have returned to the Father, with no loss to Himself. The loss would have been theirs, and ours! But His love for us, obtained the victory, on our behalf. He could not bear the thought of losing us. He would die the most ignominious death, in order to save us. The life the disciples should have been watching, and praying, for, was their own. Because Jesus won, we all won!
Every invitation to intercessory prayer does something for the intercessor. You cannot seek God in prayer, without receiving the benefits of being in His presence! Let us “watch and pray!” The life you and I help to *save, may be our own.
NOTE: *This save is not the salvation that only Jesus can provide.