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Luke 
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Day 291

Luke 22 : 39-46; Matthew 26:36-46 "PRAYER IS HIGHLY INTERACTIVE"

Day 291 – Luke 22

Text: Luke 22 : 39-46; Matthew 26:36-46

PRAYER IS HIGHLY INTERACTIVE

Jesus understood prayer as few comprehended it. One of the most significant elements concerning prayer is that it is highly interactive. What does that mean?

Prayer begins with a request from our lips. In the case of Jesus, He offered a request to His Father. He asked,

“Father, if it is Your will,
take this cup away from Me…”
Luke 22:42

The interactive part comes when God replies. Jesus expected God to hear and answer Him. A clear example of this may be found in a passage recorded in John’s Gospel. Jesus was expressing a sense of sorrow as He drew near to the hour of His death. He prayed,

“Now My soul is troubled,
and what shall I say?
‘Father, save Me from this hour’?
But for this purpose I came to this hour.”
John 12:27

John recorded how God sent back His answer.

“Then a voice came from heaven,
saying,
‘I have both glorified it
And will glorify it again.’ “
John 12:28

On this occasion, Jesus heard His Father’s voice speaking to Him. However, this kind of interaction may not always be the norm. Nevertheless, the fact still remains that prayer is highly interactive.

Many of us like this teaching of prayer being interactive. We all look forward to God answering our prayers. We can’t wait for God’s answer to our prayers. We rejoice greatly when God hears our prayers.

However, there was a special interaction from God that would have disheartened many. God gave His answer as He interacted with His Son. His answer was not totally unexpected by Jesus. He knew and understood His Father as no one else could. He understood the voice of God. He also understood the silence of His Father. Both were good answers to a Son who dwelt in the bosom of His Father.

How profound prayer really is. Prayer is not just saying a set pattern of words religiously or piously. Prayer involves a deep comprehension of how God interacts when we pray. He hears and answers prayer as He has promised, but He does not always answer in the way we expect.

UNDERSTANDING THE SILENCE OF GOD

It is important that we learn another deep principle of prayer. We must fathom the significance of the silence of God. Jesus cried out to His Father in prayer with great earnestness, but He seemed to have been met with total silence.

Many do not know how to interpret the silence of God. The heart is troubled when God does not seem to hear and answer prayer. The author of the Book of Hebrews was a writer who was deeply impressed with the prayer ministry of Jesus. He wrote,

“Who in the days of His flesh,
when He had offered up prayers
and supplications, with vehement cries
and tears to Him who was able to save
Him from death,
And was heard because of His godly fear.”
Hebrews 5:7

God heard the prayers of Jesus which were offered up in tears. God’s answer was “silence”. Jesus understood the silence of His Father.

God’s silence was an answer to Jesus’ prayer. Jesus prayed and asked if it was within God’s will, then He would not have to drink the bitter cup of pain and suffering, leading to His death. The silence that ensued was His way of saying to His Son, that He must take that cup of suffering and consume it to the last drop.

SUBMITTING TO THE WILL OF GOD

One of the hardest prayers to make must be the one that Jesus offered in the Garden of Gethsemane.

“Nevertheless, not My will,
but Yours, be done.”
Luke 22:42

We have probably said similar words to God before, expressing our desire to submit ourselves to the Lord. If we are honest with ourselves, we would also have to admit that even after we have said that we desire God’s Will, deep down inside our heart, we still wish that our own will could be done.

One of the most difficult things to yield completely is our will. We may comply if circumstances force us to, but our compliance would be with great reluctance. Jesus’ words were supported by His kneeling posture. He submitted His own will completely to His Father.

What does it take to be able to offer such total submission? Many thoughts may be suggested. Let us consider just one thought.

Jesus had always sought to do His Father’s will. He was so conscious of His Father’s will and made many references to it (John 4:34; 6:38, 40).It is only in the context of always desiring and doing God’s will, can the human will yield itself to the Father’s will. The yielding of the human will is difficult when there is a long record of poor compliance! Let us practise submission of our wills to God’s higher will.