Sunday, April 2nd
Make It Go Away
By Pastor Mara Vetters
I have a fuzzy memory in my head of some point when I was sick as a child, probably upper elementary-aged. I had some kind of stomach bug, probably picked up at school, that just flat made my stomach hurt. I’m sure that my mom was hustling around getting me medicine and doing her best to make me comfortable, but in that moment, all I could think was, “This hurts, and I just want the pain to go away.” But I knew that it wouldn’t. Not in this instant. No matter how much my mother wanted to, there was no way for her to snap her fingers and fix things. I would have to wait and ride it out until the medicine kicked in or my body managed to fight off the bug.
The pain that Jesus endured on the last night of his life was so much worse than a stomachache. The book of Luke tells us that in the garden of gethsemane, as Jesus contemplated the horrific brutality he was about to go through, Jesus was under so much stress that, “In his anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground.” Luke 22:44. Jesus was afraid and in pain, and in the depths of Jesus’ despair, he cried out to his Father for relief.
And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.”
Matthew 26:39
Take this cup away. Make it stop. I don’t want to do this. What parent could hear these cries and remain unmoved? How much must the Holy Father’s heart have broken in that moment, to hear the desperate cries of his Son, whom He loved? And yet, even in the depths of his dread and despair, Jesus insists on adding another line to his plea. “Yet not what I want but what you want.” When he goes back and prays for a second time, Jesus repeats this message. “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” Jesus remained faithful.
Perhaps one of the most remarkable things about this story, about the entire crucifixion, is that God did have the power to snap His fingers and take Jesus away from the pain and suffering he was about to go through. Jesus at any point could have chosen to call out and command the angels to cast down his enemies and carry him away from it all. And yet Jesus never did. Instead, Jesus chose to let the pain come in order to do his Father’s will and bring healing and hope to you and me. He took time to weep, to grieve. He needed strength and encouragement from his holy Father to be able to walk forward, and yet, when the time came, when Judas led soldiers right up to Jesus in his place of retreat and safety, Jesus was ready. And so, Jesus looked Judas in the face and told him, “Friend, do what you are here to do.” Matthew 26:50
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Monday, April 3rd
Praying For God’s Will
By Iona Sewell
Matthew 26:36-46
Looking at this last prayer of Jesus with Peter, James and John, it’s interesting to note that He wanted His closest friends to pray with Him during these difficult hours just before His death. Jesus knew how weak His flesh was at that point and needed spiritual strength to face what was ahead.
Jesus’ example should encourage us to reach out to Christian friends to pray with us to strengthen our faith when facing critical situations…when we receive a cancer diagnosis, when a loved one dies unexpectedly, when we lose our job, when a loved one is mired down in addiction or when a divorce shakes our world…whatever our life crisis is should become a shared prayer request with our brothers and sisters in the faith.
Jesus’ attitude demonstrates powerfully in this prayer His willingness to completely trust and do God’s will, even though it meant a painful persecution and death awaited Him. His obedience unto death gives us a pattern to follow when we pray.
Many times, we assume God isn’t listening when we pray because we don’t get the answer we want. What we forget is that sometimes His answer is “no” or “not yet” and we’ve forgotten to include what Jesus said in this prayer…”Your will be done.”
There comes a peace and contentment when we can pray for God’s will instead of our own because we don’t know what the future holds and what the best answer is to our prayer…but God does! When we can pray this way, it takes away the anxiety, worry or anger when someone we pray for physically doesn’t get healed, or when a loved one dies that many have prayed for, or any other coveted answer to prayer we fervently seek. Jesus’ prayer also reminds me that I can trust my Heavenly Father to know what’s best for my life and will guide me, even though I prayed for something else.
I can affirm confidently with Romans 8:26b, “…For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”
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Tuesday, April 4th
Prayer In The Face Of Death
Andy Osman
Jesus, son of God, knew what was going on in the days culminating in his death on Earth and resurrection into his full power as God’s son. He knew how he would die, when he would die, the suffering he would endure to fulfill the prophecy foretold so long ago. I think it’s safe to say none of us would want to know any of this about our own death.
I know Jesus is the son of God. As I read the Bible about the way Jesus interacted with people, I have known no other human being capable of knowing exactly what the other person was thinking and how people were trying to use him or convict him by their evil or selfish design.
The first prayer Jesus prayed was very human. He took people to watch over him as he prayed. He then prayed “Father, if this is possible may this cup be taken from me. Yet not my will, but as you will.” I see this as totally human for a person of faith on their deathbed.
Jesus went back and found the disciples sleeping. He rebuked them and asked that they keep watch over him as he returned to pray a second time. This prayer for me, shows the son of God praying to his father. Jesus knew exactly what would happen. “If this is not possible unless I drink it, may your will be done.” Amazing!
Facing death is a hardship for everyone at some point in their life. Being 74, I’m on deck and have thought a lot about it. I do have peace and comfort myself due to my personal relationship with Christ.
During my life, I have witnessed several people die. The first person I saw die was my father-in-law, Rev. Donald R. Rohner. He was in ICU with all life support removed. The family was surrounding his bed. He was semi-conscious when he began singing the chorus of his favorite hymn, then he passed. It was powerful to say the least.
When I pray through and in this season of life, I pray with faith, and always pray “thy will be done.” Amen.
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Wednesday, April 5th
We never want to pray and ask God to give us hard times. In a lot of ways that feels counter intuitive. I don’t want to ask you to pray that today, but I do want us to ask to make us ready for when we will face challenging times. Pray that God will make us ready to turn to Him in the midst of it, instead of freaking out and trying to do things ourselves.
Lord, in whatever season we are facing we ask that you will prepare us to turn to you when times are hard. Teach us what it means to come to you in both good and hard times. Let your will be done in our lives. Amen
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Thursday, April 6th
Praying in hardship
By Curt Binnion
Matthew 26: 36-46
– One of the most heart breaking stories in scriptures.
– The Lord seeking to find acceptance of his circumstances.
He exhibits his humanness here. 1) by asking people to be with him 2) he then asks the Father to change the outcome Then he resigns his will to the Fathers.
We all come to a Gethsemane. A place to shelter, to prepare to fight a storm.
To some it is in a pew. To others a sunrise. Yet, still others prefer the sunset. We go there seeking the strength of assurance of the Lord’s will.
I am reminded of Lucian Coomer. We went to visit him in the hospital after he had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. We talked about a lot of things. All the options had been placed before him and as he sat there looking out the window he said, ” The Lord knows I have this and if it is his will, He will take it away”.
He had this confident glow about him.
He did not receive any treatment and shortly thereafter he passed.
The day before he died I went and visited with him. As I sat with him I saw the same confident glow I had seen in earlier visits. His life marked by faith, forever.
The Lord will not leave us. Not Jonah, Not David, Not Habakkuk, not even Jesus was left.
Hardship I have seen plenty but this much I know. The Lord will still hold our hands.
Confidently!
Pray always, expectantly, BE STILL AND LISTEN
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Friday, April 7th
“Praying in Hardship”
By Pastor Barb Tuttle
Jesus Prays in Gethsemane
39 He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”
Walking with God does not mean there won’t be obstacles. God’s plan for our lives won’t happen without a struggle, but we can’t give up when times get tough. Be quick to ask God to give you the strength and endurance to do what you need to do, what He may be asking you to do. God is with us! He can take the horrible, the tragic, the painful, the devastating, the embarrassing, the mistakes, and the obstacles in our lives and not only heal them but use them for good. It’s not that He makes you unable to recall them, but he will heal you so thoroughly through their effects that you no longer think about them with pain. When we surrender our lives to God – we allow Him to make things happen.
Jesus asked for this cup of suffering to be taken away – yet He was willing to accept it – wanting God’s will. One of the things Jesus accomplished when He died on the cross and rose again was to break the power of the enemy. Therefore, we have victory through our Savior.
Dear Lord, Thank you for sending Jesus! Help me to surrender my life to you, to follow your will in all things, easy or hard. Give me courage and perseverance in all circumstances and provide me opportunities to touch the lives of others by being a vessel used by you. Amen
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Saturday, April 8th
Prayer of Repentance
Every Saturday we will have a prayer that we can pray ourselves to focus on repenting of our sins, and receiving forgiveness for them. It will be the same prayer each week. It is a prayer by John Wesely, the father of the Methodist movement, that is called Forgive Our Sins. We would encourage you to take a few moments and pray this prayer and confess your sins to God. He will hear you, and will forgive you.
Forgive them all, O Lord:
our sins of omission and our sins of commission;
the sins of our youth and the sins of our riper years;
the sins of our souls and the sins of our bodies;
our secret and our more open sins;
our sins of ignorance and surprise,
…..and our more deliberate and presumptuous sins;
the sins we have done to please others;
the sins we know and remember,
…..and the sins we have forgotten;
the sins we have striven to hide from others
….and the sins by which we have made others offend;
forgive them, O Lord, forgive them all for his sake, who died for our sins and rose for our justification,.and now stands at thy right hand to make intercession for us, Jesus Christ our Lord.
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Sunday, April 9th
He Is Risen!
Pastor Luke Maggard
We couldn’t conclude this devotional on the Lent season without mentioning what causes it all to happen. That is Resurrection Sunday. Today we celebrate the fact that the tomb couldn’t hold Jesus, and that He is sitting at the right hand of God today in Heaven.
I love the account of Jesus appearing to His disciples in John chapter 20. He appears to three different people or groups in this chapter; Mary Magdalene, the disciples, and Thomas with the disciples. In the last two interactions when Jesus appears to His disciples His very first words to them are “Peace be with you.” (v. 19, 21, 28).
Jesus rose from the dead so that we can have peace. Not a peace that can be understood or received by anything we do here on earth, but a peace that can only come from our risen Lord and Savior. Today we celebrate the fact that Jesus is risen and we can have peace.
He Is Risen! He Is Risen Indeed!