Model Prayer
By.Dr.Samuel Kumar (CA)
Many of us know the Lord's prayer and can recite it from
memory. It has been called the model prayer and it indeed is. But there is
another model prayer which the Lord Jesus Himself prayed in the Garden of
Gethsemane. It is a perfect model for us. Let us go to Gethesemane and hear this
prayer.
The prayer is outlined in Mark 14:36. The Lord Jesus
prayed it in the throes of unbelievable agony. He told His disciples, "My soul
is exceeding sorrowful unto death." We can never fathom the depths of distress
and the near-death experience of agony that the Lord had suffered at Gethsemane.
Out of a heart of such anguish and burden, gushed out a prayer to the Father,
which is a perfect model for our own prayers.
The Lord Jesus cried out, "Abba,
Father." We can never
scale the heights of such Father-Son relationship between them. However, we who
know Jesus Christ as our Lord, have been brought very close to the Father,
through the Holy Spirit. We also can call Him, "Abba, Father." (Rom. 8:15; Gal.
4:6) We have been given direct access to the Father through the Lord Jesus and
can boldly approach the throne of grace. (John 16:26; Heb. 10:19-23)
Power: The Lord Jesus prayed, "Abba, Father, all things
are possible unto Thee." When we pray, let us not for a moment doubt that all
things are possible for God, even though we may be in desperate straits. On
another occasion the Lord Jesus declared, "With men it is impossible but not
with God, for with God all things are possible." (Mark 10:27) Hear the angel
Gabriel say, "With God nothing shall be impossible." (Luke 1:37) Hear the
apostle Paul affirm, "He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we
ask or think." (Eph. 3:20) Our thorniest problems are no challenge to the
Almighty God. Never underestimate the power of the One Who can do impossible
things.
Petition: The Lord went on to pray, "Take away this cup
from Me." Let us present our petition. The Word says, "Let your requests be made
known unto God." (Phil. 4:6,7) The Lord Jesus asked blind Bartimeus, "What wilt
thou that I should do unto thee?" (Mark 10:51) He pleaded that his eyes might be
opened. God knows our needs and yet He wants us to present our petitions to
Him.
Submission: The Lord Jesus continued, "Nevertheless, not
what I will but what Thou wilt." He submitted to the Father's will. Let us pray
that if it is not the Lord's will, that our petition be not granted. We do not
want anything that is contrary to the will of the all-knowing and all-wise God.
We are told, "If we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us." (1 John
5:14) His will is our law and we want no part of anything that is not His
will.
In summary, let us acknowledge that God can do what is
impossible. Let us then earnestly present our petition. But let our petition
always be qualified with the plea, "Lord, do it only if it is consistent
with Your will." Let us imitate the model prayer taught by our Lord Jesus.
