Where the Battle Is Won .. and Lost
You say ( just like me ) — “I want to experience victory in the conflicts and tough decisions I face everyday” .. I meet people all the time and say to them – “I’ll keep you in my prayers” .. or “I’ll pray for you .. your wife .. your family ” .. and then what?
Let’s consider what Jesus did .. day after day .. as he worked Himself toward His Ultimate Goal – the cross. Numerous references to the fact that Jesus went out early to pray. Now “fast forward” to the night before He died .. Our Lord fought a crucial, pivotal battle in the Garden of Gethsemane, where He wrestled with what lay ahead. For our Savior, the weight of sin He would bear was overwhelming. He was about to experience complete spiritual separation from the Father. He went out to a peaceful and quiet place of prayer, where He got alone before the Father and cried out to Him. When Jesus left that garden, He walked out a winner. He would still drink the cup of suffering and separation, but He knew that in the end, He would triumph over it (Heb. 12:2).
Jesus’ example reveals that the key to winning life’s battles is to come before the Father .. Our father In heaven .. alone with Him and fully surrendered to His will. Godly counsel is important, but you cannot depend exclusively on others to tell you what to do. If you don’t spend time alone with the Lord, wrestling things out until you know what He is saying, you’ll never be sure you’re doing the right thing. By making it a habit to spend time alone in God’s presence, you’ll be able to discern His perfect will as you come to major decisions with significant or even lifelong consequences. When you fully surrender to Him, you place the consequences of your choices into His most capable hands. After all, where could your decisions .. and your future … be safer than in the control of our all-knowing, all-loving, all-powerful God?
Read | Matthew 26:36-46 The Garden of Gethsemane
36 Then Jesus *came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and *said to His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed. 38 Then He *said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.”
39 And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” 40 And He *came to the disciples and *found them sleeping, and *said to Peter, “So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour? 41 Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
42 He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done.” 43 Again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44 And He left them again, and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more. 45 Then He *came to the disciples and *said to them, “[a]Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Get up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!”