When you do: 1) what God says do; 2) the way God says do it; 3) for the reason God says do it, it gives you the most wonderful feeling. When you do things God’s way, the right way, then life works out the way it is supposed to.
JESUS’ SOUL IS DEEPLY GRIEVED – Matt. 26:36-38:
We note that Jesus is praying that this cup of suffering would pass by Him and He would not have to drink of the wrath of God. But in the process, He is praying that He would be obedient to the Father’s will.
If we don’t play by rules, there are consequences and penalties as all of us who are involved in sports one way or another understand. When it comes to the “game of life,” obviously, God is the one who sets the rules. And God tells us that disobedience to His law will affect our prayers getting answered: “He who turns away his ear from listening to the law, Even his prayer is an abomination” (Prov. 28:9; see also Psalm 66:18).
JESUS PRAYS TO AVOID THE “CUP OF SUFFERING” – Matt. 26:39-41:
The cup which Jesus did not want to drink was the cup of God’s wrath. We have seen that cup or “bowl of wrath” used a lot in the book of Revelation. It is used often in the OT prophets and refers to the wrath or anger of God as it is expressed in punishment against sin.
We need to pray for ourselves and our spouse that he or she will have a clean heart and that God will give them words that will edify and bring life to the family and others. We need discernment from God relative to what to say and how to say it.
JESUS DETERMINES TO OBEY, REGARDLESS OF THE COST – Matt. 26:42-46:
It is clear that:
1) Jesus did not want to go to the cross! (He prayed three times that something else could be done).
2) Jesus trusted the Father to do the right thing.
3) Jesus was determined to obey whatever the Father had determined for Him to do.
Pray that you and your spouse will trust God to do the right thing in your life, at all times, and pray that you and your spouse will always obey what Jesus tells us to do.
Paul Holland
