When God Told Jesus No: Daily Thoughts from Mark (Mark 14:32-42)

Many of us struggle with prayer. We feel obligated to talk to God but find it boring, or ourselves distracted, and we get discouraged. We have also experienced God not answering our prayers the way we think He should have. That’s further discouragement. Do we really understand prayer?

Jesus didn’t seem to suffer from these issues. Prayer was that intimate conversation with his Father that he sought often. It was not always asking for things, but now, in his last day before crucifixion, he was asking.

And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.” And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they did not know what to answer him. And he came the third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.” (Mark 14:32-42, ESV) 

We normally see Jesus ready for any situation and filled with faith, unflappable despite the circumstances.  But here we see him in tremendous distress as he anticipates his death.  His humanity is on display as both the inbuilt dread of dying, that every human being has, kicks in and the prospect of the severity of the suffering he must go through weighs on him.  He longs for the companionship and support of his closest friends but they cannot understand what he is going through and are too sleepy to pray with him.

When he asks the Father to let this hour pass so that he doesn’t have to die we would expect the Father to immediately say okay.  But Jesus knows that this is the purpose for which he came and the Father cannot answer his prayer in the affirmative.  God will not give us what we ask for when it contradicts His purposes.  Though indeed all things are possible for God, there are requirements that must be met, in this case, for Him to be able to forgive us.  Sin’s debt must be paid by us or by Jesus as our substitute.

There are times in our own lives when we will have clarity of the issues like Jesus did, and like him we will yield to the Father’s will despite our own desires. Our conversations with God will be intense and intimate.  But much of the time we are caught, like the disciples, in a spiritual stupor, not realizing how susceptible we are to temptation and not, therefore, watching and praying to avoid yielding to it. We may not even be able to hear or respond to Jesus challenging us to pray. Like the disciples, we may not know what to say to him.

“Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation,” Jesus said. That was spoken for a specific occasion, but no doubt has broad application for us. The occasions for temptation abound. Are we praying or sleeping?  Only if we sense the danger of our situation will we be drawn into intimate conversation with God.