Commitment in Prayer – Luke 22: 39-46 

“He came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples followed him.  When he reached the place, he said to them, ‘Pray that you may not come into the time of trial.’ Then he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, knelt down, and prayed, ‘Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done.’  Then an angel from heaven appeared to him and gave him strength.  In his anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground.  When he got up from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping because of grief, and he said to them, ‘Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not come into the time of trial.’”

‘Words of prayer should always have the quality of commitment’, that is if it’s real prayer.

How often do we truly identify with our prayers?  We pray for situations, for people, we ask God to intervene and act; and having prayed, we sit back, our duty done, waiting for results.  But praying for something surely implies that we are prepared to stand with God in trying to achieve it.  Shoulder to shoulder.  The Good Samaritan didn’t hold a roadside prayer meeting and then walk on, he put the man on his horse….. (I’m sure you all know the story, if not then it can be found in Luke 10: 25-37)

When we pray for peace, do our lives show involvement – whether in human, social or political terms – which encourages peace?  When we pray for healing, do we try to create the conditions of rest and change in which healing can take place? When we pray that the hungry may be fed, do we actually do anything?  Or are we praying in a vacuum? As I understand it, sound waves don’t travel in a vacuum!  There are times when we pray instead of doing, when we’re perfectly capable of acting to put something right, but don’t have the courage to do it.  Times when we wrap prayer around us like insulating foam, it seems absolutely pointless to ask God for something which we ourselves are not prepared to do.

Of course, sometimes we are truly powerless to achieve anything, except for prayer, but even then there still has to be that commitment.

In the passage above it says:

‘In his anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became

 like great drops of blood falling down on the ground.’

Can we say that describes our praying?

There are times when we need to take up our own cross, and not expect Christ to do it for us.  However, that’s not saying we should do things in our own strength, it’s simply saying that the Lord expects us to develop our own sense of responsibility, and that’s often through action, and in fighting the good fight that we prove his power with us.

His words “I am with you, always” is a promise of presence, but not an undertaking to do it all for us!

Prayer

Lord, when I pray for peace, help me not to create dissention. 

When I pray for my neighbours stir me up to help them.

When I pray ‘Your kingdom come’ inspire me to share in its building.

Help me put my will where my mouth is, and not to shift onto your shoulders the things I can do something about myself.

Amen.

Penny Bonham