When Life Is Tough, Use These 4 Ingredients Of Christ-Like Prayer

Gethsemene was one of the darkest moments of Jesus' life. He knew He was about to be betrayed. His closest friends had fallen asleep rather than support Him. He was beginning to anticipate the coming separation from His Father.

Gethsemene is also the moment of one of Jesus' most famous prayers. Mark's gospel records it like this (Mark 10:36)

“Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

What can we learn from Jesus' prayer? I noticed four specific movements in this short verse. I believe we can discover four important truths about prayer from each movement.

1. He addressed God as Father. "Abba" is an intimate word, similar to our English word "Daddy". This is the same way He began the Lord's Prayer. We should take heed. Because God is our Father we can depend on Him to always give us GOOD GIFTS.

2. He acknowledged God's power and sovereignty. By saying "all things are possible", Jesus acknowledged that nothing would or could happen to Him that was outside God's plan or ability. God is never surprised, worried, or stressed about what is going in our lives.

3. He asked for what He wanted. Jesus knew that God would likely not "remove the cup" of suffering. Yet, He asked anyway. God loves when we bring our requests to Him. He wants us to tell Him what we want and what we feel (He knows that it is good for us to open up about these things). Remember, He wants us to pray in Jesus' name, which means as much as possible try to offer requests with which Jesus would agree.

4. He submitted to God's will. This also is similar to the Lord's Prayer. Jesus acknowledged that God always knows what is best and does what is best. Even though God's will may not initially be our will, we can be sure that whatever He allows in our life is exactly what we need at that moment so that we can become the people He created us to be.

FOUR STEPS TO PRAYING LIKE JESUS (summary)

• Address God as your good Father
• Remember and acknowledge that He is in control
• Tell Him whatever you want to say
• Trust Him to do what is best