Matthew 26:36-46
Garden of Gethsemane
36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. 41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
42 He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”
43 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. 44 So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.
45 Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”
John 17:1-26
Jesus Prays Three Different Prayers
1 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:
“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
6 “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.
13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
Jesus knew what was coming in the next several hours for Him...Before His arrest and His being tortured and His death on the cross He was very anxious...Jesus final hours were spent in prayer...Jesus soul was overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death...And so He prayed...
That night for Jesus shows His humanity...While He could not sleep with the thoughts of His Humanly Death on His mind He prayed...And while He was awake, His Disciples slept...There thoughts were not those of anxious men dreading what was about to happen...They relaxed and slept...What contrast there is between Jesus and His Disciples...And the contrast is ever present and we especially see this contrast on this night...He knew what was about to happen, and His Disciples did not...And so they slept...
And while they slept Jesus prayed His longest recorded prayers in the Bible...And not only did He pray for His Disciples, He prayed for Himself...And then He prays for all of His believers...And that third prayer is for us, for those who still believe in Him...And His Prayer for us goes like this, “My prayer is not for them alone...I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I AM in You...May they also be in Us so that the world may believe that you have sent Me...I have given them the glory that You gave Me, that they may be one as We are One— I in them and You in Me—so that they may be brought to complete unity...Then the world will know that you sent Me and have LOVED them even as You have loved Me...“Father, I want those you have given Me to be with Me where I AM, and to see My glory, the glory you have given Me because you LOVED Me before the creation of the world...“Righteous Father, though the world does not know You, I know You, and they know that You have sent Me...I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the LOVE You have for Me may be in them and that I Myself may be in them.”...
When Jesus was anxious and troubled He prayed, so it is good that we pray when we are troubled and anxious...May we pray that we find the harmony in life that He had...May we pray that we all be neighbors in complete unity as He asks us to be...