Our Lord Jesus was 100% God and 100% man. Although that isn't easy for our minds to wrap around, it is truth. Being 100% man made Jesus a perfect candidate for every type of trial and temptation that we face today. They may not have come in the same package, but they were just as difficult and real as trials and temptations are to us.
Hebrews 4:15
"For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin."
While reading through the Gospels over the last few months, there has been something that keeps jumping out at me that I had never noticed before. Jesus actually had a prayer that was UNANSWERED!! He was 100% God, yet as a man, he experienced a definite NO from His heavenly Father.
Matthew 26:39
"And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt."
Jesus begged the Lord that the cup of death and sin would pass from Him. He did not want to face and become sin. What was God's answer to this prayer? It was, "No." Our Savior, the all-powerful, all-knowing Son of the Most High received a NO from His Father.
If Jesus' prayer had been answered by a "yes," we would have no hope for Heaven today. Because of that "no," we can now experience salvation and saving grace.
Have you ever been through an experience that only made sense to those who had also been through the same thing? But think about this...when you pray, the Lord hears your prayers and knows just how you feel whether the answer is "yes" or "no."
Hebrews 4:16
"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."
Lately I've been trying to stop praying for the outcomes for which I wish. Instead, though hard as it may be at times, I really try just pray that His will would be made revealed to me and that I would be contended with it. That way I'm not seeing it as unanswered prayers (when it doesn't turn out the way that I want). Many many many times I have had to wait on the Lord to reveal His will to me. To keep me busy in prayer against asking of my own will during these times, I ask for the ability to wait on Him and trust Him. We say we trust Him and wait on Him, but there are so many levels to that. Many of us could honestly assess that we have hard times trusting and waiting on the Lord 100% of the time. I thank Him for not revealing His will to me sometimes, bc in failing to do so, He refines my trust in Him.
ReplyDeleteAmen to that, Tasha! Really, every time we pray, it should end in "Thy will be done." There really are not any unanswered prayers. It's just that sometimes the answer is "no." It is a wonderful thing to ask the Lord that our desires would become His. Thank you so much for your wonderful comment!!
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