Praying one of Jesus' overlooked prayers

After nearly twenty-five years living in tight urban quarters, I have a garden plot! Life is great when an early morning stroll past my 12' x 20' garden plot reveals that seeds have germinated. As I pause, a “red letter” lesson from the gospels is renewed. Jesus taught, and the lesson is recorded in all four of the Gospels,
“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. “Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!” – Matthew 12:23-27

Have you noticed how many Christian publications emphasize themes frightfully akin to magazines at the grocer’s checkout counter? The themes focus on developing skills which give the reader an advantage over those who do not read the authors “secrets of success.” “Realizing our better selves” sells books! Mastering lessons of success enriches publishers and authors alike. From my perspective, “How to do” books dominate. There seems to be little interest in discussing “what to be.”

Does your soul, like mine, crave a more relaxed, simpler and more restful approach to knowing the One who called us to follow? Do you long for understanding more thoroughly the revolutionary idea advanced by Jesus on the importance of dying well, and in the process, living well? No, I am not morose and curious about physical death, but eager to learn to live more daringly. I long to learn how to let go of “world” to find “eternal life” in present soul-satisfying service.

Have you contemplated Jesus’ “heart trouble?” Is wrestling with the pressure to accept an alternative to the mission assigned by Jesus a worthy spiritual war, or are we content to cast out the demons in others? Are we curious about how Jesus expects us to carry out our assignment, or do we simply embrace the methods and measurements of peers?

How thoroughly can we learn to pray Jesus’ often overlooked prayer, “Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? Father, glorify your name!” There isn’t too much akin to “taking it to the next level” inferred in Jesus’ intercessions. Jesus’ triumph was the cross, not a mega event or envied organization. His satisfaction was and is found in loving service, in healing, feeding, releasing others. Slick, efficient methods that lead to “look-at-us” may become a distraction to “look-like-Jesus” service. The method may indeed become the message.

I am pondering this today.