By Tom Thomas –
Prayer is one of the three pillars of Lent. However, it is not only during Lent that we are exhorted to pray at all times. It is said that most of us turn to prayer in times when we feel totally abandoned by those who we thought would be with us, our family and friends, and when everything that we worked for seems meaningless. What do we do in such times – do we turn to God or away from God? How do we pray when we do turn towards God?
In such moments, it would be wise to learn what our Lord Jesus did in situations beyond his control. When He faced the ultimate betrayal by one of his twelve companions his response, we are given a step-by-step description in the Gospels. His last few hours on earth were/are a blueprint for us.
Here is the sequence the Lord followed:
RETREAT
He went to a place (Gethsemane) and told the disciples “Sit here while I pray” (Mk 14:32- 42)., “ Sit here while I go over there and pray”(Mt 26: 36-46)., Jesus went out to the Mount of Olives, and said, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation,” (Lk 22:39-46),, When he has finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and entered the Kidron valley (Jn 18:1).
Let us look into the above incidents in detail: After the Last Supper, the Lord retreated to Gethsemane, which in Aramaic means “Oil Press”. It was a garden at the foot of Mount Olives, East of Jerusalem. Possibly, Jesus retreated there for solace or comfort or maybe even safety to harness his strength to do the will of the Father.
In times of turmoil, this could also be a pointer for us to retreat to a safe harbour, a sanctuary such as a Church or a wayside chapel, or even a quiet room. The stillness of these precious moments prepares us for the next steps, by talking to the Lord, consulting the Lord, and much more listening to the Lord. Can we imagine what Jesus went through in Gethsemane? What might have been the emotions running through His mind?
The word Garden, incidentally is found only in John (Jn 18:1, 19:41) and it contrasts with the first Garden ( Gen 3). The first parents yielded to their natural will and went away from the Divine will in the garden of Eden, and John contrasts Jesus’ behaviour as the opposite, not yielding to one’s natural will but yielding to the Father’s will as a son.
PRAYER
One of the most intense moments of prayer in the life of our Lord is captured in Mk 14:32- 42, Mt 26: 36-46,Lk 22:39-46, Jn 12: 27-28, Heb 5:7-10.
In Luke Jesus is found to be a praying person and an Angel comes to assist him ( Lk 22;43) and He prayed so intensely that His sweat fell like drops of blood to the ground ( Lk 22:44). They do not give this detail in other Gospels. The Letter to the Hebrews says, ‘He invoked God by loud cries’ in the garden. There are subtle differences in the Gospels. The overall theme conveyed is the intensity of the prayer experience, and Jesus takes only three of his disciples with him – Peter, James, and John for this, to provide companionship and support, possibly. However, we know even they were falling asleep, maybe because of tiredness or extreme sorrow. They left Jesus at this most critical moment all alone. Total loneliness. He was about to be kissed by the betrayer and abandoned by the disciples.
Mathew and Mark say Jesus fell on his feet, and the Priest adopts this posture on Good Friday symbolising complete submission. A similar practice is followed for the ordination of deacons and priests today. In Luke, Jesus is found kneeling down and this was adopted as a Christian posture of prayer by Luke, as we can see in Acts of Apostles when Stephen kneels down praying for forgiveness of those who stoned him (Acts 7:60), Peter before he wakes Tabitha from death ( Acts 9:40) , Paul kneels to bid farewell to the Ephesian elders (Acts 20:36) and again when the disciples tell him not to go up to Jerusalem (Acts 21:5).
We can see a wide range of praying postures mentioned in the scriptures above and even in the Old Testament we have many examples (Num 16:4-5) of Moses falling on his face before the Lord. Hence a fitting posture will express bodily our feelings and our disposition. Regardless of the posture adopted, we can take away from all this, that prayer is indeed important as a means of communication with the Lord.
ACCEPT
Jesus prayed for the Cup to be taken away if possible. Saint John Chrysostom says Jesus had two natures, but he surrendered human nature as He was sure of the Divine nature and the two natures merged into one. Both Angel and Satan also could have come to Jesus at this critical moment. As we see in Luke 4:13 though the devil could not tempt Jesus, he departed from Him till an opportune time. The strength to endure temptation through prayer and fasting held Jesus through these critical moments too.
Once we have received our answer from the Lord, we have to accept whatever is laid out for us. Just like married couples are called to accept each other for life “in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health” we have to accept the Will of the Father for us in that situation or vocation we have taken upon ourselves.
GOING THROUGH
Once He had accepted the will of the Father, He completed the Mission assigned him right to the very end. There was no looking back. The final words mentioned in Lk 23:46, “Father into thy hands I commend my Spirit.” There is no looking back for us. We too have to complete our Mission in life.
We can accomplish this by praying unceasingly, as exhorted to do in 1 Thess 5:17.
Henri Nouwen says in his book The Way of the Heart, “The crisis of our prayer life is that our mind may be filled with ideas of God while our heart remains far from Him. Real prayer comes from the heart.” He further tells us, “Through the discipline of prayer we awaken the God in us and let Him enter into our heartbeat and thoughts and emotions, our hearing and seeing, touching and tasting.”
A good way to practice praying with the heart is to dip into a nineteenth-century spiritual classical set in Russia with the title, “The Way of a Pilgrim”
Suffice for us to keep in our hearts and minds this quote:
“In short, every action of every day should cause you to remember and praise God, and if you do this, then you will be praying ceaselessly and your soul will always be joyful.” – The Way of a Pilgrim