Holy Week DevotionalSample

We arrived on the 4th day of the week. This is the day that Jesus gathers his disciples into the upper room for the Passover before he is betrayed by Judas. As the Passover supper ends, Jesus goes to usual place of prayer: the Garden of Gethsemane.

In the garden, Jesus is ”overwhelmed with sorrow”. He fell to the ground and prayed, “Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” We see so much of Jesus’ humanity here as He is wrestling with the Father’s plans for Him. What a great description of prayer!

So many people think of prayer as a dignified set of beautiful words that have been crafted and are presented in a perfect way.

No! Prayer is when you get honest with God. God can handle your hurts and heartaches. He wants you to bring your frustrations to Him! He wants you to pour out your emotions and concerns to Him so He can strengthen and equip you to walk through life.

When was the last time you got real with God? When was the last time you had a good cry in your prayer time? Life can be brutal, but we don’t have to carry those worries or concerns on our own, we can surrender them to him.

As Jesus closes out his prayer, he says “yet not as I will, but your will be done”. This is a beautiful way to end all of our times with God: getting honest with Him about what you want, but surrendering your desires and being willing to do what He has called you to do. When you surrender to God's will, even if it's tough, even if it's painful, there will be freedom on the other side.

Look at the other side of Jesus' surrender. After the garden, He goes to the cross. It's a difficult season. But what happens? He's raised from the dead. He is victorious over death, hell and the grave. Jesus shows his calling is more important than comfort. And look at the life change that's possible because of His surrender. The same is possible with your life.

Today as you pray: surrender those deep internal struggles to God, and ask Him to sustain and give you strength like Jesus had in His final days.