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Pray that this pandemic will end soon and the resumption of the postal service.
Subject 22 : The Gospel According to LUKE
[Chapter 22-2] Pray to Jesus to Defeat Great Temptations to Come by Faith (Luke 22:39-46)
(Luke 22:39-46)
“Coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him. When He came to the place, He said to them, ‘Pray that you may not enter into temptation.’ And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, ‘Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.’ Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow. Then He said to them, ‘Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.’”
To Whom Must We Pray?
Our Lord tells you and me to pray lest we may fall into temptation. The word “temptation” here means experiencing difficulties. The Lord is telling us to stay awake and pray always lest we fall into such temptation. Moreover, the Lord also said God blesses those who endure temptation.
The Lord said, “But you are those who have continued with Me in My trials. And I bestow upon you the Kingdom, just as My Father bestowed it upon Me, that you may eat and drink at My table in My Kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” Furthermore, the Lord said that He would definitely reward His people who have experienced difficulties together with the Lord.
There probably are people here who have already experienced temptation. However, we must pray before the presence of God unceasingly because there will continuously be temptation in the future. Pastor Lee went to the outdoor worship service with the saints of Sockcho Church last Sunday and was lost. Therefore, we must pray for Pastor Lee, pray for ourselves and other brothers and sister, for God’s servants, and for one another. We may actually face all kinds of difficulties at any time. The condition of Pastor Lee has been so bad these days that he has been almost mindless. He was taking medicine to reduce his high blood pressure, and he even showed the early stage of Alzheimer’s disease. He lost his mind recently in similar manner to the symptoms of the Alzheimer’s disease or paralysis that old folks are usually stricken with. We humans are such weak creatures. That’s why our Lord told us, “Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.”
You and I can also experience such difficulty too. If we do not respond properly under such difficulties and if we do not pray to seek help before the presence of God, we can never escape from such difficulties. That’s why the Lord told us to pray always lest we experience difficult things and quit living out our faith due to our discouragement. The Lord said, “Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.”
Actually, things that we are entrusted with seem really simple for us, but there are thousands of factors we must prepare in advance to achieve one task. It means that we must prepare and get ready constantly like this in order to live in this world properly. As we prepare beforehand in the matter of taking care of the family properly, we experience serious difficulty when we do not prepare everything beforehand. Therefore, the Lord tells us to seek help form God with prayer always and prepare for it beforehand so that we may not fall into difficulties. As this is the Word of the Lord, we must always pray and seek before His presence. We must seek the Lord’s help. We must remember that the people who seek God’s help in all things are the ones who live out their faith properly. Living like that is the proper attitude of the people with faith and the life of the people of true faith, the righteous. We must be Christians who seek the things we need for ourselves, pray for the Kingdom of God, and pray for our brothers and sisters. I mean that we need to be the people who seek help from God in all things.
Think about What We Need to Pray for
Think what will happen to us in the future and also what we need to prepare for such an uncertain life. We must think about the things we need for ourselves and seek help from the Lord about such things. The Lord helps us whenever we seek His help, and we can receive the Lord’s help like that and live in this world properly.
We do not know when we will enter into difficulties and what things we will encounter. For example, we who drive must pray always in order to prevent car accidents that can occur suddenly. Car accidents can occur regardless of our watchfulness. We can experience terrible things if we do not pray. We can be protected by the Lord only if we always seek the Lord’s help in everything.
Our brothers and sisters who have a job also experience much hardship. Then, they need to bring such difficulties before the presence of the Lord and seek His help. I mean that we must become people who pray to God to resolve such difficulties and pray for His grace in the matter. It means that we must pray always: We must pray whether we are ministering or engaging in business, and we must always seek the Lord’s help in every matter of our lives. That is why our Lord says through the Word from today’s Scripture passage, “Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.” That is, the Lord is telling you and me to seek help from the Lord and live in the midst of His grace.
No matter what it is, you probably know that there isn’t anything easy. No matter how simple a certain work may seem, we must prepare so much for it and we must seek so much help from God in order to do such work? We can finish that work only when we do it like that. And we must become the people who look back at our selves and see what is needed in God’s Church and seek help from the Lord.
First, we have to pray for ourselves. Then, we must pray for the people who are closest to us. We must also pray for our ministers overseas. It is impossible to proceed with any work properly if we try to live with our own strength only and do not seek God’s help for the sake of our brothers and sisters and the servants of God. We are the people who must always seek help from the Lord and go forth step-by-step in the Lord by faith.
It hurts my heart deeply when I think of how the Pastor Lee got lost, and I think it is our work and the Lord’s work, not someone else’s work. Therefore, we must really pray to God in everything. We must always pray for ourselves, for the brothers and sisters, and for the servants of God.
Do you always pray as you live in this world? Do you by any chance believe in your own strength, your own smarts, and your own wisdom as you live in this world? Such attitude is really the reflection of your arrogance. The Lord has given us all the power to accomplish the tasks that He has entrusted us with. We must become the saints who believe that the Lord has given us such power and will give us all things we need in the future, and we must always pray to God by faith. We must always stay awake, pray unceasingly, and seek the Lord’s help because there will be many difficulties in our lives. Thus, our Lord is saying to us, “Get rid of your own thinking, do not live for yourselves only, and rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.
Time Has Come for Our Lord Who Took All the Sins of the World upon Him at the Jordan River to Carry the Cross
When the Lord went up to the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed, the disciples of Jesus fell asleep. Jesus saw the disciples and said this as He was going up to the garden because He knew that they would face many difficulties in the future. He was saying, “Pray so that you do not fall into temptation and fall too deep into the difficulties.” Then our Lord knelt down and prayed earnestly to God the Father, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” The Scriptures say that the Lord prayed so sincerely that the drops of sweat fell to the ground like blood.
We must also pray to God the Father always as the Lord did so that we do not experience great difficulties in our lives. Don’t you really have many difficulties in your life? Truly, many difficult and dangerous elements are all latent in your life. Therefore, we need to pray even more to avoid such things beforehand. The Lord told us to pray like this beforehand, “Lord, please protect me and take care of me. Please do not let me experience unbearably difficult hardship.”
Anyway, I do not want you think lightly of the prayer we offer to God in your life of faith. I do not want you to think simply that you just need to know your sinlessness in our spiritual walk. We have to lead our own life both in body and spirit. And we definitely need God’s help in our life. I want you to remember the fact that we can live the spiritual life and the social life properly only when God helps us. Although your life seems simple on the outside, it actually isn’t that simple. There are more times when it is hard and difficult. Therefore, you must seek God’s help as you live in the world. There really are many things to pray for. I sincerely want you to become the saints who always keep deep in your heart the Word of the Lord that says, “Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation,” and always pray to God while living in this world.
The Apostle James said, “Those who endure the temptation for the Lord are blessed. The people who endure the difficulties for the Lord and follow the Lord are blessed.” Therefore, pray for yourself. Pray for the evangelization of the gospel. Pray for the lost souls. Pray for the servants of God. I earnestly want all of you to pray for other souls, for yourself, and for God’s Church, and become people who live the proper life of faith.
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