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3-In-One Oil?
How many of you out there know what 3-in-one oil is? For those of you that don’t, it is a multi-purpose oil that been around for over a hundred years. Its claim to fame is that it is a “toolkit in a can” because it does three things very well. It lubricates, cleans and prevents rust as well as many other things. Well after reading, meditating and praying about this piece of scripture, God brought this 3-in-one oil to my mind. You see, prayer does the same 3 things very well that this oil does along with many other things.
God gave as a couple of examples in this text on how to use prayer. Got a concern? Have a sticky situation that needs some “lubrication”? Then Pray to your Father in Heaven. Got a very serious concern? Then pray even harder. Jesus being the perfect example of a prayer warrior prayed so hard and so intensely that he actually caused blood to ooze out of his capillaries and mix with his sweat. (Luke 22:44). Gather those around you or in your church community to pray. The more the better.
Are you being weighed down with the burden of sin? “Clean” yourself off with a prayer of confession. Jesus has already done all of work. Accept His mercy and be lifted up.
Got a bad habit you want to loose? Wanna stop repeating the same old sin? Well then preempt that sinful habit (prevent the rust) and use the power of prayer when the thought of doing it (temptation) comes. Just start praying and keep praying.
Christ was part human and all divine. During His time here in the flesh, He experienced a full range of our human emotions. He felt anger, doubt, abandonment, even fear to name a few of the more unpleasant ones. Yet, He never sinned. He knew what to do (of course He did because after all He was God),….that is to pray. He took his concerns and presented them to His Father in heaven. (Phil 4:6) He knew he was going to suffer an extremely horrible torture and death. He knew he was going to bear the weight of all the world’s sins and in the process be separated from God the Father. His “Plan A” to deal with that? Pray even more fervently.
Thanks Daniel for this.
Herb, I’m inching closer to you!
As I read these verses, I wonder in my humanness whether I can fathom the intensity of Jesus’ prayer. I thank God for the Holy Spirit who intercedes on my behalf because I know my simple prayers still carry a punch because of him.
I then deliberate over the sleeping disciples. Most interesting is the fact that their fatigue was caused by being overcome with sorrow. This seems to be a fatigue that is physical but caused by the mental/spiritual. Jesus implies that when we feel weak and exhausted, (those times that we really don’t feel like praying), that is when it is most important to pray because that is the height of our venerability and when the devil is most likely to attack.
Thanks Jesus for showing me how to pray. Please strengthen me when I’m weak so that I do not falter.
Daniel,
Thank you for your insight.
I’ve been struggling with the idea of “how” to pray. I worry that I’m not doing “it” right. Your words (and His word, of course) helped me along the way. May we always be thankful, too.
3-in-1 oil? A good example that we can all use. Alan will like that one.
Plan A: pray.
Plan B: pray.
In all circumstances, pray.
Some of my prayers are more conversational and relational. Others are intense as I call on the Creator of the universe in awe and desperation. Still some are inarticulate moanings that require help from the Holy Spirit.
Jesus, help me to live a life of prayer. Unceasing.
Thanks Dan! Have a great weekend.
Thanks for sharing this, Dan! It’s such a good reminder to know that God wants to hear it all from us, and that He changes us and heals us in the process.
Thanks Daniel. Excellent words to ponder and I really like the analogy. This made me think of a Taize service. Taize is a combination of prayer, song, participatory prayer and silence designed to achieve a contemplative state in which we communicate with God. Some words from a Taize song, which in the services are repeated over and over with music; “nothing to trouble…nothing to frighten…those who seek God will never go wanting…nothing to trouble…nothing to frighten…God alone fills us.” and everybody said? Amen!
I wonder…was there a specific temptation that Jesus was wanting his disciples to pray against. Was it the temptation to do something stupid…like cut off peoples ears, or was it far greater than that. Like the temptation to believe the deception that Judas was trying so hard to carry out.
The disciples were exhausted from sorrow, one/all of them had to have heard Jesus’ prayer, and seen the angel. They knew the time was imminent.
If the disciples were exhausted from sorrow…where should our prayer exhaustion come from?? Love of the lost? Joy of the coming kingdom? Gratefulness of God’s Mercy? Gratefulness of God’s Grace?
Thanks Dan.
It seems like anguish and prayer are connected. What am I in anguish about? What rips my heart open and and leads to desperation? A wayward child,cancer,poverty,homelessness,people heading for hell? Or have I become so callous to the human condition nothing effect me? THerefore I do not pray?????????
Dan thanks for a great word picture. Peter and Herb could they have been asleep because they were up at 4 am. Lets pray for our youth as they retreat this weekend.
Thanks Daniel-
I love the anology! Prayer is so important. Sometimes it is the first thing I think about doing and sometimes it is the last thing. I pray that becomes more and more the first thing I think about. Because it works.
What a great way to view prayer! God is so faithful! He never asks us to do what He hasn’t already done…now that’s a real coach! To grasp the blood and sweat during Jesus’ prayer in the garden is so amazing. Not only can our struggles be spiritual & mental, but also physical. With out working hard we can’t achieve anything…even then Jesus was teaching us work ethics. So in our prayer lives if we’re not diligent and persistent we may not see fruit. I pray that God continues to show us as a church His plan. Thanks Daniel!