Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
We are to pray for good things (Matthew 7:7-11), for “the prayers of all saints” ascend “before the throne” of God (Revelation 8:3-4). We must thus pray for others, as we studied yesterday. Clearly, we must also pray for ourselves. As I often say, a prayer for self is not necessarily a selfish prayer. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed for what was before Him: “Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from Me: nevertheless not My will, but Thine, be done.” No one else could really understand what Jesus was going through – and it only got worse: “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” (Luke 27:46b) was His prayer from the Cross. Certainly none of us can comprehend that separation within the Godhead. Often when we pray for ourselves, no one else knows of our particular need. Sometimes circumstances arise when we are alone. Also, we may be uncomfortable sharing certain personal matters. In these instances, praying for ourselves is the only option available, and we should avail ourselves of it.