In order to pray properly, to pray the will of God, we have to know the mind and heart of God.  The Word gives us all of this information.  Our humanism and our emotions need to be left outside of the prayer closet; amen?  Because this is a holy place.  So, the heart of Jesus.  We shared so often where John makes it clear that “It’s to do Your will.  It’s to do Your will.  It’s to do Your will.  I haven’t come to speak My own words, but the words of He that sent Me.”  All of these different truths are revealed about Jesus and His relationship with His Father.

Mark, Chapter 1, says, “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed” (verse 35).  The early morning aspect of this is just showing us the way that He got into a solitary place.  You have to get alone with God; amen?  Solitary.  Alone with God.  You have to get quiet.  One of my most solitary places is when I’m walking alone.  There are no distractions coming out of the other room, there’s not a background TV playing, there’s not somebody wanting to ask a question.  There’s not all of these things going on.  To be able to just get out alone with God and start listening.  “Father, what do You have for my life today?  Where do You want to meet me today?  Which area of my life needs to be refined so I can look more like You?  I want to hide Your Word in my heart so that I don’t sin against You with my thoughts.”  I’m not talking about lustful thoughts.  That could be part of it, but my humanistic thoughts.  My confidence in myself; thinking I can actually change something for God.  My thoughts of self-pity, “Nobody’s ever been here before.  This is uncharted territory.  This burden supersedes anything that any human being could ever know.”

Jesus was there.  Tempted in every way, He chose to glorify the Father; amen?  He did it by being filled with the Holy Ghost.  He did it by speaking nothing but, “It is written…”  “Well, Jesus was God.”  Yes, very God, but Jesus was a man that had emotions just like you.  We see His emotions very clear in the Scriptures as He wept for loved ones, as He agonized.  We see Jesus wrestling with God just like Jacob did over partaking of that cup, saying, “If there is another way, let Me out of this thing.”  Amen?  We’ll see a little bit tonight about it.  He agonized in prayer, in embracing the heart and mind of God.

I remember as clearly as if it happened yesterday.  The Lord spoke to me so clearly.  He said, “I’m not sparing her life this time.”  As I was in war for my wife’s life, I felt in my body, in my very soul, every pain she was going through, embracing it in myself.  God is touched with the feelings of our infirmities; amen?  I got up from that spot, and I went home.  I walked into the bedroom, and walked over to the bedside.  She wasn’t strong, but she opened her eyes, smiled, and said, “I’m going to die, aren’t I?”  Not my will, Thy will be done; amen?  I looked at her, and I said, “Yes.  Yeah, Father’s going to take you home.  The fight’s over.  The Lord has spoken.”  So, you turn from petition to praise and thanksgiving for all the blessings God’s given us.  Not my will; Thy will be done.  Praying with resignation to the sovereignty of God, knowing that He knows best how to glorify Himself.  Isn’t it all about Him being glorified?  I mean, how much do we constantly read in the Scriptures that God might be exalted, that He would be glorified, that His will would be manifest; amen?