Focus: Spiritual Passion

Text: Lk.22:44

"And being in an agony HE PRAYED MORE EARNESTLY: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground."

Our Lord Jesus Christ is always passionate and intentional in all He does. He has no time for frivolities or trivial things. Even when a no less personality as king Herod demanded to see Him, He said, "Tell that fox that I've no time for him right now. Today and tomorrow I'm busy clearing out the demons and healing the sick; the third day I'm wrapping things up" (Lk.13:32 Message). You cannot find around Jesus any sort of lukewarmness, apathy, lethargy, casualness, indifference, complacency or compromise. You cannot trace mediocrity or even ordinary moments to Him. For Christ, every moment is sacred, and He gives His best to anything that is worth doing at all. He is always earnest and deliberate in whatever He does. He puts His heart and mind into His actions.

In his moments of agony we are informed that "he prayed more earnestly." He pressed further and prayed harder. The words "more earnestly" literally means that He prayed, stretching Himself out to the limits. In that moment of intense prayer He prepares Himself for the suffering of the cross. Gethsemane was a preparation for the cross. He prays away His fears and embraces the cross as a divine finality. In that moment of darkness He receives the strength to bear the pain of death. The Lord Jesus Christ gained the victory of the cross from His prayer in Gethsemane. His prayer did not remove the cross, but it did put power in Him to successfully atone for the sin of the world, and to overcome Death and Satan through the cross.

You cannot use prayer to circumvent the will of God. Prayer is meant to advance the will of God, not to circumvent it. Whatever is the will of God for your life is your cross, and you cannot pray it away. In prayer we welcome and surrender to the will of God, and also receive the power both to defeat the forces arrayed against God's will and to fulfill it.

On the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus Christ prayed, and we read that "AS HE PRAYED, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering" (Lk.9:29). This is another intense and deliberate prayer of Jesus Christ. Intensity and intentionality describe all Jesus' actions. It is prayer of real effort, producing great effects. As He prayed He was transformed, that is to say, He supernaturally metamorphosed. He prayed forth or out the glory that was in Him. The glory inside of Him came upon Him. In the place of prayer Jesus simply exploded, like when a cocoon changes or metamorphoses into a butterfly.

Luke reports concerning Peter, James and John, who were with Jesus at that moment, "And when they were awake, THEY SAW HIS GLORY." John writes later, "(And WE BEHELD HIS GLORY, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,)." Peter testifies that they "were EYEWITNESSES OF HIS MAJESTY… there came such a voice to him from THE EXCELLENT GLORY…" (Jh.1:14; 2Pet.1:16,17).

Prayer produces glory. It externalizes the internal glory. Through prayer and earnest effort potential is actualized. From the place of prayer we experience the powers of the world to come. But be aware that casual praying cannot do that. One minute prayer will not do that. You cannot be unserious about prayer and expect to encounter the glory of God. God wants serious minded and intentional people at the altar of prayer. Vain or empty prayer is weightless before God. It lacks divine gravity. And also bear in mind that casual prayer is not without its casualties. Real prayer is not magic, nor abracadabra.

Praying is a serious spiritual business with God. We pray down the will of God and execute on earth the decisions of our Father in Heaven. Elijah was such a man who took prayer seriously, and who through prayer made things happen. James writes, "Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he PRAYED EARNESTLY that it might not rain…" (Jam.5:17). In the Greek, the phrase 'prayed earnestly' is one word repeated twice for emphasis and intensity. Simply put, Elijah prayed prayer. It is a prayer of intensity, fervency and velocity. The effect of it was that Elijah closed heaven for a space of time, and later reopened the vault of heaven for a heavy downpour.

What about Paul and his companions who were "night and day PRAYING EXCEEDINGLY that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith?" (1Thes.3:10)?

The first century church prayed for Peter's release from prison, and it was no casual prayer. Luke says, "Peter therefore was kept in prison: but PRAYER WAS MADE WITHOUT CEASING of the church unto God for him" (Act.12:5). Again, this was an intense prayer. The soul of the church was into the prayer. Passionate and deliberate prayer. "Without ceasing" does not necessarily mean nonstop praying, but a prayer of intensity. They stretched themselves out to the limits. The result was that God sent His angel to get Peter out of prison.

Spiritual passion is inevitable in spiritual worship and in the business of the kingdom of God. We need to exert energy and exude passion in everything we do for God. Paul says of Epaphras, "Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always LABOURING FERVENTLY FOR YOU IN PRAYERS, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God" (Col.4:12). What a prayer! What a force of spiritual fervency! Paul also tells us of Stephanas and his household, "I beseech you, brethren, (ye know the house of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia, and that they have ADDICTED THEMSELVES to the ministry of the saints,)" (1Cor.16:15). They were passionate about serving the saints and improving their lots. Then comes the church of Macedonia. Paul says that they were "PRAYING US WITH MUCH INTREATY that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints" (2Cor.8:4). They passionately begged Paul to accept their monetary and material assistance. Just imagine a giver begging a receiver to accept a sacrificial gift!

Whether it was prayer, service, giving of offerings, or any other form of spiritual activity or worship, Christ Himself and the people of God demonstrated spiritual passion, intensity and intentionality in their walk with, and work for God. Finally, Jude urges the believers, "And exhort [you] that ye should EARNESTLY CONTEND for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints" (Jude 1:3). This is a divine plea for us to apply earnestness in contending for the faith once passed on to us. We can't afford to let the fire of the Christian Faith go down or burn out. Our faith is worth dying for. It is our sole responsibility to pass on the torch of faith from one generation to another, and we must do so with intense passion and dogged determination.

The Christian Faith is the only hope for humanity. Let's be passionate and intentional in our relationship with Christ. Receive the fire of the Holy Spirit, and let your whole being be ignited in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter