He Begged God

“God had the power to save Jesus from death. And while Jesus was on earth, he begged God with loud crying and tears to save him. He truly worshiped God, and God listened to his prayers.” Hebrews 5:7

People have countless images of Jesus. We view Him as the Super-Human miracle-worker slashing demons with a single word. Or, we see Him as the compassionate Healer, touching the sick and restoring them to health. He is the Good Shepherd, tenderly leading His sheep to safety. He is the fearless Master of Creation, stilling the storm with His voice.

But how often do we see Him as a frail man, overwhelmed to the point of death? We certainly do not envision Him as being depressed or weak. Yet, on the night of the Last Supper, before He was betrayed, He told the three disciples who had followed Him to the garden, “I am so sad that I feel as if I am dying.”

Does that shock you? If I were making up a story about the Son of God, and wanting people to believe that He was All-Powerful, I don’t think I would ever have chosen describe Him as “sad as death.” I would avoid anything that made Him look weak at all. For me, these are the little things that authenticate the gospels. They are the tidbits that strongly suggest a first-hand account of the events.

What does it mean that the Son of God could despair so deeply? Why would Jesus ever have to beg God to save Him? Jesus is confronted with the most stressful events of His life and He weeps and cries out loudly for Father God to save Him.

If there is a single thing this moment teaches me, it is that I can cry out with tears and not feel as if I am being weak. If the Son of God had moments when His prayer was, at least for a moment, a blubbering mess, then my tear-stained prayers must be acceptable to God as well. With the horrors facing Him of the lashing of whips and the terror of crucifixion, we would not blame Him for asking to be saved.

“He truly worshiped God.” Does that phrase demolish your highest views of worship? Isn’t worship the beauty of hymns sung along with lit candles in a cathedral-like atmosphere? Or, perhaps it is loud clapping and dancing to songs that make people want to shout God’s praise. Or perhaps it is the recitation of the Psalms as cantors read a verse and listeners respond with “Amen”. Or it is the awe of nature’s beauty, the thankfulness of answered prayer, the glory of a newly reborn life or the remembrance of Jesus at the Last Supper.

But, are my sniveling and tears accompanied my shouts of pain also worship? Does Father God really look down on the cries from my broken spirit as honest worship? Perhaps that is actually more honest worship than much of what we call by the same name. All I know is that when Jesus cried out in the garden, the Scripture says, “He truly worshiped God.”

For me, it makes prayer easier when I realize Jesus also had at least one moment when what He faced was so overwhelming that His prayer was called begging, and He did it with tears and loud cries.

Tell God, on a regular basis, how you are feeling and what you are thinking. Don’t hold back, thinking such prayers are weak or without faith. Jesus showed us it is alright to come to God in our weakness, and that God actually hears and answers such prayer.

So, next time you feel like crying yourself to sleep, or are so angry you want to punch a wall or scream into your pillow, remember God understand. Jesus was deeply anguished and He knew exactly where to go. He didn’t wait until He got His act together, and then pray with nice church-words. He prayed from the deepest and most needy place within. He was extremely emotional in this prayer.

Don’t hold back. Not every prayer has to be all tears and groaning, of course. But when life has you in a headlock, the nice “God is with us, know let us bow our heads in silence” prayer just doesn’t cut it! Tell Him, cry out to Him, yell and weep; it’s not like God doesn’t know how you feel already, anyway.