Verses 7 and 8 caught my attention today: "During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered 9and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him."
Jesus was one who prayed a lot. He would remove himself from the group and would pray on a regular basis. Certainly his prayers in the garden of Gethsemane are quite notable and remembered as loud cries and tears. What caught my eye was just that phrase of "with loud cries and tears" as if this was a more frequent occurance - a good model of prayer. Certainly also the "reverent submission" is a call to us to submit ourselves to God - similar to "thy kingdom come, thy will be done".
Lord Jesus I submit my will to you and choose to follow you. Help me to obey you and put you first in all my thoughts and decisions.
I was surprised by those verses too. I often wondered why Jesus would need to pray, because he is God. But he suffered the same temptations as us, and went through the same difficulties as we do, and still he did not sin. I need to learn to follow Jesus' example of prayer, and learn to fight against temptation, and seek God's help in difficulty with even "loud cries and tears."
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