A LESSON FROM GETHSEMANE

 

“We must do as Jesus did – preface our prayers by saying, “If it be possible”, let the trial pass from us – by saying, “Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt”, and bowing in a sense of serenity to our Father in heaven’s wisdom, because at times God will not be able to let us pass by a trial or a challenge.

“If we were allowed to bypass certain trials, everything that had gone on up to that moment in our lives would be wiped out. It is because he loves us that at times he will not intercede as we may wish Him to. That, too, we learn from Gethsemane and from Calvary.”

-        Neal A. Maxwell, “But For a Small Moment”, Sept 1974 BYU Speeches

I used to think that some people have been allotted to experiences trials in this life emotionally and others physically. I classified myself in the emotional category. Imagine my surprise when I arrived to my 60s facing physical challenges which have morphed into the classification of ‘suffering’.

I didn’t think I deserved it after everything I have been through in my life emotionally and so I threw myself into a tug-o-war with my mortality. The resistance escalated my physical suffering.

A very dear and close friend of mine has been trying for a long time to teach me about acceptance. She kept saying acceptance is everything. I made some progress in that respect over the years until this principle came upon me very strongly recently and liberated me from absence of peace.

Imagine if the Saviour was spared His crucible of Gethsemane. If everything He did up until then was really wasted: His preparation in pre-existence, our sustaining vote of Him and our preparation for earthly life, the creation of this earth, all the people that lived before the Gethsemane experience, His condescension, His teachings, His miracles, His promise of eternal life through His sacrifice…..

Of course, this would have never happened because of the Saviour's impeccable integrity but He had His free agency to the very end and the possibility of such a scenario doesn't bear thinking.

My friend claims I should always say ‘yes’ to whatever God asks of me. I am grateful beyond my ability to express that my Saviour did so.

Because of You,

I do not belong to the enemy.

Because of You,

I am not lost in obscurity.

Because of You,

Death cannot claim me for eternity.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Jesus Christ the Creator by SKAI Studios)

KNOWING GOD

 

 

In his message to the unbelievers, Moroni points out that those who do not believe in the revelations of God, prophecies, gifts and healings, do not understand the scriptures nor do they know the unchangeable God ‘in whom they should trust’ (Mormon 9:8,19,20). This certainly includes those of us who have the Gospel but do not really ‘know’ God.

This is what I found interesting in Moroni’s message. Having listed all the things that prove that God is a God of miracles, Moroni brings prayer into the equation by saying that ‘whatsoever we ask the Father in the name of Jesus, doubting nothing’ will be given us (v 21). This is a plain indication that answers to prayers are included in the category of miracles, because they are one of the major ways of knowing God.

However, asking for ‘whatsoever’ comes with a warning: we should ask for what we stand in need of and that which will enable us to serve God (v 27,28). This is about submitting ourselves to God’s will. This is a scary concept for some of us because we feel that God’s will means denial of things that we want. In actuality, God’s will means something so much better:

 “Many of us are kept from eventual consecration because we mistakenly think that, somehow, by letting our will be swallowed up in the will of God, we lose our individuality (Mosiah 15:7). What we are really worried about, of course, is giving up not self but selfish things – like our roles, our time, our pre-eminence, and our possessions.

“No wonder we are instructed by the Saviour to lose ourselves (Luke 9:24). He is only asking us to lose the old self in order to find the new self. It is a question not of one’s losing identity but of finding one’s true identity.”  (Neal A. Maxwell, “If Thou Endure It Well”, p 51).

This is a sobering thought in our self-centered world where individuality and identity has become an obsession. However, nobody knows better who we truly are than God whom we should know enough to trust. We are His greatest miracle.

He will move heaven and earth to ensure we become who we are meant to be. He will chart our journey always for our ultimate good. If we know Him, we will trust Him and we will be able to let go of our self-perception according to our limited earthly knowledge.

The Saviour, in His hour of agony, trusted this process to the Father when He said, “Thy will be done” (Matthew 26:42). He now sits on His throne that He was destined to possess in the beginning. We likewise, were destined to be priests and priestesses, kings and queens to reign with Him forever and ever…..if we will but allow God to make of us what we are meant to become and be wise in the days of our probation that we ‘may be found spotless, pure, fair, and white, having been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, at that great and last day (vs 6, 28).

I will trust in Thee

My God and my King

To make of me what I am

Meant to be.

I will look up to heaven

And believe in Thy throne;

I will trust in the strength of Thine arms

To carry me home.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(ART: Not My Will by Yongsung Kim)

HEAVENLY PRAYER

 

In my last post I wrote about the Lord’s trust in 3^rd Nephi whom He gave power over the earth and over the people. So great was His trust in Nephi that He promised He would obey his instruction to smite the people if Nephi deemed it necessary (Helaman 10:10). It gets interesting from there.

The wording of the promise of power made to Nephi does not instruct Nephi to ask God to smite the earth with famine, but rather it just gives Nephi power to do so himself. When the time came in seventy and third year of the reign of the judges for the people to be saved from annihilation by the sword, Nephi, however, importuned the Lord to stir them up in remembrance by a famine instead (Helaman 11:4). No exercise of his power, but supplication to God in acknowledgement of His power.

And when the people repented, again a supplication for an ending to the famine (v 10-16). In verse 14, Nephi does not remind the Lord that He promised He would do whatever Nephi told him to, but he makes a point in reminding Him that He said He would save the people if they repented. Can you see? The power given him never went to Nephi’s head.

In his October 1944 conference talk, President Marion G. Romney spoke of two necessary components of a righteous prayer. He said that first, submission to God’s will is paramount and second, we should live so righteously that we will enjoy the companionship of the spirit which will dictate what we ask for.

Nephi followed this perfect formula. When he asked for the famine, in just one verse, he made no demands but rather submitted to God’s will by saying ‘let there be a famine’ (Helaman 11:4). He pleaded with Him to end it in seven verses, four of which were laced with ‘wilt thou’ (v 10-16). No demands, only exceeding humility and submission to God’s will. No wonder the Lord trusted him.

And this is the proof that Nephi prayed under the direction of the spirit. He and his brother Lehi had many revelations daily (v 23). It is simply not possible to have the spirit with you to such an extent and not have it dictate to you what you should pray for and when. I’d say Nephi followed the formula to the letter.

We can be given utterance for heavenly prayers if we have the companionship of the Holy Ghost on a daily basis. If we are serious about receiving the blessings that the Father would have us receive, we will pray in such a way.

Sometimes we are afraid to submit to God’s will in our prayers because we think His will is bound to be contrary to our desires, so we continue to pray for what we want instead. The key to receiving our desires, however, is very often our willingness to submit, no matter what.

And if we have the companionship of the spirit, our earthly desires will become less important anyway. Faith is another component of receiving what we pray for under the influence of the Holy Ghost. God cannot give us something we do not believe He will give.

Consider the Lord’s prayer. Jesus did not tell us what to pray for but He taught the ‘manner’ after which we should pray (Matthew 6:9-13). Manner here insinuates a pattern: first came acknowledgement and praise, second came submission to God’s will, third came humility in expressing dependance on God, fourth came the petition for forgiveness, fifth came the petition for protection, and the conclusion was as the beginning, acknowledgement of God’s superiority and power.

Even Jesus, a God in His own right, acknowledged the higher power than himself and prayed to the Father incessantly during His time on earth. That’s humility and that’s submission.  

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Advocate by David Bowman)

TO SUFFER THE BLOW

 

I have heard it said by some that the Saviour pressed on and performed the Atonement because of His love for us. There is no denying the love but the main reason He did so was because of His submission to do the will of the Father. Consider these scriptures among many that attest to this truth: “I have suffered the will of the Father in all things….” (3 Nephi 11:11); I am Jesus Christ; I came by the will of the Father, and I do his will” (D&C 19:24). 

 

Remember King Benjamin’s discourse on overcoming the natural man, part of which states that we need to be willing ‘to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict’ upon us (Mosiah 3:19)? “Inflict” is a hard word. The dictionary defines it as: to impose as something that must be borne or suffered; to impose anything unwelcome; to deal or deliver as a blow. 

 

What stands out to me the most about the Atonement is the Saviour’s complete willingness to suffer ‘the blow’. Before facing the agony of Gethsemane, Jesus said to His disciples that the hour was coming when they would be scattered and go their own way leaving Him alone and then He said: “….yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me” (John 16:32). On another occasion He clarified this by saying: “And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him” (John 8:29). These statements indicate that He had confidence in Father’s assistance for the duration of His upcoming crucible because He was willing to do His will. Imagine His surprise when that assistance was withdrawn; when He became ‘sore amazed’ (Mark 14:33) to the point of asking: “My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). Did He have the power to come down from the cross when that question crossed His lips? Yes He did. But even when He felt abandoned, He pressed on submitting to Father’s will, no matter how gruesome the inflicted ‘blow. And then He was able to say prior to His last moment: “….Father it is finished, thy will is done….” (JST Matthew 27:50a)

 

We might have to suffer some blows in this life. And we might have to suffer them alone. But fortunate for us Christ has suffered the greatest blow of all. By virtue of our discipleship, we have access to His  reservoir of endurance, strength and power that is offered to all the faithful. May we be able to say, without trepidation and fear: “I do always those things that please Him”, following the example of Him who submitted to it all that He might overcome all and make it possible for us to bear it all.

 

I marvel at Thy willingness

To descend from the regions of bliss

That was Thy heavenly abode

To become a refuge from the billowing storm,

To pay the ransom for my soul.

 

You lift me up and carry me

Upon Thy wings of hope;

You wipe the tears from my face

And tell me I am strong enough to cope.

 

You are my treasure

My love and my all,

I bow in reverence 

before the foot of Thy throne.

 

 

 - CATHRYNE ALLEN

ART: Behold the Man by Christopher Young