One is a beautiful number

I would like to think that every Sunday I have the privilege of receiving the message God has placed on the heart of our pastor in a way that results in continued spiritual growth in my life. I believe I experienced that even more significantly this past Sunday. I would be surprised if there is even one member of our faith family who has not struggled with their prayer life from time to time. As I received the message this past Sunday, I would not help but wonder what would be so important to Jesus Christ that it would lead Him to pray to our heavenly Father. After all, He is God incarnate. So, what would God, the Son, pray for?

One example is found on the night Jesus Christ was betrayed, He spent time in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. Several of the New Testament writers record His personal prayer while in the garden. My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will. (Matthew 26:39) That would most certainly have been an intense personal prayer. We also know the answer God gave Christ as it related to the request of taking the cup away.  The answer was no. We also know that Jesus followed that prayer up with another, one that confirmed His willingness to be obedient to the will of the Father. My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done. (Matthew 26:42)

There is another prayer of Christ that came to my mind as Scott shared his message on Sunday. My prayer is not for them alone (the disciples). I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May these also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one – I in them and you in me – so that they may be brought to complete unity. (John 17:20)

I wonder what kind of response God would give to this prayer – yes, no, or wait?  I would imagine the immediate answer God would offer for this prayer is YES! However, for that sense of unity to become reality, each of us have to do the same thing Jesus Christ did in the Garden of Gethsemane. We have to allow the will of God to be prevalent in our lives to the extent that we allow it to take precedence over our will.
Because of the faithfulness Jesus Christ demonstrated in being obedient to God, in spite of the human desire to be removed from the pain of being crucified, He is now sitting at the right hand throne of God and every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord.

Because of our faithfulness in allowing the will of God to prevail over our will, we have the ability to enjoy a unity that transcends the human mind. The kind of unity that allows us to be one with the Lord and with each other, enjoying the unity Jesus Christ shares with God the Father.

I believe that is a prayer God would be eager to grant, but one that requires faithfulness on our part. One is a beautiful number when it represents unity found in Christ!