Please note: This video includes a prophetic word from Justin Jeffries at the beginning. Also, we know the video cuts in and out to black, we are working to fix this issue. Thank you for your patience!

Introduction

Luke 22:39-46 ESV  And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him.  (40)  And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.”  (41)  And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed,  (42)  saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”  (43)  And there appeared         to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him.  (44)  And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.  (45)  And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow,  (46)  and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

• I know it has been a minute since the last message I preached on this Series… and a lot has happened, since then, so let’s just take a moment to recap what is happening here in Luke and the series that we are going through.
  • If you remember, Jesus has just finished eating the Passover Supper (Shameless plug for the Passover meal).
    • During the meal Jesus instituted the first communion.
    • He also called out Judas as His betrayer.
    • And settled an argument about who is Greatest in the Kingdom of God.
    • Then Jesus and the disciples (sans Judas), went out to the garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives to pray.
  • And then we come to this passage of Scripture…
  • Now, we have spent three weeks analyzing this Scripture, and focusing on the subject “How to pray like Jesus”.
    • The first thing we learned was that in order to pray like Jesus we need to have a prayer custom. We get that from verse 39

Luke 22:39 ESV  And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him.

• Jesus had a prayer custom… he so often went to pray at the Mount of Olives that it was called His custom…
  • It was a discipline… it wasn’t something he did just when things were bad…
  • So we talked about the need of having a prayer custom… a disciplined prayer life…
  • And we talked about the dangers of being a Christian who only situationally prays.
• Next we talked about verses 40 and 46…

Luke 22:40 ESV  And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

Luke 22:46 ESV  and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

• So, to pray like Jesus we need to pray that we would not enter into temptation…
  • Have you made that a part of your prayer custom, if not… go listen to this sermon again!
• Finally, a few weeks ago we talked about praying the will of the Father…

Luke 22:42 ESV  saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”

• We learned that in order to pray like Jesus we need to pray the will of the Father… and be in submission to that will…
  • And in order to pray the will of the Father we need to know the will of the Father…
  • Again, if you missed it, go watch it, it’s so important that we move forward knowing and submitting to the will of God!
• Now finally we are going to focus on verse 44…

Luke 22:44 ESV  And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

• Have you ever prayed so passionately that the only way to describe it is AGONY?
  • Then you haven’t experienced the full prayer life that Jesus had…

• To Pray like Jesus we need to pray with passion.
  • So, before we jump into it, let’s pray this morning…

• Now this morning I have two points:
  • Apathy in Prayer = Condemnation
  • And…. Agony in Prayer = Breakthrough
• Let’s dive right into point one… Apathy in prayer = Condemnation

Point One – Apathy in Prayer = Condemnation

Romans 12:9-12 ESV  Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.  (10)  Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.  (11)  Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.  (12)  Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

• Did you catch the part of this verse that is about apathy?
  • By they way, Apathy means “I don’t care… I have no interest… meh…”
• So, did you catch the part of Romans 12:9-12 that is about apathy? It’s that first part of verse 11..

Romans 12:11a ESV  Do not be slothful in zeal…

• Zeal is another word for Godly Passion…
  • And slothful means lazy.
    • So what Paul is saying here as he encourages the saints is “Don’t have this attitude of “Meh… I will be passionate about the things of God latter”.
• Please church, don’t be a “Latter in the day saint”… don’t be like “I will be passionate latter… BE PASIONATE NOW.
• Why? Because Apathy in prayer is the same as condemnation…
• Let me show you in a few examples…
• Imagine you have a coworker who is not saved…
  • And you KNOW that God has put them in your path so that you can preach the Gospel to them.
  • And you KNOW God has provided that opportunity for you to preach the gospel to them…
  • But you also like your job, and are comfortable at work.
  • You know you need to talk to this guy about Jesus… but do I have to do it TODAY?!
• That, church is a slothful in zeal attitude… and what you are really saying is this:
  • I don’t care if you die and go to hell today. I mean, I don’t want you to go to hell, but if you die today I guess that is what it is…
  • I mean… I don’t know… we will talk about Jesus one day… hope you don’t die before then.
• But pastor, I thought we were talking about Passion in Prayer, not in evangelism…
  • Well I lead with talking about apathy in evangelism because your prayer life should be evangelistic…
  • YOU SHOULD BE PRAYING FOR PEOPLE TO BE SAVED.
  • And if you are apathetic about peoples salvation in your prayer life, you might as well be condemning them to hell.
    • What you are saying is “I am not going to war for you in the spiritual realm… I am not going to fight for your salvation”.
  • But the devil likes to try to be sneaky, see, and he likes to hide apathy behind feigned ignorance.
  • And I see it all the time.
    • Well  I don’t cry out for my daughter who is living in sin… because she said a prayer once and I am sure that when she was 12 she had a relationship with God.
    • You know… my coworker comes to bible study twice a year… I know he is living with his girlfriend, he curses and uses God’s name in vain daily, and he is drunk more than he is sober… but when he comes to Bible study I can tell he has a relationship with God.
    • Yeah my brother mocks Christians, supports very unbiblical viewpoints, and has told me multiple times that the Bible is full of lies… but I just know in my heart she is saved…
  • WHAT?! YOUR HEART IS DECITFULLY WICKED! STOP LISTENING TO YOUR HEART AND START LISTENING TO SCRIPTURE…
    • And listen… most believers who say these kinds of things… it really is a false ignorance… they are pretending to be ignorant because they can’t be bothered with the emotional weight of thinking of a loved one going to hell….
      • But it really is a FALSE IGNORANCE because we know the truth.

1 John 1:6 ESV  If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

1 John 2:4 ESV  Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him,

1 John 3:4-9 ESV  Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.  (5)  You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.  (6)  No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.  (7)  Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.  (8)  Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.  (9)  No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 ESV  Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,  (10)  nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

• Listen… it is abundantly clear… if your loved one is living in sin… THEY ARE NOT SAVED.
  • That’s what SCRIPTURE says.
  • It doesn’t matter if they come to church.
  • It doesn’t matter if they once said a prayer.
  • It doesn’t matter if they once served on the worship team, or were a pastor… or whatever.
  • IF THEY ARE LIVING IN SIN… THEY ARE NOT SAVED.
    • Listen as Christians, we occasionally sin, but we are not sinners. We are saints who sometimes sin…
    • But someone who’s life is sin after sin… someone who is proud of their sin, boasts of their sin… loves their sin… THEY ARE NOT SAVED.
• Now why do I say this? Do I say this to condemn your loved ones? No, of course not, they don’t need me to condemn them, they are condemned already… that’s what John 3:18 says.
• No, I say this NOT TO Condemn them… but to ENCOURAGE YOU to stop condemning them in your apathy.
  • Because if the devil can convince you that someone who is lost is actually saved… then you stop warring for them… and the devil can have his way in that persons life unhindered by your prayers.
• But here is the good news… we are supposed to be praying the will of God, right?
  • Well God’s WILL is that your brother, or your sister, or your mom, or your son, or your friend, or whoever… God’s will is that they would BE SAVED.
  • So when you pray for their salvation you are PRAYING THE WILL OF GOD.

2 Peter 3:9 ESV  The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

• Let me read 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 again, but this time let me add verse 11

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 ESV  Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,  (10)  nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.  (11)  And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

• Such were some of you! But you were washed, you were sanctified… YOU WERE SAVED.
  • So our prayer for the sexually immoral, the idolaters, the adulterers, the homosexuals, the thieves, the greedy, the drunks, the partiers, and the swindlers is not a prayer of condemnation… BECAUSE WE DON’T WANT ANYONE TO GO TO HELL.
  • Our prayer is a prayer of salvation “Lord wash them, like you did me, Lord sanctify them, like you did me, LORD SAVE THEM LIKE YOU SAVED ME! BECAUSE I CAN’T STAND THE THOUGHT OF THEM GOING TO HELL!
• Apathy in prayer = Condemnation…
• But my second point this morning is that AGONY in prayer = Breakthrough.

Point Two – Agony in Prayer = Breakthrough

Romans 12:11 ESV  Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.

• Is your spiritual life fervent? Is it passionate… is it powerful?
  • Again I ask the question… have you ever prayed so hard that it could only be described as agony?

Luke 22:44 ESV  And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

• Jesus prayed in AGONY!
  • Do you pray in AGONY?
  • Now wait a minute… I thought the sermon was called “Praying with passion” not “Praying in agony”.
    • Did you know that self imposed agony and passion mean the same thing biblically.
      • Meaning, when you chose to be in agony… that is the same thing as being passionate.
    • In fact, the word Passion was originally only a Christian word, it comes from the lattin word Passi which means to suffer…
      • Passion week is coming up, that is the week Jesus chose to suffer for us.
      • The Passion of the Christ means the SUFFERING or AGONY of Christ that He chose to endure for us!
• Now when is the last time you chose to suffer in your prayer life?
• TURN OFF LIVE STREAM SOUND
  • Tell story of wishing I was in agony first, instead of second.
• TURN BACK ON LIVE STREAM SOUND
• But it’s not only for peoples salvation…
  • Sometimes I agonize over the nations…
    • LORD OPEN THE DOORS TO JAPAN
  • Sometimes I agonize over politics…
    • LORD DON’T LET THIS EVIL HAPPEN IN OUR NATION.
  • Sometimes I agonize over this church…
    • PLEASE LORD BRING BREAKTHROUGH WITH THIS BUILDING SO WE CAN USE IT FOR YOUR GLORY!
• But believe me when I say AGONY leads to breakthrough!

Luke 18:1-8 ESV  And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.  (2)  He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man.  (3)  And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’  (4)  For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man,  (5)  yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’”  (6)  And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says.  (7)  And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them?  (8)  I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

• Now do you think this lady was apathetic in her pleas to the judge?
  • You think she was like “hey, uh… could you give me justice if you have time maybe?”
  • NO! SHE WAS ANOYINGLY PASSIONATE… DAILY!
    • GIVE ME JUSTICE! I NEED JUSTICE! AND I AM NOT LEAVING UNTIL I GET IT!
• Does that describe your prayer life… BECAUSE GOD SAYS HE WILL ANSWER HIS CHILDREN WHO CRY OUT DAY AND NIGHT!
• It’s a biblical truth!
• Apathy in prayer equals condemnation, but AGONY in prayer equals breakthrough.
• Allright, we need to wrap this thing up, put a bow on it and send it off… so let’s conclude.

Conclusion

1. To Pray Like Jesus: Have a Prayer Custom.
2. To Pray Like Jesus: Pray that You May Not Enter Into Temptation
3. To Pray Like Jesus: Pray the Fathers Will
4. To Pray Like Jesus: Pray with Passion

• To pray like Jesus you need to have a prayer custom!\
  •  A discipline in prayer… pray daily! Have a spot where you pray… a time of day… for Jesus it was a garden, for you it might be a favorite chair, or even a closet you turn into a war room… but you need a prayer custom.
• To pray like Jesus you need to be praying against temptation… DAILY!
  • LORD LEAD ME NOT INTO TEMPTATION! AND IF I MUST BE TEMPTED TODAY, GIVE ME STRENGTH TO RESIST IT!
• To pray like Jesus you need to pray the Father’s will.
  • And in order to pray there fathers will you need to know the Father’s will. So study the Word of God and surround yourself with Godly people who also study the word and hear from God.
• And finally to pray like Jesus, pray with a passion.
  • And if you struggle with praying with a passion then let your first passionate prayer be
    • “FATHER GIVE ME PASSION IN MY PRAYER LIFE! I REBUKE APATHY IN JESUS NAME! HELP ME TO PRAY PASSIONATLY! HELP ME TO PRAY LIKE YOU PRAY! BECAUSE I AM TIRED OF MY WEAK, PASSIONLESS PRAYER LIFE! EMBOLDEN ME TO PRAY FERVENTLY AND RIGHTOUSLY ACORDING TO YOUR WILL! IN THE MIGHTY NAME OF JESUS! PASSION ARISE IN ME!”
• Gospel Call