Hello everyone. I am so excited to speak today on the topic of would you give up your cup? I know most of you are like, what is this girl talking about? First let me give you some background. My pastor is currently walking us through a series on “prayer”. The emphasis being the importance of prayer but he also touched on how the Lord’s prayer can be an outline for our prayers. We can mirror our prayers as Jesus taught us in Matthew 6:9-13
- Acknowledging our God (Our Father in heaven)
- Seek the presence of God (Hallowed be Your name)
- Align with God’s priorities (Your kingdom come. Your will be done)
- Asking for daily provision (Give us this day our daily bread)
- Secure God’s pardon (Forgive us our debt, as we forgive our debtors)
- Stay aligned with God’s plan (Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil)
- End with a declaration (For Yours is the kingdom and the power and glory forever)
- AMEN!
The Lord’s prayer
This is simply an outline for those looking for a “template” when praying. In another message within this series, my pastor spoke on Matthew 26:39. It reads “He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, ‘My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” Imagine this–Jesus knows His crucifixion is near. He knows the immense suffering He is about to endure. He steps away from His disciples to speak to His Heavenly Father and He cries out that if there is any other way for Him to save His children from eternal death then please Heavenly Father do it another way. Take this cup of suffering from me. Wow!! But look at how amazing our Savior is. In the next breath He says “I want YOUR will to be done, not MINE.” So let me ask again, would you give up your cup? If you could give away every challenge, every hurt, every heartbreak would you? If you could give up this journey of autism would you? That’s a difficult question and a question, I have to be honest, has crossed my mind. This question does not need a response but rather a shift in our perspective. Jesus knew the pain and the suffering that was coming but he surrendered to his Heavenly father’s will. That’s what He calls us to do in our lives. Not our will be done but His will be done. The journey of autism is difficult. Not even as parents, but as a human being, you never want to see a child suffer. Please believe me when I say I am not undermining the weight of our cup as autism parents, but I am saying if Jesus bore His cup we must carry ours as well. For He knows the plans He has for you, the plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. Rest assured that our Heavenly Father knows all, He sees all and He is there for you every second of every day. He does not expect us to carry our cup alone but rather lean on Him to give us the strength to sustain the weight of our cup.
I truly pray this blesses each of you.
May the grace of God sustain us all!
Love you all,
M.J.