“He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as Thou wilt’” (Matthew 26:39).

“他就稍往前走，俯伏在地，祷告说：‘我父啊，倘若可行，求你叫这杯离开我。然而，不要照我的意思，只要照你的意思。’”（马太福音26：39）。

Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane is a perfect model of perseverance in seeking God’s will.

耶稣在客西马尼园的祷告是坚持不懈寻求神的旨意的完美典范。

By humbly and submissively raising the option, “If it is possible, let this cup pass from Me,” Jesus was not questioning the validity of God’s plan of redemption or the Son’s responsibility in it. The thought of His becoming sin for us was weighing heavier and heavier on Jesus, and He simply wondered aloud to God if there could be a way other than the cross to deliver men from sin. But as always, Jesus made it clear that the deciding factor in what was done would be the Father’s will, not the Son’s.

耶稣谦卑而顺服地提出他的请求：“倘若可行，求你叫这杯离开我，”耶稣并非在质疑父神的救赎计划或他身为神子在其中的责任。即将成为我们罪之化身这一念头越来越沉重地压在耶稣心头，他只是出声求问神，除了十字架外，还有没有别的方法可除去人类的罪。但正如平素一样，耶稣清楚表示，其所作所为的决定因素在于父神的旨意，而非子的意思。

But even those “legitimate reasons” are inadequate to excuse the disciples’ lack of vigilance in prayer. As is often true of us, the disciples did not accept Jesus’ instructions and warnings at face value. His repeated predictions of His suffering and death, His forecast of the disciples’ desertion, and His anticipation of the anguish in Gethsemane should have been more than enough incentive for the three men to stay alert and support Christ. But the disciples failed to heed Jesus’ words or follow His prayerful example at a time of crisis.

然而，即便有不少“合情合理的原因”，也不足以作为门徒祷告缺乏儆醒的理由。我们也常常如此，门徒们并没有接受耶稣哪怕字面意思的指示和警告。耶稣反复预言他的受苦和受死，预告门徒的四散逃离，预期他在客西马尼的痛苦，这些对于激励三个门徒保持警觉并支持基督本应绰绰有余了。然而，门徒却没能听从耶稣的话，或在危机时刻追随耶稣祷告的榜样。

For us today, the record of Scripture is the great motivation to follow the Lord’s example. We can meditate on the written narrative of Gethsemane and rejoice in something the disciples didn’t yet have before Jesus’ death— the presence of the Holy Spirit, who continually helps us pray as we ought (Rom. 8:26-27).

今天，圣经的记载是我们追随主榜样的伟大动机。我们可以默想关于客西马尼园的记述，并为耶稣死前连门徒也不曾拥有的圣灵的同在感到欢喜，这圣灵在我们应该祷告时不断地帮助我们（罗8：26-27）。

Ask the Lord to grant you both sensitivity and perseverance as you seek His will during times of prayer.

当你在祷告中寻求神的旨意时，求主将敏感度与毅力一并赐给你。

Read Luke 11:5-10 and 18:1-8.阅读路加福音11：5-10和18：1-8.

·         What is the common theme of these two parables?

·         What does Jesus’ teaching suggest about the challenging nature of prayer?

·         这两处比喻共同的主题是什么？

·         耶稣的教导如何暗示了祷告具有挑战性的性质？