Many
times Jesus and His people pull against one another in
prayer
"Father, I will that those also, whom You
have given Me--be with Me where I am." John 17:24
O death! why do you touch the tree beneath
whose spreading branches, weariness has rest? Why
do you snatch away the excellent of the earth, in
whom is all your delight? If you must use your axe--use
it upon the trees which yield no fruit--you might be thanked
then. But why will you strike down the goodly cedars of
Lebanon? O stay your axe--and spare the righteous!
But no, it must not be! Death smites the
goodliest of our friends! The most generous, the most
prayerful, the most holy, the most devoted--must die. And
why? It is through Jesus' prevailing prayer, "Father, I will
that those also, whom You have given Me--be with Me where I
am." It is Jesus' prayer which bears them on eagle's wings
to heaven. Every time a believer mounts from this earth to
paradise--it is an answer to Christ's prayer.
A good old divine remarks, "Many times Jesus and His people pull
against one another in prayer. You bend your
knee in prayer and say 'Father, I will that Your saints be
with me where I am'; Christ says, 'Father, I will that those
also, whom You have given Me--be with Me where I am.'" Thus
the disciple is at cross-purposes with his Lord.
The soul cannot be in both places--the beloved one
cannot be with Christ, and with you too.
Now, which pleader shall win the
day? If you had your choice; if the King should step from
His throne, and say, "Here are two supplicants praying in
opposition to one another--which shall be answered?" Oh! I
am sure, though it were agony, you would start from your
feet, and say, "Jesus, not my will--but may Yours be done!"
You would give up your prayer for your loved one's life, if
you could realize the thoughts that Christ is praying in the
opposite direction, "Father, I will that those also, whom
You have given Me--be with Me where I am." Lord, You shall
have them. By faith, I will let them go!
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