The Nugget:
Mat 26:39 And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
The Muslim Challenge:
Can Christians reply logically?
Why don’t the Christian pray like Jesus did in the Bible? Matthew 26:39
My Reply:
As usual, our dear Muslim friends often misuse and misinterpret verses in the Bible to try to prove their point.
Here is the text of Matthew 26:39,
Mat 26:39 And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
Because Jesus “fell on His face,” Muslims jump to the false conclusion that Jesus must be a Muslim.
The Bible records many different postures assumed during prayer, and does not suggest one position is better than another:
Prayer, posture during
(1) kneeling, +Dan 6:10 (T1259). Psa 95:6. (2) sitting, Jdg 20:26 note, congregation seated. 1Ch 17:16, individual seated. (3) standing, Mar 11:25. (4) hands spread out, Exo 9:29. (5) hands lifted, 1Ti 2:8. (6) head bowed, Gen 24:26. (7) eyes uplifted, Psa 121:1. (8) with face to ground, Neh 8:6. (9) Falling on face, Num 16:22. (10) Bowing the knees, Isa 45:23. (11) Toward the Temple in Jerusalem, Psa 5:7. (12) Looking up, Psa 5:3.
[From the index entry in my books, The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and its electronic update, The Ultimate Cross Reference Treasury.]
Secondly, Muslims frequently engage in anachronistic thinking. Jesus was here on earth many centuries before Mohammed came on the earthly scene. Jesus and everyone else who lived before the time of Mohammed could hardly be considered Muslim!
The opening post contains more mistaken assertions than there is space to answer here.
But I will address one more. The Comforter, who is the Holy Spirit, has NOTHING to do with Mohammed, who entered this earthly scene six or seven centuries after Jesus made the promise. But Jesus told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Spirit (Luke 24:49. John 14:16, 26. Acts 1:4, 5. Acts 2:1, 2, 3, 4, 33). The Holy Spirit was given to those disciples on what is called Pentecost, just a few days, not hundreds of years, later. Anyone who actually read the Bible carefully would surely know these things.
I also answer this Muslim nonsense by asking them who is this Father Jesus prayed to? “Allah” is not a father in any sense of the word, so if Jesus was a prophet of Islam, he would not be praying to his Father.
Good comment, James.
There seem to be many illogical things that some people fall for.
Anachronism is something they appear unable to understand.