Your Will…Not Mine

This has been a wonderful week filled with daily devotions focused on prayer. As disciples of Christ, prayer is a subject we can always learn more about and can never do too much of. Today we are looking at a passage just prior to Jesus’ arrest. He was in the garden of Gethsemane, full of sorrow and praying to the Father. Let’s get started by praying and inviting our heavenly Father into this time.

Precious heavenly Father, I thank You for the freedom to come to You with anything and everything that is on my mind. I ask that You guide me to Your will. I pray that You will give me a heart that desires to serve and fulfill Your will for my life. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Matthew 26:36-44 (NLT)
36 Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.” 37 He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed. 38 He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

39 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.”

40 Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, “Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? 41 Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!”

42 Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43 When he returned to them again, he found them sleeping, for they couldn’t keep their eyes open.

44 So he went to pray a third time, saying the same things again.

There is much about Jesus’ experience during those hours that we cannot understand, but we can see His obedience to His Father. When we reflect on what we know about Jesus’ life on earth, we know that He was sinless and came to fulfill the will of the Father. The weight of paying the price for our sins is incomprehensible to me…and yet, Jesus was obedient to the Father’s will. I must be transparent with everyone and admit the tears of repentance that are flowing from my eyes as I write. Many times I forget to pray, “Not my will, but Your will.” Do you find it easy, or difficult, to pray for God’s will over your own?

The time Jesus spent in prayer in the garden is something that we as humans may not be able to understand. Consider that He prayed three times, asking the same thing of God, and then He accepted the outcome. The only way was God’s way, and it included paying the price for our sins. I feel such a need to be purposeful and not hesitate in fulfilling God’s will in my life. Is there a situation in your life where you need to take a step of obedience and submit to the Father’s will?

God’s will for us cannot be compared to His will for our Savior, Jesus Christ. Jesus lived a sinless life and paid the price so that, as His followers, we have access to God the Father, and our Father makes His will known to us in His word. We know it is His will that we love one another, that we spend time in His word, and that we spend time in prayer with Him. As we bring today to a close, take some time to go to God in honest prayer. Here are some prompts to get you started.

Father, I come to You today with a desire to submit my will to You…

I pray that Your will be done in my life…

May you experience the love of God in your life today!