Your Will Be Done
“Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” Luke 22:42
I’m all too familiar with this first sentence of Jesus’ prayer: “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me.” I’ve prayed those words many times over in my life. I’ve prayed them in times of physical suffering. I’ve prayed them in times of emotional distress. I’ve prayed them in the depths of depression. I’ve prayed them in the darkest hours of grief. It’s comforting to know Jesus prayed them too. Jesus, the son of God, who knew no sin, asked God to spare Him the suffering, to carry His burden, to bring Him blessed relief. It’s what made Him human. But it’s the second half of Jesus’ prayer: “Yet I want your will to be done, not mine,” that made Him God.
Jesus uttered these gut wrenching words just moments before the worst and final hours of His life began. He prayed with such intensity the sweat dripped from His brow like blood. Yet as He pleaded, His heart was postured in surrender. Jesus wanted to stay within His Father’s will even more than He wanted to circumvent the suffering He knew was coming. Do we want that too? What’s more, Jesus believed God’s will was still fair and good, even if it meant He would succumb to a brutal and humiliating death. Do we believe that too? If we knew the challenges that awaited us, could we pray with the same open-handed surrender Jesus did? Could we yield to our Father’s good and perfect will if we knew it meant agony would befall us? We have so much to learn from Jesus’ prayer: “Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”
Study & Reflection: Read Luke 22 in its full context. What sort of challenges and suffering had Jesus already faced before He knelt before God and prayed on the Mount of Olives? Knowing what He’d already been through, how do you feel about Jesus’ prayer? What sort of challenges and suffering did Jesus face after He prayed on the Mount of Olives? Knowing what He faced before He died, how do you feel about Jesus’ prayer? What can we learn from His prayer of surrender?
Prayer: When was the last time you prayed with your heart postured in surrender, hands open? What’s more difficult for you; surrendering your past suffering, or surrendering what may be coming on the horizon? What’s keeping you from trusting God’s will over your own? Take comfort in knowing God sees your pain; past, present, and future. He understands suffering better than anyone, yet He knows it’s often necessary to get us where we need to be. God’s will can be trusted. Today, open your hands and your heart and tell Him, “I want your will to be done, not mine.”