Not My Will

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

NOT MY WILL

Luke 22:39-46

39 Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. 40 On reaching the place, he said to them, "Pray that you will not fall into temptation."  41 He withdrew about a stone's throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 42 "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done."  43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. 44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.   45 When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. 46 "Why are you sleeping?" he asked them. "Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation." 

NIV

We should first note neither Matthew nor Mark recorded that Jesus' sweat was like drops of blood and that many of the early manuscripts do not include verses 43 and 44 of Luke's record of this time of Jesus praying to the Father in the garden on the mount of olives. However, Matthew and Mark record three times that Jesus prayed and got up to find his disciples sleeping or resting. However, two main points stand out for us: what Jesus prayed for and what he told his disciples to pray for. First, let us take this lesson from Jesus regarding submitting our will to the Father's will. Although Jesus is indeed God, he is still a man and can experience the pleasures and pains all men can. He knows he is facing the worst pain of all, being tortured and then nailed to a cross. We think, however, because Jesus was in the beginning and all that was made was made by him, and that in the beginning was the Word and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh, we have to know that from the beginning Jesus knew he would do this exact thing, so to redeem his own creation that he formed with his own hands and breathed life into them. We know that life was snuffed out because of disobedience, defined as sin, and thus Jesus came through obedience to bring life back into his created beings. Once we were dead in our sins, but now we are alive in Christ. This is the whole point of what Jesus was teaching us, but praying if there was any other way, yet it is not about the will of man, it is all about the will of the Father. Sure, we would like to forgo ugly or painful experiences in our lives. Yes, we would like what we want when we want it. Of course, we would like to be the caption of our own ship, so to speak, wanting to make our own choices in life, what profession or career path we want, or where and how we live, the direction of our life, our own goals, and ambitions being fulfilled. However, is our lives about seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, praying for those things we do not what and the things we do want, submitting all of everything, submitting our will, our desires, to the will of the Father. Let us always be praying, “Not my will, but yours be done”