Not My Will, but Yours

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

What happens when God says “no” to your prayers? What happens when your will stands opposed to God’s? What happens when you don’t want to experience what God knows is best?

Lord’s Prayer stuff during Lent

“Learn from Jesus Christ to pray.” Over the season of Lent, we’ve been doing just that, learning from Jesus how to pray. We’ve been digging into the prayer Jesus gave to us that we call, “the Lord’s Prayer.” There’s a lot packed into those few sentences, and we really only scratched the surface. But as we learn from Jesus how to pray, we can do so not only by listening, but also by observing. It’s good for us to listen to Jesus when He says, “pray like this.” But it’s also good to watch and imitate how Jesus Himself prays. And in fact, both today and tomorrow, we have opportunities to do just that. Jesus puts the Lord’s Prayer into action in His own life and gives us another chance to learn from Jesus Christ to pray.

Hearing Him teach is good, but so is watching Him put it into practice

I think we’re all pretty well familiar with the prayer Jesus prayed tonight. After having one last meal with His disciples, they all head out of the city to spend the night in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus knows what’s coming. At the Transfiguration, Jesus spoke with both Moses and Elijah about His “departure, which He was about to accomplish in Jerusalem.” He knew the plan. He knew that He would be betrayed by a friend, arrested as a criminal, put through a sham trial, have His flesh torn from His bones, have stakes of iron driven through His hands and His feet. He knew that He would die one of the most horrific deaths known to man.

I think we’re all pretty well familiar with the prayer Jesus prayed tonight. After having one last meal with His disciples, they all head out of the city to spend the night in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus knows what’s coming. At the Transfiguration, Jesus spoke with both Moses and Elijah about His “departure, which He was about to accomplish in Jerusalem.” He knew the plan. He knew that He would be betrayed by a friend, arrested as a criminal, put through a sham trial, have His flesh torn from His bones, have stakes of iron driven through His hands and His feet. He knew that He would die one of the most horrific deaths known to man.

And here in this garden, the reality of these events about to take place hit Him square in the face. It’s an understatement to say that they weighed heavily on His mind. He was in agony over what was to come, so much so that Luke, who we know was also a doctor, describes Jesus’ sweat becoming “like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” He knew what was coming, but He didn’t want it to happen.

“Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done.” “I don’t want to do this.” In many ways, this is a remarkable prayer. Earlier in His ministry, Jesus taught His disciples, “I and the Father are one.” And yet here, in some strange way, Jesus and His Father are set at odds with one another. The Father’s will was not the Son’s will.

Second petition: “Thy will be done”

Father’s will be done above all

At this moment, Jesus—God the Son—identifies more completely with His fellow human beings. At this moment, Jesus gets a taste of what we so often experience—a conflict of interest between God’s will and our human will. At this moment, Jesus came face to face with the answer to prayer you and I dread: “No.”

What happens when God says “no” to your prayers? What happens when your will stands opposed to God’s? What happens when you don’t want to experience what God knows is best?

Some fall away from the faith entirely. The negative answer is too great for them to understand; the pain they experience is too great; the hopes they had are dashed to pieces. And they reject God entirely.

What happens when His will is different than our own?

Others, like Job, complain to God. They feel that God is unjust, unfair, and just flat-out wrong. They moan and groan, expecting God to answer them, hoping that He changes His mind, praying that God would bend His will to their own. And until then, these people may remain in the faith, but hold to a sense of bitterness that’s hard to overcome.

Or, you can learn from Jesus Christ to pray. He didn’t want to go through with the events of the next 18 hours or so. And yet, He submitted to the Father. “If you are willing… Nevertheless, not My will, but Yours be done.” “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Fall away?

It was the Father’s will to put His own Son to death. This was the plan from the beginning. God Himself would take on human form in the person of Jesus and would die so that you and I might be reconciled with God. There was no other way. And so, in spite of what was to come, in spite of His own will against what was about to happen, in spite of the terror and agony He felt, Jesus submitted to His Father’s will for your sake. Out of the Father’s “no” to His prayer, God brought about salvation for all people. Even when God says “no,” He is at work for your good.

Submit?

What happens when God says “no” to your prayers? What happens when your will stands opposed to God’s? What happens when you don’t want to experience what God knows is best?

If the Father’s will was for His own Son to die, what might His will be for you? I’ll tell you, it may not be that He wants you to recover from your illness. He may not want your business to thrive. He may want your life to fall apart and even to end. His will is for your salvation. His desire is that He be the only thing that matters in your life. He wants you to cling to Him and Him alone. Sometimes, your will in these trivial things aligns with God’s, but many times, it doesn’t.

At these times, it is important to remember who is in charge, where all life comes from, and whose will is best. “Not my will, but Yours be done.” Even here, agonizing in this garden, Jesus serves as a model for our prayers. For your own sake, let alone the sake of those around you, submit to the Father’s will, for He is your Father. Even when you can’t see it, He has your best interest at heart. Even when He says “no,” God is at work for your good. Amen.

As we move from Holy Thursday to Good Friday

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds through Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.