Mark 14:36 “And He said, ‘Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.”
Mike Bonner wrote in today’s text message, “In our portrait of Jesus, we see a man who pours His heart out to His father and is eventually delivered from His trouble! Good lesson for those who belong to God!” Are our prayers different from Christ’s? Do we include, “Not my will but Yours?” Our culture has made us extremely selfish and impatient creatures. This is so evident in the way we approach our relationship with God. We often enumerate our list of supposed needs and wants and then thank Him in advance for providing them. Our prayers have become materialistic in nature.
Let’s consider Christ and this prayer He prayed before the Father shortly before His crucifixion. He requests that God remove this cup of suffering and death from Him. What human being would want to experience such a horrific death? The frail humanity of Jesus prayed for the Father’s deliverance from such pain, but notice His condition, “Not my will but what You will”. There lies the hard part for us. Take a close look at what Christ was saying, “Father I trust you enough, that however you handle this situation, I will accept it as My will.” It is difficult to pray for God to answer our prayers in accordance to His will because His will may not be in accordance with our will. That selfish nature raises its head and motivates us to dismiss any other way but ours. God reminds us, “ ‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,’ says the LORD. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts’ ”, Isa. 55:8-9. It is evident that we do not think like God. His ways are far beyond our thoughts. In the case of Jesus, He accepted God’s will even though it would carry Him through the valley of agony and death. He understood that the will of the Father was for the salvation of mankind. For the greater good of humanity Jesus succumbed to the Father’s will.
How often do we consider the will of God? Do we consider His will in making of our plans? Do we consider His will in making decisions? James, the brother of Jesus wrote, Jas. 4:13-15 “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit’; you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.’ ” Solomon warned, “Do not boast about tomorrow, For you do not know what a day may bring forth” Pro. 27:1.
It is imperative that in our decisions, the will of God should be considered. Even though we don’t expect a miraculous intervention from God, we must realize His involvement in our lives. Just think the difference it would make if we made our decisions prayerfully considering God’s will.