Not my Will, but Yours

Luke 22:39-46 ESV

And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

Jesus Christ had been betrayed to death by one of his 12 disciples who was named Judas Iscariot. Jesus knew his time had come to be sacrificed on that cross for the sins of the world. Even though Jesus Christ is and was God, the second person of our triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – when he walked the earth he was also fully human, so he suffered just like we suffer. And although Jesus never sinned, his humanity struggled with what he knew was inevitable and that must soon take place.

But Jesus’ prayer to God the Father sets an example for us in how we should pray, not only in how we should pray about our own circumstances, but in how we should pray for our fellow Christians. For in these flesh bodies we will sometimes have difficulties and trials and tribulations which will come to test our faith. And we may grow weak and tired, and we may be vulnerable to temptation to sin, and so we need to pray, and we need to put on the armor of God with which to withstand the attacks of the enemy against us.

So, Jesus told his disciples to “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” Why? Because we are all going to be tempted to sin against our Lord in one way or another. But along with that prayer we must also cooperate with God in doing what he says to do and not be those who toy with temptation to sin and who test fate. For if we leave doors open which we know are going to lead us into sin, for example, we can pray all we might to not be led into temptation but we still will be because we have not shut those doors.

For instance you might be someone who surfs the net or who flips TV channels just searching for something to read or to watch, and you know that has led you down a path of degradation before, but you continue. But while you are on this path you are praying not to be led into temptation, but this is while you are in the process of “testing” or “tempting fate,” so to speak. We can’t play with temptation then pray not to be led into temptation and then be surprised if we give into temptation. Does this make sense?

And then we have Jesus’ prayer for himself, for he knew what was coming. And even though he knew this must take place, and that this was the purpose for him coming to the earth, still in his flesh body he struggled. And we cannot even begin to fathom, in reality, the pain and suffering he was about to endure, for it wasn’t just the physical suffering he went through. For in his death on that cross he literally became sin for us, so he could put our sin to death with him, that we might become the righteousness of God.

But even though he struggled with the suffering he knew he was about to endure, and in his body he hoped in some way that he might be able to bypass that suffering, yet he yielded himself to the will of God the Father. And we also know that, as followers of Christ, we are called to suffer for the sake of his name, and that we are promised that we will be hated and persecuted for righteousness’ sake. But we may also pray that it may not be so. Yet, we must also submit ourselves to the will of God the Father.

For we may grow weak and tired, and we may even feel like giving up, at times, hoping that we can get some relief. But Jesus didn’t call us to an easy life. He didn’t call us to a life of personal comfort and loss of pain. He called us to a life of suffering for the sake of the gospel of Christ and for the sake of the name of Jesus because we are walking the walk and we aren’t just talking it. For there are many empty talkers going around professing the name of Jesus but who are not living the life God called us to live.

So, the encouragement here in all of this is that, even though we are human beings, and we are going to grow weak and tired, and we are going to struggle, at times, with accepting God’s call upon our lives to suffer for his sake, and even though we will be tempted to sin against God, we must resist the devil and flee temptation and draw near to God in full assurance of faith and keep walking the walk God planned out for us to walk. And in the end we will be greatly rewarded by God because we did not “jump ship.”

[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; Jn 15:1-21; Jn 16:33; Jn 17:14; Ac 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Rev 6:9-11; Rev 7:9-17; Rev 11:1-3; Rev 12:17; Rev 13:1-18; Rev 14:1-13]

Precious Lord, Take My Hand  

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Precious Lord, take my hand,

Lead me on, let me stand,

I am tired, I am weak, I am worn;

Through the storm, through the night,

Lead me on to the light:

Take my hand, precious Lord,

Lead me home.

When my way grows drear,

Precious Lord, linger near,

When my life is almost gone,

Hear my cry, hear my call,

Hold my hand lest I fall:

Take my hand, precious Lord,

Lead me home.

When the darkness appears

And the night draws near,

And the day is past and gone,

At the river I stand,

Guide my feet, hold my hand:

Take my hand, precious Lord,

Lead me home.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHBzI_Jb-o4

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