“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”
Luke 22:42
When I am praying fervently for a diagnosis of no cancer for someone, or for a wayward child to come back to God, or for my own physical therapy to be more successful, it feels almost impossible to surrender to God’s will. I don’t want the cup of hardship. I struggle to say, as Jesus did on the Mount of Olives before His crucifixion, “Nevertheless, not my will but yours be done.”
Andrew Murray, a South African pastor, said that prayer “must be to the glory of God, in full surrender to his will, in full assurance of faith, in the name of Jesus” (1896). This does not mean that we ask just once. Paul didn’t stop with one request (2 Corinthians 12:8). It also does not mean we plead dispassionately. Nor does it mean that we approach God with fatalistic resignation. Rather, as we plead with God, seeking to honor His name and submit to His purposes, we also say, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).
In His perfect will, He took the cup of God’s wrath for us, and now that empty cup is our hope.
Andrew Murray, a South African pastor, said that prayer “must be to the glory of God, in full surrender to his will, in full assurance of faith, in the name of Jesus” (1896). This does not mean that we ask just once. Paul didn’t stop with one request (2 Corinthians 12:8). It also does not mean we plead dispassionately. Nor does it mean that we approach God with fatalistic resignation. Rather, as we plead with God, seeking to honor His name and submit to His purposes, we also say, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).
In His perfect will, He took the cup of God’s wrath for us, and now that empty cup is our hope.
Scripture Focus
Luke 22:39-44
Insight
“We have life because Jesus drank death. Because he received the wrath of God’s justice, we receive the wealth of God’s grace.” (Andrew Hébert, 2015)
Bible In A Year
- Numbers 10-11
- Psalm 66
- John 7
