Yet Not My Will

As I enter this time of prayer, I repeat the words of Psalm 17:6–7, slowly, several times, making them my prayer to God:

‘I call on you, my God, for you will answer me;

turn your ear to me and hear my prayer.

Show me the wonders of your great love.’

Pause and repeat

Today, we conclude our study of Christ’s prayer in Gethsemane, considering its sobering and challenging final sentence.

Pause to read the passage

Having acknowledged God’s love (‘Abba, Father’), God’s power (‘everything is possible for you’), and His own terror (‘take this cup from me’), Jesus now surrenders Himself completely to the Father’s purposes. Such surrender is never easy: ‘Maybe God has simply been replying to your prayers with a loving but firm no. I don’t suggest this lightly. It may well be the most painful possibility you have ever had to consider, and it may also seem to fly in the face of everything you know of God’s heart and will’*

Having prayed ‘Take this cup from me,’ is it possible that God might be replying to me, as He replied to Jesus, with ‘a loving but firm no’? How can I discern what His will might be for me in my situation?

Pause and reflect

I take time now to surrender my will to God’s will.

Pause and pray

As I bring this time with God to a close, I pray the words of a well-loved hymn of surrender by Judson W. Van DeVenter:

All to Jesus I surrender

All to Him I freely give

I will ever love and trust Him

In His presence daily live

I surrender all, I surrender all

All to Thee, my blessed Saviour I surrender all.

Amen.

* Pete Greig, God on Mute, David C Cook, (Colorado Springs, 2020), p105