"Abba, Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will." Mark 14:36
We often get the big head when we have power or influence in people’s lives. We think that we’re above others in our earthly human nature but here we see the striking difference between Jesus Christ and us. Jesus, being fully aware of the consequences of sins and that He was the headed to the cross as payment for all of our sins, does exactly what we should do when we’re faced with difficulties in life. We go directly to our Heavenly Father. We must realize that there is someone of authority over us just like when we are children, we know that our parents are in charge. The parents control the events in our lives as much as they can and they protect and keep us safe in the midst of it all. I’m thankful for them and how they try to teach us principles to go by in life and how to handle situations as they come along. They are our Authority! God the Father is Jesus’ Authority too.
Jesus was coming to the point of knowing exactly how what He knew to be His future was about to happen. Jesus, like us, took with Him three of His closest friends to pray with Him in the garden. Don’t we find some comfort and help when we enlist our friends to join us in prayer. We allow others to get involved with the situation at hand when we include them to pray alongside us. For Jesus, those people were Peter, James and John. They must have known how important this moment was in Jesus life but they didn’t see the full measure of all that was about to happen. They didn’t have the same urgency to pray with Jesus with the same way. They, like us, fell asleep on the job. Can you imagine how Jesus felt when His friends failed to pray with the same fervor as He did? They let Him down.
Jesus knows that the circumstances are not going to change but He asks the Father if there is any other conceivable way for Him to not have to go to the cross, let it be. If there is any other way to pay the debt of our sins, Jesus wants to take it. The most crucial part of His prayer and I believe the most crucial part of any of our prayers are found when He says, “Yet not MY will, but what YOU will”. Jesus Christ is all God and all Man but in this prayer He submits to the Will of His Father, God. WOW!
Have you ever prayed knowing that what you were asking God for was probably not going to happen? How did you feel? Did that change your belief that if God wanted it, it could happen? Did that stop you from praying? Of course not! We should always know that God wants to hear the private issues in your heart and life. He cares for us and wants us to know we can always go to Him and depend on Him to give us His best! I’m so thankful that He is always there for us! We may not get exactly what we want and that might be a great thing too! There have been a few prayers that I’m thankful that God did not answer the way I asked. Even though it’s difficult to give over our wants and wills, it is always best to allow
God’s will to take over in our lives.
- Ask God to teach you pray selflessly
- Pray for God to grow your faith and trust in Him
- Pray for those who are struggling with allowing Jesus to be in control of their lives