Not My Will
Introduction: I visited a lady who was dying and she knew it. After being told by the doctors there was nothing else they could do, she was overwhelmed with fear. Unable to come to peace, she expressed to me when I visited her, that she was terrified with anxiety.
At that moment our Lord impressed upon my heart to ask her if she had ever prayed this prayer, “Not my will, but thine, oh Lord!” Honestly, acknowledging she had not, she prayed out loud right then and there, “Not my will, but yours Lord Jesus be done.”
Immediately, a sense of peace and tranquility came over her face. She relaxed and took a deep breath. The next day while visiting her, I asked her if she was afraid of dying. She smiled and said, “Not my will but His will.”
The next day she was with Jesus in heaven. I stood around the bedside with her husband of over 50 years. We cried but rejoiced. She made it to her new home—in heaven with Jesus.
You know, Jesus prayed that prayer—have you? Lately?
1) If you pray it and mean it, it will relieve you from trying to be in control!—”Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42). Feeling alone with the weight of the world’s sin upon his shoulders, literally—Jesus was not afraid of dying, but rather of “tasting sin” or experiencing hell (separation from the Father). And yet, He drank the cup to the last bitter dregs. He did it for me! Us! That we would not have to be separated from the Father.
2) If you pray it and mean it, this will release you from things you cannot control!—”And he came out, and went, as he was wont, to the mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him. And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation. And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him” (Luke 22:39-43).
After sweating great drops of blood from intensity, an angel strengthened Jesus. Praise the Lord for the ministry of angels!
3) If you pray it and mean it, it will help you resolve that God is in control!—”And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And when he rose up from prayer, and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow, And said unto them, Why sleep ye? rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation (Luke 22:44-46). God the Father’s will is the most important part of the believer’s life. Although we like to be in control, the sooner we relinquish control—the better off we will be.
I shared the aforementioned account of the Christian lady with another Christian lady who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness. Sensing her time was coming to an end, she too prayed… “Not my will, but your will be done.”
Will you pray that now? “Not my will Lord Jesus, but your will be done”! Jesus—though He was God in the flesh, prayed, “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” Amen.
For more teaching from the Bible, including over one hundred videos on Bible prophecy, be sure to visit the Until That Day YouTube Channel at https://www.youtube.com/untilthatday. Until That Day is an outreach ministry of New Rocky Creek Baptist Church. For the livestream of weekly services, visit facebook.com/newrockycreekbaptist every Sunday morning at 8:45 am.