Your will

And He was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. – Luke 22.41-44

It always amazes me to read about Jesus prayer in the garden. It is one of times we see the 100% humanity of Christ. He knew all the pain and agony that was coming. He knew the hurt He would suffer and so He asked the Father to let it pass from Him. Then we read that after that He ‘prayed more earnestly’ after He was strengthened by the angel.

The prospect of His death was agony to Jesus. It was not fear, it was worse than that because it was knowing that it was going to happen. His recourse was prayer and He prayed that it might be avoided.

But His response was clear – ‘not my will but Your’s be done.’

I am not theologian enough to understand how God the Father and God the Son could have different wills, and I am not going to try. All I know is that Jesus knew the agony He would face and was still willing to do the Father’s will.

I think what I get from this is the picture that no matter what comes our way, no matter how hard it is, no matter what we can or can’t see we need to be willing to say ‘not my will, but Your will be done.’