THY WILL BE DONE

PROCLAMATION

“Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and His disciples followed Him.  On reaching the place … He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, ‘Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.’ ” Luke 22:39-42 (NIV)

 

EXPLANATION

These words are from the gospel, the good news regarding Jesus, The Christ, which were spoken by Christ according to Luke, the physician.  Each day, while He was in Jerusalem, Jesus would teach in the temple and each evening He would go out to the Mount of Olives and spend the night. (Luke 21:37)  When the Festival of Unleavened Bread came, which is called the Passover, Jesus sent Peter and John to go and make preparations for them to eat the Passover. (Luke 22:7-13)  After the Passover meal, Jesus and His disciples went to the Mount of Olives.  This is where Jesus prayed to His heavenly Father and said, “… Not My will, but Thine, be done.” (Luke 22:42)  When He had finished praying and was speaking to His disciples, a large crowd approached them.  Judas Iscariot, the one of the twelve who betrayed Him, led the crowd which included with the chief priests and the officers of the temple, and they arrested Jesus. (Luke 22:47-53)

 

APPLICATION

All too often when we pray our prayers are very selfish.  We are only concerned about our own wants, needs, wishes, and desires.  Here, Jesus, The Christ, expressed what He wanted, “… Remove this cup from Me …” but He made it clear that He wanted the will of God to be done.  The will of God was more important to Him than His own wants.  We need to acknowledge that all of our wants and plans are subject to God’s will.  Christ taught us, in the model prayer, to say “… Thy will be done …” (Matthew 6:10)  Our prayers are not to be just a selfish request list, we are to pray for one another. (James 5:16)  Remember, The Lord God did not restore unto Job what he had lost until after he had prayed for his friends. (Job 42:10)  Additionally, we may occasionally ask for something which is inappropriate, and the best way to clean that up is to say, “However, not my will, but Your will be done.”