"Coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him. When He came to the place, He said to them, 'Pray that you may not enter into temptation.'
And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, 'Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but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. When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow. Then He said to them, 'Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.' ”
Father, I pray not my will, but your will be done in ______'s life.
Jesus is our perfect example of following God's will. It was His obsession. He was driven by it. God's great love for us was what drove Him to send Jesus to die for us even if it meant separation from His Son. The verse that came to mind was Ephesians 2:4-5,
"But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)"
As a kid, I always thought that Jesus was in agony because of the pain He was going to experience. The nails being driven in His hands. The suffocation. But I learned it was that He was going to be separated from God that brought such intense agony. But it was about doing God's will.
Another point I thought about was what Jesus told His disciples before and after He prayed. Pray so that you will not fall into temptation. That is the same for us as Christians and as the church. Our nation has fallen apart because we as the church do not pray often and we have fallen into temptation. We no longer seek God's will. It is not what drives us. As for me, I am driven sometimes by people's opinions of me and not the opinion of God's will for my life. Imagine if we can pray that prayer above, "Not my will but yours God", what would our lives look like? How would that change our nation? Jesus is our example. He gave His life up for it and it changed the world.
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