DAY 7: DEALING WITH OUR WILL

Scripture

Then, accompanied by the disciples, Jesus left the upstairs room and went as usual to the Mount of Olives. There he told them, “Pray that you will not give in to temptation.”

He walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him. He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood.

Devotion

We know that Jesus is the Son of God, and yet, as a man, He demonstrated how to subject His human will to the will of His Father. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus knew the pain that awaited Him on the cross, yet He laid His own desires down so that God’s will could be accomplished through Him.

Our will is an amazing gift from God, and with it we can either choose to partner with God by submitting to His way — leading to life — or we can choose to partner with the enemy.

One area of our lives where this might be easy to see at play is our finances. I remember a time when my wife and I had been saving up to go on an overseas holiday. We were excited to go and had everything planned and ready, but just a few weeks before we left, I felt the Holy Spirit challenge me to give a pretty large portion of what we had been saving. Now I had a choice to make! My will was to keep the money — after all, it was ours that we had earned and saved. But God’s will in this situation was to give it, use it for His Kingdom, and trust His provision.

We made a decision to bring our will under His authority and to give as He prompted. And guess what? Not only did we receive the blessing of knowing that we had been obedient, but God miraculously provided in the following weeks so that we could go on that holiday exactly as planned! As we submitted our will to God’s will, we were fruitful for His Kingdom and we grew in faith in the process!

Let’s pray the way that our big Brother prayed in the Garden and let’s allow the Holy Spirit to point out any areas in our hearts and lives that are at odds with God’s will!

Prayer

Father, Your way is best. I want what You want! Help me today, in the little things and the bigger things, to bring my will into line with Yours,

In Jesus’ name.