Total Submission to the will of God.

“Yet-not what I want, but what you want!”

(Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane Matthew chapter 26 verse 39 in the Jewish New Testament.)

It is dark and late at night, Jesus and his best friends arrive in a garden called Gethsemane. Jesus knows that this is the night when he will be arrested, spat on by men, mocked, whipped, and he will then be brutally nailed to death on a cross. He knows that his death on the cross will be an atonement for the sins of humanity.

He finds that his best friends have fallen asleep. They could not even stay awake and support him in his moment of need. Jesus is beginning to feel desperate, restless, anxious and alone. There are drops of sweat rolling down his face. He walks a stone’s throw away from his friends and kneels down on the ground to pray. He clutches his hands together and bows his head down and prays to his heavenly Father. “My Father, if possible, let this cup pass from me! Yet-not what I want, but what you want!”

For Jesus this is a moment of total submission to the will of God. He aligns his will totally with God’s will. It is the moment of total selflessness and oneness with God. He wants what God wants and he totally places himself in God’s care.

He walks back to his friends and finds that they are still asleep. He tells them to wake up and pray as this night their faith will also be tested but they still remain asleep. His desperation and loneliness increases and he walks away and falls on his knees and prays the same prayer again and again.

My dear friends: We also need to come to God daily and pray what Jesus prayed. “Not what I want, but what you want”. This prayer means that We align our wills with God’s will and become one with him and our place ourselves totally in his care.

Prayer
Dear God
My Prayer is
Not what I want,
But what you want
In Jesus Name
Amen.

By Harbajan (Servant of Jesus) 15-04-2011