This has been a convicting thought in my mind many times as I end my prayer with “God your will but not mine be done”. Why did I utter that in the end? It almost meant that the whole long list of things I ‘asked for’ or ‘hoped for’ are possibly not easy for God to accomplish…God just do what ever you can. Do we assume God’s powers or mercy or grace are limited? So how do we make meaning of this prayer and why should we make this prayer? Let us see where the Bible leads us?
Even Christ ( Incarnate God ) prayed “ Your will, not mine” ?
Jesus taught His disciples to pray,
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:9–10). Prior to His crucifixion, He prayed,
“My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will” Matthew 26:39
Jesus was committed to seeing God’s will accomplished, and the prayer “Thy will be done” was a theme of His life.
Even though Jesus was weighed down with the burden of the whole world’s sin on his shoulders; even though his spirit was being crushed in agony on the night before his death; even though being God he did cry for help- ‘may this cup be taken from me’ (not just once but thrice) (Matthew 26:39-43)- He still said Thy will, Not mine. Why? Was it because he was feeling defeated. NO. He knew the Providence of God was more important and will come to pass irrespective of what pain he was going to suffer. The eternal design of God had to be done, however painful it was going to be. And knowing that he said ‘Thy will, Not mine’. And did you know that this was the one and only request he had for himself and yet the Father turned it down.
But again as it says in the book of Hebrews he didn’t just resign to ‘his fate’. He received and glorified God in His providence, in his divine work. He received the cup joyfully.
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2
What does His Will convey- Sovereign nature of God?
I am not sure about your experience but mine has been 99.9% prayers unanswered, 0.1% answered (maybe). I say this not out of despair, anger or unbelief. This was how I perceived it till the truth dawned on me. We all want instant answers and “ ONLY THE ANSWERS WE WANT”. How selfish of us, not realising that in every act, decision, movement, thought of ours God is orchestrating a million other things- Remember God is not a reactive God- He is not changing his plans because you suddenly decided to say ’I cancelled dinner plans for today’. It is in his infinite nature to know all things and do all things in his perfect plan- His Providence. But you could say then why does he ask us to pray and ask for ‘things’?
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. Matthew 7:7
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.Philippians 4:6
Did he not promise the above? Did he not say Ask anything? Or is this something else? Is God not a ‘wishing well’? Have we been taken for a ride in the name of God? The following verse was very difficult to understand but gave the answer to these perplexing questions.
If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to My Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, proving yourselves to be My disciples…John 15:7
No! God is not a vending machine, where you put the right change in and press the right button and you get the right chocolate out. When you are a child of God and you abide in Him, you will have a mind of God that seeks His will. All you ask will be His will, his glory, his purpose be fulfilled. Your greatest Joy is seeing his will being done and accomplished and if you become an instrument in his hands for that, it is a miracle come true. Your pain or ecstasy is not the point, his glory is the end point and in that you will find delight. And as you develop a mindset towards this principle you find every prayer of yours in fact reflects this- Hence Thy will not mine is not in doubt but in the greatest of confidence and joy knowing that your treasures or not in this earth but in ‘His Kingdom’.
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Matthew 6:33-34
If our hope in Christ is for this life alone, we are to be pitied more than all men. 1 Corinthians 15:19
Why His Will matters more than yours, even if your child is on the deathbed?
To be honest I wrote the above sentence and then am sitting here and pondering how hard it is to accept. The truth is- this life is a mere microsecond in the ‘eternal timeline of God’. Unless we embrace and accept the truth; that by believing in Christ we have an everlasting, eternal life in Heaven- the above question will have no meaningful answer. We all will die and we all need to agree on one thing before that: Does this life on earth have anything to do with our eternal Life? And what in this life is the key to the eternal glorification rather than eternal damnation? Hmmmmm…sounds all theoretical and philosophical if you answer this with human logic and rationale. But these verses from the Bible when received in total faith gives me not just the answers but the complete confidence in the ‘Will of God’
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, John 11:25
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have complete boldness so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21
This extract from the web puts it really well:
The fact that Christ has conquered death has eternal consequences for us. The good news—the gospel—is grounded in Christ’s victory over death. Without the resurrection, there is no gospel; indeed, there is no hope for us at all: “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17). But Christ has risen, and, as fellow conquerors with Him, Christians “have passed from death to life” (1 John 3:14). Christ “has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:10). ( https://www.gotquestions.org/Jesus-Christ-conquered-death.html )
So I conclude by confirming that when I say ‘Thy Will not mine’ it is in joy, confidence and assured hope that he knows what is best for me, and yet in his infinite righteousness and grace gives me what I need. And in that I have total peace and contentment.
But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9
“Father! Thy will, not mine, be done!”
So pray’d on earth Thy suffering Son;
So, in His Name I pray:
The spirit fails, the flesh is weak;
Thy help in agony I seek;
O! take this cup away.
If such be not Thy Sovereign will,
Thy wiser purpose then fulfil;
My wishes I resign,
Into Thine hands my soul commend
On Thee for life or death depend;
Thy will be done, not mine.
– James Montgomery
