Thy Will Be Done Matt 26:42-46 by Dr. Paul Chappell

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Thy Will Be Done"

by Dr. Paul Chappell

He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy. And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.

Matthew 26:42-44

Though Jesus was constantly teaching His disciples, there is only one thing recorded in Scripture that they specifically asked Him to teach them—to pray. They had seen and heard Jesus talking to His Father, and they wanted to learn how to pray as He did. In response, Jesus gave them what is commonly called the Lord's Prayer, although it would be more accurate to call it a model prayer instead. That well-known prayer begins with these words: “And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth” (Luke 11:2). Jesus was not teaching them something in the abstract. He was not giving them theories or ideas. He was telling them, and us, what matters when we pray.

As Jesus modeled in this prayer and in His own prayer just before Calvary, every prayer must be offered in accordance with the will of God. There are times when we greatly desire a particular outcome to a situation. Yet even in those moments we must not insist on having things our way if God has something else planned for us. Thus in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed, knowing the physical agony and spiritual torment that awaited Him, yet still praying in perfect submission to the will of the Father.

Prayer is not a means for us to get only answers that we will like. There are times, like Paul experienced when he prayed for the thorn in his flesh to be removed (2 Corinthians 12:9–10), that God uses the hard things for His purpose. Even in the most difficult moments, we must pray for God's will rather than our own.

Today's Growth Principle:
Asking for God's will to be done is not just repeating words. It must be the desire of our hearts.