Corona Devo 556

Then, accompanied by the disciples, Jesus left the upstairs room and went as usual to the Mount of Olives. (40) There he told them, “Pray that you will not give in to temptation.” (41) He walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, (42) “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” (43) Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him.  ~Luke 22:39-43

Sometimes, the answer is "No", or at least (for now) the answer is "Not yet."  

The question is, Are we willing to pray the second half of Jesus' prayer?:  "Yet I want your will to be done, not mine." (Luke 22:42).

That's a biggie.  

And some of us are kneeling right now.  (He walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down...  ~Luke 22:41).  If we are honest, the cup of suffering that we are praying-about and asking "to be removed" has brought us to our knees.  We are crumbling under it.  Our spirit of hope is waning and our faith is showing signs of atrophy because of it.  The issue/hurt/fear/compilation-of-things that hovers over us has crippled us.

The question is, Are we willing to pray the second half of Jesus' prayer?:  "Yet I want your will to be done, not mine." (Luke 22:42).

And some of us have been praying for this cup of suffering to be "taken away" for a while now... (He...knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me ~Luke 22:41-42).

Our suffering does not continue due to lack of prayer.  We know the "formula" of faith...Pray about it!  Lay it down before God and "let it go".  Or lay it at His feet and "let Him pick it up".  

But what becomes of us when the days pass and nothing changes?  When the nights c-r-a-w-l by and the sun slowly rises, and the same chant is still on our lips?

We are kneeling, Lord.  And we are praying, Lord.  Please take this cup of suffering away from me.

The question is, Are we willing to pray the second half of Jesus' prayer?:  "Yet I want your will to be done, not mine." (Luke 22:42).

We can pray for relief, rescue, and deliverance from whatever is burying us, and sometimes it comes...

And sometimes it does not.  Or sometimes it does not come yet.

Are we willing to pray the second half of Jesus' prayer?:  "Yet I want your will to be done, not mine." (Luke 22:42).

Jesus is our model for every other aspect of life: Attitude, forgiveness, love.  Can we choose today to model His faith in His Father and His complete trust and dependence on His Father's will, even while we still hold this cup of suffering?

That's a biggie.  

Especially when we can't breathe from the stress.

Especially when we can't see from the tears.

Especially when we can't heal from the hurt.

Yet... (Luke 22:42).

But faith is incubated during perseverance and suffering, and God's ways (and timing) are sometimes not our ways:  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. (9) “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:8-9).

But, in faith, and knowing and trusting God's dominion over us and His love for us today, we can choose to say and Yet...

"Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” ~Luke 22:42

Today, let's be willing to pray the second half of Jesus' prayer.  

"Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” (43) Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him.  ~Luke 22:42-43

Just as Jesus was strengthened, Jesus strengthens us.  Jesus encourages us.  Jesus appears in ways and in people that we wouldn't expect, and He strengthens us.  

May we be strengthened by His Word today.

May we be strengthened by His love through someone today.

May we be strengthened even by the suffering today.  

We can keep praying for our sufferings to be removed, and one day they surely will be.  But in the meantime, in today's day- and night-time, let's be willing to pray the second half of Jesus' prayer: "I want your will to be done, not mine.” (Luke 22:42).  Amen.

Blessings, 

sarah 

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com

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