A Prayer For God’s Will

He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

Matthew 26:39

Submitting to God’s will for our lives can be a formidable challenge. At times, our dreams and aspirations conflict with God’s will for us. Jesus wrestled with this issue in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. At stake, for Jesus, was the way God wanted to accomplish the salvation of his people. God’s way included suffering and death on a cross. Jesus saw the difficult road ahead and spent a night agonizing in prayer over it. The strength and courage he found in prayer that night helped him withstand the suffering he faced the next day.

The choices we must make are less momentous than Jesus’ choices, but they may still be agonizing enough to drive us to our knees before the Father. As his will becomes clearer, may God give us the ability to yield to his will, as Jesus did.

• Dear Lord, I want your will to be done, not mine . . .