I have heard quite a few “faith” preachers teach that it is wrong when we pray to say, “your will be done”, because it implies we don’t believe He will do as we ask. They teach that it is double minded to ask for something and then acknowledge that Yahweh may not give it to us. They set people up to claim and believe in whatever they want from Yahweh, then if He does not give it to them, it is blamed on not having enough faith. This is quite simple for us to test in scripture. Let us look at how Yeshua prayed. He is ultimately our perfect example.
The Garden of Gethsemane
36Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed. 38Then He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.”
39And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” 40And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour? 41“Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
42He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done.” 43Again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44And He left them again, and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more. 45Then He came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46“Get up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!”
If Yeshua prays, “not as I will, but as You will”, then so will I! It is not double minded or weak in faith to submit to Yahweh and trust in Him even when He decides something other than what we think is best or what we want.
As a secondary theme, we can also reflect on how Yeshua’s disciples did when He asked them to pray with Him in a very difficult hour? The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. They fell short of the support He wanted. Before we start criticizing them, however, let’s not assume somehow we would be perfect in that situation. I think it is fairly common that we say we will pray with or for someone when they are going through something difficult and even life changing. Then we consider it job well done if we spent a few minutes each day mentioning their need in prayer. I am speaking to myself in this to be sure. I am not sure how I can overcome and do much better on my own, but I can certainly ask the Spirit to help me do better!
I invite you to pray with me:
Father, please help us to have discernment to test what others teach in Your name against Your holy, written word. Help us to have a passion to be in the word daily and in prayer before You daily. Lead Your people in encouraging and supporting one another and also give us wisdom in how to humble ourselves when we pray, submitting always to Your will. Amen.
Shalom
Devotion by John in service to Christ
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