The Prayer that God can NEVER Resist
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The garden was quiet that night, save for the anguished prayers of a man facing the darkest moment of his life. Jesus had brought his disciples to Gethsemane. But now he had gone a little farther, falling to the ground in deep distress. You can picture him there, the weight of the world literally on his shoulders, sweat like drops of blood falling to the ground. The son of God, fully divine yet fully human, was experiencing emotional and spiritual agony beyond anything we can imagine. What was he facing? Not just physical torture and execution, though that would be enough to terrify anyone.
No, he was facing the prospect of taking on the sin of all humanity, past, present, and future. The one who had never known sin was about to become sin for us. The one who had enjoyed perfect communion with the father was about to experience the father turning away. The cup he was being asked to drink was filled with divine wrath against all human rebellion. Three times Jesus prayed that night. Three times he asked if there was any other way. Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me.
It was an honest request. Jesus in his humanity recoiled from what was coming. He didn't want to drink that cup. He didn't want to face the cross. He didn't want to experience separation from the father. But then came the words that would change history. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.
Not my will, but yours. Here was the son submitting to the father in the most difficult moment imaginable. Here is the creator of the universe saying,"I don't want this, but I want your will more than my own comfort." Here was perfect surrender. And what happened? God didn't remove the cup. Jesus would still go to the cross.
He would still experience the agony of crucifixion and the horror of separation from the father. But something else happened, too. Luke tells us that an angel appeared to strengthen him. In the moment of surrender, Jesus received supernatural strength to face what was coming. The cup wasn't removed, but grace was given to drink it. That's the power of a prayer of surrender. When Jesus aligned his will with the fathers, even though it meant tremendous suffering, he received what he needed to fulfill God's purpose.
His prayer wasn't answered in the way he might have initially hoped, but it was answered in the way that accomplished God's perfect plan of redemption for humanity. So, what does this mean for us today? How does this ancient scene in a garden apply to our modern lives with all their complexities and challenges? Let me share some insights that can transform the way we pray and the way we live. First, let's acknowledge that surrender is countercultural today. We live in a world that celebrates autonomy and self-determination. From a young age, we're taught to make our own decisions, chart our own course, be captain of our own ship.
We sing songs about doing things my way. We have billions of options for customizing every aspect of our lives, from our coffee order to our career path. The idea of saying not my will goes against everything our culture promotes. But here's the paradox. True freedom comes through surrender to God. Jesus himself said in John 8:32, "You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." The truth is that we were created to live in submission to God's good and perfect will.
When we insist on our own way, we don't find freedom. We find bondage to our own limited perspective and selfish desires. I remember counseling a man who was desperately trying to control every aspect of his life. His calendar was meticulously planned. His financial future was mapped out in spreadsheets. He had contingency plans for his contingency plans. But he was the most anxious, stressed out person I had ever met.
Why? Because control is an illusion. We simply can't manage all the variables of life. It was only when he began to practice surrender, saying, "Not my will, but yours," that he found peace. Not because everything went according to plan, but because he was no longer carrying the impossible burden of trying to be God in his own life. Second, surrender isn't passive resignation. When Jesus said, "Not my will, but yours," he wasn't giving up.
He was actively aligning himself with the father's purpose. There's a world of difference between resignation that says whatever I give up and surrender that says I choose your way above my own. Paul demonstrates this act of surrender in Philippians 3 7 and 8 where he wrote but whatever gain I had I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ. Paul didn't passively resign himself to loss. He actively counted everything else as rubbish compared to knowing Christ and fulfilling God's purpose.
I think about the remarkable story of Marie, whose journey with cancer became a powerful testimony of surrender and faith. When Marie was diagnosed with stage 4 liver cancer at age 54, doctors gave her at most 2 years to live. And even that was considered unlikely. But rather than collapsing under the weight of this devastating news, Marie and her husband responded with such supernatural calm that her doctor kept asking if they really understood the severity of the diagnosis he was giving them. Their home, as her husband later described, has not been a house of mourning, but a house of joy in spite of the cancer. Marie's surrender wasn't passive resignation to her circumstances. It was active alignment with God's purposes.
Even as she underwent treatments, she continued ministering to others, giving encouragement and looking outward rather than inward. Her daughter later described her as a true warrior, a hero, an inspiration, and a model of how we can rely on Christ through all life's trials. Marie surrender wasn't just about accepting her diagnosis. It was about finding God's purpose within it. Third, surrender opens us to God's better plan. When we pray, "Not my will but yours," we're acknowledging that God's wisdom is greater than ours. As Isaiah 55: 8-9 reminds us, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways, declares the Lord."
As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane led to the cross, which seemed like defeat, but resulted in resurrection and redemption for all of humanity. What looked like the worst possible outcome became the means of salvation for all who believe. God's plan was infinitely better than avoiding suffering would have been. I'm reminded of Joseph in the Old Testament. If anyone had reason to question God's plan, it was Joseph. sold into slavery by his own brothers, falsely accused and imprisoned in Egypt.
He could have become bitter and resentful easily, and I don't think anybody would have blamed him. But Joseph surrendered to God's purpose, and what was intended for evil, God used for good. Years later, J Joseph told his brothers in Genesis 50:20, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." How many times do we insist on our own narrow vision when God has something far better in mind? It may not look better initially. It might even involve suffering as it did for Jesus and Joseph. But God's purposes extend beyond our limited perspective and time frame.
Fourth, surrender is a daily discipline, not a one-time event. Jesus didn't just surrender in the garden. His entire life was characterized by submission to the father's will. In John 5:1 19 he says, "Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself. He can do only what he sees the Father doing because whatever the Father does, the Son also does." And in John 6:38, "For I have come down from heaven not to do my will, but to do the will of him who sent me." For us too, surrender isn't a oneanddone decision.
It's a daily, sometimes momentby-moment choice to align our will with God's. In Luke chapter 9 vers 23, Jesus tells his followers, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me." Daily and follow me. Not yearly at a spiritual retreat, not weekly at church. Daily. This is why the Lord's Prayer includes the phrase, "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Jesus taught us to pray this way regularly, repeatedly surrendering to God's purposes.
It's a prayer we need to pray every day because our natural tendency is to revert to self-will. I found in my own life that I need frequent course corrections. I start the day surrendered, but by 10:00 a.m. I'm often back to pursuing my agenda, getting frustrated when things don't go my way, or trying to control outcomes that aren't mine to control. That's why I try to pause throughout the day to realign my will with God. To pray again, not my will but yours be done. Fifth, surrender leads to peace even in difficult circumstances.
After Jesus prayed in Gethsemane, he faced the same situation. Betrayal, arrest, torture, death. But he faced it with supernatural calm and purpose. When the soldiers came to arrest him, he was in control. When false accusations were hurled at him, he remained silent. When hanging on the cross, he was concerned for others. His surrender didn't change his circumstances, but it changed him inside his circumstances.
Paul understood this when he wrote from prison in Philippians 4 6 and 7. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Notice Paul doesn't promise that presenting our requests to God means we'll get everything we ask for. But he does promise peace that transcends understanding when we bring everything to God in prayer. That peace comes when we can sincerely add, "Not my will, but yours be done to our requests." I experienced this firsthand when the business I had built and run for 20 years fell apart.
I had worked so hard, made sacrifices, done everything right, but the door closed definitively due to decisions made by others that wrecked my market. I was devastated. But as I surrendered the dream and my disappointment to God, something unexpected happened. A deep peace replaced the anxiety and striving I have lived with for so long. My circumstances hadn't changed, but my perspective had. I could trust that if God closed that door, he has something else in mind. The peace didn't make sense given the circumstances, but it was real.
It truly did transcend understanding. And no surprise, God did not disappoint. Although I had to go back to work for somebody else for the first time in decades, I got a job that I loved, made great friends, and got back on solid financial ground. I love what I do now and I'm grateful things changed. As I like to say, I am who I am because I've been through what I've been through and I like who I am. So, no regrets. God knew what he was doing when he let that door close, despite how hard he knew I would initially take it.
In the long term, it was such a blessing. I don't make as much money as I did back then. But I'm much happier and far less stressed than I was. And I'll take that every day of the week and twice on Sunday.
Six, surrender isn't just about accepting difficult things. It's about actively seeking God's will. Jesus taught us to pray, "Your kingdom come, your will be done." That's not passive. It's a request for God's will to be accomplished through us and around us. When we pray prayers of surrender, we're inviting God to use us as instruments of his purpose. Romans 12:1 and 2 puts it this way.
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by renewing of your mind. Then you'll be able to test and approve what God's will is, his good, pleasing, and perfect will. Notice a connection. Offering ourselves as living sacrifices leads to discerning God's will. Surrender isn't just about accepting whatever happens.
It's about actively participating in God's purposes. It's about being available and willing to be used however God sees fit. I think of Esther who found herself in a position of influence for such a time as this. The Bible says when faced with the choice to remain silent and safe or to risk her life to save her people, she surrendered her safety and security to God's purpose. Her prayer request to her people wasn't just for her protection, but for God's will to be accomplished through her. Go gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan and fast for me. Neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day.
My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king which is against the law and if I perish I perish. That if I perish I perish is a profound statement of surrender to God's purpose whatever the personal cost. Finally the prayer that God can never resist is the prayer that seeks his will above all else. In 1 John 5:14-15, we read, "This is the confidence we have in approaching God, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have what we ask for." The key phrase is according to his will.
When we align our prayers with God's purposes, we can be confident he hears and answers. Not because we've discovered some formula for getting what we want, but because what we want has become what he wants. Our desires have been transformed by surrender. Jesus modeled this in his prayer life. In John 11, before raising Lazarus, he prayed, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me. But I said this for the benefit of the people standing here that they may believe that you sent me.
And Jesus had such confidence that the father heard him because he was perfectly aligned with the father's will. And yes, Lazarus rose from the dead. Now, does this mean God always gives us exactly what we ask for when we pray prayers of surrender? No. Even Jesus in Gethsemane still had to drink the cup of suffering. But it does mean that God always gives us what we need to accomplish his purpose. Whether that's supernatural strength to endure, unexpected joy in difficult circumstances, or a complete change in our situation, God provides what we need when we surrender to his will.
I'm reminded of Paul's thorn in the flesh in 2 Corinthians chapter 12. Three times he pleaded with the Lord to take it away. The answer wasn't removal of the problem, but provision of sufficient grace. My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Paul's response was surrender. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ's power may rest on me. So, what does all this mean for our prayer lives?
It means that the most powerful prayer we can pray isn't about getting God to do our will, but about aligning ourselves with his. It's about coming to the place where we can sincerely say like Jesus, "Not my will, but yours be done." This doesn't mean we shouldn't bring our desires and requests to God. Jesus did in Gethsemane. He was honest about what he wanted, but he held that desire with open hands, ultimately surrendering to the Father's purpose. And here's the beautiful paradox. In surrender, we find what our hearts truly long for.
Not the fulfillment of our temporary desires, but the accomplishment of God's eternal purposes in and through us. In surrender, we discover that God's will is good, pleasing, and perfect. As Paul tells us in Romans 12, in surrender, we find freedom from the exhausting burden of trying to control our lives and peace that transcends understanding. So, I want to challenge you to make not my will, but yours be done part of your daily prayer life. It's not a magic formula. It's not about using the exact words. It's about the hard attitude of surrender and submission to God's purposes.
It might be the hardest prayer you ever pray. It was for Jesus, but it's also the prayer that God can never resist because it opens the door for him to work in and through you according to his perfect will. When you're facing a difficult decision, pray, "Not my will, but yours be done." When you're dealing with a painful circumstances, pray, "Not my will, but yours be done." When you're being asked to do something that costs you, pray, "Not my will but yours be done." When you're planning your future, pray, "Not my will, but yours be done." And watch how God works.
Not always in the way you expect or initially desire, but always in the way that accomplishes his good purpose. Remember the garden. Remember Jesus prayer. And remember that what followed that prayer of surrender was the greatest demonstration of God's love and power the world has ever seen. The cross looked like defeat, but it led to resurrection. Your surrender may involve a cross to bear, but resurrection power awaits on the other side. Let this be our prayer.
Father Aba, we come to you now with open hands and open hearts. We confess that we often struggle to surrender. We want to control our lives, chart our own course, have things our own way. But today, we choose to follow the example of Jesus and pray, "Not our will, but yours be done." In our decisions, relationships, careers, dreams, and struggles, in every aspect of our lives, we surrender to your perfect will. We believe that your ways are higher than our ways and your thoughts than our thoughts. Give us the courage to relinquish control and the faith to trust your purpose even when it doesn't make sense to us.
When your will involve suffering, give us strength as you gave Jesus in the garden. When your will involves waiting, give us patience. When your will involves stepping out in faith, give us courage. And through it all, give us the peace that comes from knowing we're exactly where you want us to be, doing exactly what you want us to do. We surrender everything to you, trusting that as we align ourselves with your purpose, you will accomplish more than we could ask or imagine. In Jesus' name, amen. [Music]
