Prayer finds its greatest impact in life and ministry in seasons of our greatest pressures of life and ministry. Prayer and the will of God find definition and demonstration in the life and ministry of our Lord. This may seem too obvious at first but delving into our Lord’s exhortation and example with respect to prayer and the will of God is beneficial, indeed essential, to our life and ministry.

When considering the important matter of prayer and the will of God, there are two features of our Lord’s ministry that deserve our attention. The first has to do with our Lord’s corrective and instructive teaching on prayer. One must resist prayer generated from fleshly self-righteous ritualism or vain words without heart sincerity. James warns against such violation in prayer,[4] even as our Lord warned those in His hearing.

Jesus taught us to pray with personal sincerity and dependence. The key phrase, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done” is an essential component to our practice of prayer. Yet, at a deeper, more intense and profound level, the Lord shows us how to pray according to the will of God. This is seen first in John 17, known as the High Priestly prayer. Even more dramatic is the account of our Lord in the “oil press” of prayer, otherwise known as Gethsemane (Gethsemane means “oil press”).

In brief, in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus teaches us to pray in terms of content and humble attitude (Mt 6:1-18; 7:7-10; Lk 11:1-13). In the Gethsemane prayer Jesus demonstrates how to pray in submissive obedience to the will of God (Mt 26:36-46; Mk 14:32-42; Lk 22:40-46). Prayer and the will of God are best defined and demonstrated in the account of our Lord’s “oil press” Gethsemane crucible prayer before His Father.

 

The Agony of Christ in Prayer and the Will of God

In the context of this “oil press” prayer, taking into account the greater and immediate context, we can discern increasing pressure upon the life of our Lord. The “final week” of our Lord’s earthly ministry was filled with conflict. Having declared the Olivet Discourse (which included the admonition to “watch and pray”[5]), opposition and conflict ensue, including the plotting of the Sadducees, Pharisees, and Herodians; the scheme of Judas to betray Christ; and even conflict among the disciples.[6] It is in the context of the upper room prepared for the celebration of the Passover that Jesus reveals a betrayer in their midst and confronts Peter with his eventual denials. In this context our Lord institutes “the Lord’s Supper.” [7]

If this external pressure were not enough, internal conflict arose in the heart of our Lord as well. From the context of the Upper Room Discourse in which Christ devotes His time to preparing and encouraging His disciples (the eleven); His imminent death, departure, and coming again; the provision of His abiding presence in the person of the Holy Spirit, and by such to abide “in the Vine,” He intercedes before the Father in the High Priestly prayer, [8] only to once again need to confront Peter regarding his coming denials.[9] This is the setting and context of our Lord’s agony in prayer and the will of God. It is here that we see our Lord demonstrate the power of prayer in sub mission to the will of God.

It is here that we observe the Lord’s human struggle and His divine compliance. We must not conclude it was a conflict within the flesh as we experience. He, being without sin, nevertheless was wrestling with the will of God to the fullest extent imaginable. “It was a perfectly normal expression of His humanity that He shrank from the cup of divine wrath. But even though the cup was abhorrent to Him, He willingly took it, because it was the will of the Father.”[10]

 

Prayer and the Will of God–The Example of our Lord

The prayer of our Lord before the Father can be described as pure agony. Matthew states, “He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.” Jesus stated, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.” This is what the text reveals.[11] Luke states plainly, “… being in agony,” [agonia]. It could not be clearer or more moving. Jesus’ relationship with the Father, and with his disciples on a lesser level, could not have been more intense, but it was never in jeopardy. This is important and profound. His submission to the will of the Father was never in doubt. His sacrificial love for His disciples was never diminished. Yet, the physical and spiritual battle was real beyond our comprehension, and gloriously resolved in the context of reliant, obedient prayer.

Jesus prayed, indeed pleaded, in prayer, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You.” “If it is Your will, take this cup[12] away from Me; nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done.”[13]

The text of Luke’s account states, “And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.”[14] The best commentary on this text is found in Hebrews 4:14-16 and 5:7-10. Christ was found to be “One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin” and, “In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.” A.T. Robertson observes this as a “fine picture of Christ’s attitude toward the Father in the prayer in Gethsemane and in all his prayers. Jesus in Gethsemane at once surrendered his will to that of the Father, who heard his plea and enabled him to acquiesce in the Father’s will.”[15]

Christ loved the Father and was an obedient Son[16], and as such the full exposure of both Christ’s perfect humanity and deity are on display in this account. Christ lived to do the will of the Father[17], and He died as the wrath and sin bearer for mankind. This was the cup of which Christ fully partook, and it was resolved in prayer and the will of God.

 

Prayer and the Will of God–The Example of Biblical Record

There are many biblical examples to tap into which illustrate living examples of the spiritual life dynamic of prayer and the will of God. I cite but a few. Consider David as he wrestled with God concerning the life and death vigil over his baby son (2Sa 12) or the three companions of Daniel in Babylon facing the fiery furnace (Da 3), as well as Daniel himself (Da 6). In the New Testament consider Peter’s restoration to the Lord and his ultimate full compliance to the will of God, following a period of stubborn will resistance and fleshly weakness. Consider also the apostle Paul abandoning his stubborn will to the will of God, “… it is no longer I that lives, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:20; Php 1:21; 3:7-11).

 

Prayer and the Will of God–In Our Daily Life and Ministry

In and through Christ, God has granted in grace the believer’s spiritual blessings to the fullest extent (Eph 1:3ff). We battle with the stubborn will of the flesh[18] and gain the victory in Christ by the Holy Spirit.[19] It is by the provision of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit that we can pray in the will of God.[20] We, too, wrestle against the flesh, the world, and Satan, but all with the resources of divine provision and protection.[21]

We have a stubborn will that requires buffeting to the point of compliance with the will of God. Paul reveals this in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27. In the context of faithful ministry, Paul confesses, “… but we were afflicted on every side: conflicts without, fears within” (2Co 7:4-5). He expands upon this in 2 Corinthians 12. These are the circumstances in which we seek the Lord in reliant prayer.

As we live our lives sacrificially by submitting to the will of God, we demonstrate lives of true worship in full faith in the perfect will of God.[22] This is the power of prayer and the will of God. It is the repose of seeking and submitting to the will of God in humble obedience and love.

 

Concluding Considerations

We must faithfully practice “not my will, but Thy will be done” in every dimension of life. Consider this: “This is the will of God, your sanctification” (1Th 4:1-7;) by God’s Word we pray according to the will of God (Mt 26; Mk 14; Lk 22); by the Holy Spirit we pray according to the will of God (Ro 8:26-28); by our sympathetic High Priest we pray according to the will of God (Heb 4:14 5:10); by a life of sacrificial obedience we pray according to the perfect will of God–(Ro 12:1-2).

Life and ministry are often accompanied by a crucible of various trials and tribulations,[23] and because of the nature of the flesh, we become vulnerable to various temptations. Jesus declared as much to the disciples, “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”[24] To what and to whom do you turn in such seasons? To the flesh or to the Spirit? To the Lord and His resources, or to a focus on the failures of others in your life? We must go to the Father and cry out “Abba, Father… not my will, but Thy will be done!” In this “you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”[25] “For this is the will of God, your sanctification ….”[26] In the moments of discouragement, perplexity, and anguish of soul, watch and pray, not my will but Thy will be done!

The ultimate goal of prayer and the will of God is sanctification. We do well to think of prayer and the will of God with this in mind. Christ “sanctified Himself” for our sakes. In our prayer we must likewise endeavor to make the words of Christ ring in our hearts: “not my will, but Thy will be done,” and as His disciple to heed His admonition, “Watch and pray, that you fall not into temptation” (Mk 13:28-37, 14:32 42; Lk 22:40-46). This is the agony and the glory in prayer and the will of God.

“O, LORD, I hang on thee; I see, believe, live when thy will, not mine, is done; I can plead nothing in myself in regard of any worthiness and grace, in regard of they providence and promises, but only thy good pleasure. So shall I wait thy will, pray for it to be done, and by thy grace become fully obedient.”[27]

 

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ENDNOTES

[1] See All the Prayers of the Bible, by Herbert Lockyer, for example.

[2] See works such as those by E. M. Bounds, and many others.

[3] Attributed to E. M. Bounds; Peter Deyneka, Much Prayer, Much Power (Slavic Gospel Association, 1999).

[4] Jas 4:1-10.

[5] Mt 24:32-51; Mk 13:28-37; Lk 21:29-36.

[6] Lk 22:24-30.

[7] Mt 26:26-29; Mk 14:22-25; Lk 22:17-20; 1Co 11:24-25.

[8] Jn 17.

[9] Mt 26:30-35; Mk 14:26-31; Lk 22:39; Jn 18:1a.

[10] John MacArthur, One Perfect Life (Nashville TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2012).

[11] Cf. Mt 26:36-46; Mk 32-42; Lk 22:40-46.

[12] Mk 14:32-42

[13] The Cup of God’s Wrath – Isa 53:10-11; 2Co 5:21

[14] Lk 22:40-46.

[15] A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures of the New Testament (BibleWorks5, 2001).

[16] Jn 17:22-24.

[17] Jn 4:34; 5:30; 15:10.

[18] Ro 7.

[19] Ro 8.

[20] Ro 8:26-27.

[21] Eph 6:10-20; Gal 5; 2Co 10:1-6; 1Co 1-3.

[22] Ro 12:1-2.

[23] Jas 1.

[24] Mk 14:32-42.

[25] Ro 12:1-2.

[26] 1 Th 4:3-6.

[27] Arthur Bennett, Ed., The Valley of Vision (Carlisle PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1975, 1995).