Not My Will, But THY Will Be Done
II Cor. 12 ... Paul said ... And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. 8For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. 9And HE said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.
Paul had his answer from God. God was not going to heal Paul of this affliction. It is apparent when Paul got this information from God that he no longer prayed about this matter but simply accepted what he believed God had told him.
Paul said ... Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. II Cor. 12
Jesus prayed three times for "this cup" to be removed from HIM that HE not have to go to the cross.
Mt. 26 ... Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder.
37And HE took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.
38Then saith HE unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.
39And HE went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as THOU wilt.
40And HE cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? 41Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
42HE went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, THY will be done. 43And HE came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy.
44And HE left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.
45Then cometh HE to HIS disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me.
Later Jesus explained that had he done so, asking God, that God would have sent 12 legions of angels to HIM to help HIM ...
Mt. 26 ... And, behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest’s, and smote off his ear. 52Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. 53 Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? 54 But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?
The all important thing to Jesus was the will of God, the Father ... and the fulfillment of the scriptures!
Some people pray to be healed of a physical problem and are not healed and are often accused by religious people of having weak faith. This may not be the case. Everything depends on the will of God in the matter at hand.
I wanted to marry. When I was born again I was approximately 37 years old. I wanted to marry. All my church friends were praying for me to marry. One time I dated a man from our church group. At one point he even said to me, "Joan, don't stop praying about our marrying." And then after he said that, he just disappeared! At the time, I was even angry with God because I knew it was God who had removed this man. I've had that type of thing happen over and over. Finally, I gave up ... "Not my will, but Thy will be done." After I gave up, everything leveled off and was fine with me.
I Cor. 7 ... (If you marry) such shall have trouble in the flesh: but I spare you.
The last time I almost married was in 2004. We broke up two months before the wedding. It was difficult for me to go through this, but looking back on it I continually thank God that I didn't marry Howard!
I believe my not marrying was the mercy of God toward me with the calling of God I had on my life and the work I did and was to do as a result of that calling … but it was difficult to see it at that time.
Do we trust God? Do we believe God knows what is best for us? Do we believe God has a purpose for our lives and puts us in positions to fulfill that purpose?
Or do we think we have to make it happen? (woe to us if we think that)
I lived in Clovis, NM (USA) from 1985 through 2001. I was helping my mother in her later years after my dad died. I kept picturing that some day I would move to Canyon, Texas (USA). It was in West Texas but I considered it rather pretty there because it was in a small canyon.
My mother died in 2002 and I planned to move to Lubbock, Texas. The house I live in was being built and during the framing, I walked into the door and it struck me, "What happened? I was planning to move to Canyon (100 miles north of Lubbock)." But even before my mother died I had a dream where I was building a house and I saw the lot and the lot I bought in Lubbock looked exactly like the lot in the dream. I believe this is the place God selected for me though I had another place in mind.
(Canyon wouldn't have worked for me at all. They have lots of snow in Canyon and Lubbock does not have much, if any, snow during the year.)
Consider this scripture:
Acts 17:26 (NIV) ... HE (God) determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.
I am 78-years-old at time of this writing. I had an accident in 2010 where hip broke and in the operation the bone split all the way down the left side of my hip to knee. This created complications. I didn't know if I would be able to live by myself and take care of myself. I might need to move to an assisted living home (nursing home). Should I begin looking for an assisted living home? I asked God.
After prayer, I was reminded of a time when I traveled in ministry and shipped books to meeting areas. At that time several women worked for me handling office matters. I had to dismiss one woman and the staff became angry with me and all but one person quit. Someone in anger said, "Just wait until she needs to have those materials shipped.” Meaning I would see then what a mistake I made and how much I needed all the workers. But several weeks after the workers left, God gave me a dream telling me not to go out for meetings, so it ended up there was no need for any of the workers the following year since I didn’t go out and have meeting and ship books.
I was reminded of this dream when I prayed about looking for an assisted living home. I believe God was showing me there would not be a need in the future for an assisted living home. So I didn't look for one.
So many concerns focus on future ... future needs, what will happen when such and such happens, how can I manage? Each concern must be taken to God in prayer. We might be fretting ourselves over things where there will not be a "need".
It is very important to stop and talk to God each time a thought over future comes. If there is something we need to do now, God will show us. We just rest in prayer. If we are shown by God to do something now, we do it. If we are shown nothing to do, we consider there will not be a need in this area.
Also during the time of this accident, I didn't know if I would ever be able to walk again.
God gave a dream to a man in our little church group. In the dream, I was walking and doing so without even using a cane. That is the position I'm in currently.
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