“Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” (Luke 22:42)
We ask the Lord to guide us, protect us, for strength for the day or the task at hand, for protection and provisions, if we are praying without ceasing, when we are not praising His name, we are asking for something.
The life of the man who has been crucified with Christ is one of obedience, humility and servitude with a joy that far surpasses any known happiness, it is the assurance that he is in the will of God, and the person whose life is such ends all of those requests of the Most High with “Thy will be done.”
My knowledge of prayers knows only three possible answers to those requests, yes, no, or wait, and here is where we differentiate between those that want for reasons other than the Lord God would be glorified. If a prayer for healing ends in the death of the one we have been praying for, “Thy will be done” is generally not spoken with joy, and an inner questioning can begin that if left unhindered can lead to an inner animosity. It’s not easy for people who have been given free will to either give up or have that free will taken away from them, but that is exactly what the Lord God asks us to do.
“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” (Gal. 2:20)
It is, in my humble opinion, the root of pride that must be destroyed, it is not just saying “no” to ourselves, it is the complete and total negating of all we desire, all we are, willingly and without reservation, and it cannot be done.
Only Jesus Christ lived a life completely void of any self-will, from Luke 2:49, “And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” To “And 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.” (Matt. 26:39)
I would say here that we have a desire to serve without questioning, without fear, without reservations of any kind, but it would not be true, we have free will and the very mention of those two words together are the exact opposite of unmitigated obedience. Forced obedience allows for no free will, and even those whose lives are controlled by others, even when it is completely against their will, still retain the free will of the mind. Even those who have been brainwashed can be de-programmed, shown that their free will in the area of their thoughts can be restored to a state at least somewhat close to the state that they realized before the days they now live.
Here then is as close to the truth that this poor writer of letters has been blessed to see in this area, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Romans 12:2) How? Willingly, by our own free will choices.
The Seraphim who fly around the throne of God, and who have done so since they were created by the Most High, continually and without end say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.” (Isaiah 6:3) The question then must needs be asked, do they do so of their own free will, or is that all they were created to do, do they ever have the possibility of choice?
We serve the Lord God, we lift up the name of Jesus Christ because we want to, we make a conscience decision to live our lives as best as we understand how to in a way that glorifies the Lord and is therefore pleasing in His sight. We are not forced by the Lord to do anything.
If our free will is removed, we can no longer serve in love, obedience must be offered willingly, or it holds no value. Partial obedience is not offering love fully, full obedience is not possible because of our free will. The person who releases all their free will to the Lord is allowed to retain their free will. It cannot be explained in words, only experienced, and then only because of love.
