His Will Be Done 

   “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as you will.” (Matt 26: 39) 

   Our Lord knew the cup He was about to drink.  His passion, including betrayal of one of His chosen apostles and the abandonment by the rest.  He knew of the coming pain in the scourging and the crown of thorns.  The cross was His destiny, with all the pain and agony that would include.  Still, He prayed that the will of the Father be done.

   Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane is the perfect prayer – “not as I will, but as you will”.  The will of God is always for the good.  He doesn’t will evil although He does allow it.  But the evil He allows is not of His making but of our refusal to accept His will in all things.

   We were created in the image of God and part of that image is free will.  Just as God does as He wills, we too can do as we wish even if it is against the will of the Father.  People ask where evil comes from and the answer is simple, it comes from the heart of mankind, from our refusal to seek  His will, but our own desires.

   St. Augustine said, “He who created us without our help will not save us without our consent.”  God would have us all be holy, to be saints.  But we must allow Him to make us so, we must pray that His will be done.

   It is right to pray to God for the things we desire but we must remember that our desires may not be His.  We do not know His plans, for us or for the world.  He is God, we are not.  Therefore, when we pray we should always pray that His will, not ours be done.