3 Things You Need To Do To Kill Your Will And Surrender To God’s Will

3 Things You Need To Do To Kill Your Will And Surrender To God’s Will

The convenience of wide highways is obvious. Everyone is just trying to get along. It is camouflaging so as not to draw attention to itself. It includes both overt and covert wrongdoing. But wide paths of whatever description lead inevitably to ruin.

Instead, we are to choose the straight and narrow road, surrendering our will to God’s.

Those who claim to be followers of Christ have, as Paul writes in Galatians 5:24, “crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

In order to crucify one’s flesh, one must first voluntarily crucify one’s will, which is not an easy thing to accomplish but ultimately results in the life we all seek. Because of this, Jesus said, “Difficulty is the way that leads to life.”

Gethsemane’s Gethsemane: Crucify the Body

What Jesus went through near the end of His earthly existence gives us a window into His character and motivations like few other places in the Bible.

Then Jesus brought his disciples to a spot called Gethsemane and told them to rest there while he prayed. He started to feel grief and pain, and he took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee with him. In response, he told them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay with me and take in the show. He walked a little further and then collapsed on the ground, praying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will. When He arrived at the disciples, He found them dozing. He woke up Peter by asking, “What! Please, for one hour, could you watch with me? So keep vigil and hope that you won’t give in to temptation. Yes, the mind is set, but the body is unable to follow through. It was the second time that He had gone away to pray, and each time He had said, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, then Your will be done. Their eyelids were weary, and when He came, they were fast asleep. He then departed from them a third time to pray in the same manner. Then He approached His followers and said, “Are you still resting and sleeping? The time has come, and the Son of Man is being handed up to criminals. Get up; we need to get moving. Jesus says in Matthew 26:36–46, “Behold, my betrayer is at hand.

Jesus’ last hours were marked by an epic battle to bring His will into submission to the Father, despite the fact that He knew this was His destiny. The awareness that his death would be unlike any other human’s brought him tremendous suffering. He would have to take the full measure of God’s vengeance for wrongdoing and evil.

Both Ezekiel and Isaiah foretold and talked of the coming cup of God’s wrath.

According to Ezekiel 23:33, “you will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, the cup of ruin and desolation.”

You who have drained the goblet that makes people stagger, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of his wrath” (Isaiah 51:17).

What it would be like to have God’s anger poured out on us like a mountain is beyond our comprehension. Capillaries at the surface of his skin ruptured due to the mental fight to surrender His will in the face of the pain before Him; thus, blood poured out with the perspiration. Jesus’ humanity reeled beneath the crushing weight of this unprecedented tragedy.

Putting someone to sleep is no simple task.

Although none of us will ever have to go through the pain of crucifixion in order to realize that it is not easy to crucify the will and submit to the will of the Father, the lesson is still there.

But here’s a spoiler: it’s the path to survival.

“Whoever loves their life shall lose it, and whoever hates their life in this world shall keep it for eternal life” (John 12:25).

John 10:10 assures us that the life we seek is found in doing God’s will. It’s the path to a life of tranquility and contentment, infused with a profound sense of significance.

And when He passed through Gethsemane, Jesus provided us with an everlasting model of how to put down our own will, surrender it to God, and follow Him into the destiny He has prepared for each of us.

1. Ignore other people, Stay Focus

Peter, James, and John were Jesus’ go-to disciples whenever he had anything important to do. Have you ever thought about the story their names tell?

The name Peter refers to the rock or stone on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed.

Jacob signifies “supplanter” or “replacer,” while James is the Gentile equivalent of that name.

Grace is what John stands for.

Jesus’ life message, which was announced prophetically by the presence of these men, was that He came to replace the law with grace, to replace what we could never achieve in our own righteousness with what He has done for us, and to give a road to the Father through this grace.

Jesus still went back and forth between His close companions Peter, James, and John and His Father as He struggled to give up His will and do what His Father wanted.

Seeking spiritual guidance and encouragement is a biblical mandate. Indeed, there is security in a group of wise advisers (Proverbs 11:14). But in the end, it’s God’s advice that counts. We have to ignore the doubts of others, especially those closest to us.

Don’t discount their opinions out of hand, but realizing the death of our will calls for us to take a leap of faith, trust God, and surrender to His plan, no matter what anybody else thinks.

2. Keep praying despite difficulties.

It is a common misconception that praying is usually a quiet time. A discussion with God should be relaxed and friendly, like chatting with a friend.

I cherish you as a father. I appreciate the chance to meet with you. My day never seems complete without it! All day long, I’ve been thinking about coming here to spend time with you, and now that I finally have some free time, I can’t wait to do so.

I am aware of that, my kid. I’ve been sitting here all day, waiting for a chance to tell you how proud I am of you and how much of a gift it is to watch you live out your Christian faith in the world.

While these things are certainly a part of our prayer time with God, they are not how the Bible describes “prayers that avail much. (James 5:16) For instance, in Genesis 32:22–32, we read about how Jacob fought with God until daybreak, refusing to let Him leave unless He bestowed His favor upon him.

During the Exodus, Israel fought the Amalekites. On the mountaintop, Moses was giving Israel a miraculous advantage by raising his arms over his head as a symbol to the enemy. His hands shook so much that Aaron and Hur had to prop them up on stones (Exodus 17:11–13).

Hannah cried so much during prayer in 1 Samuel that Eli the High Priest mistook her for being inebriated (1 Samuel 1:13).

In his prayers throughout the Psalms, David revealed a wide range of emotions, from rage toward his adversaries to irritation with God to questions to God about why he hasn’t gotten an answer yet.

Three times in 2 Corinthians 12:7-8, Paul mentions praying to God concerning a messenger of Satan who was trying to thwart the spread of the gospel.

As we have seen, Jesus prayed so earnestly in the garden that he sweated droplets of blood, cried out, and even prayed the same thing over and over again out of sheer human anguish.

This is not how many of us imagine Christians praying.

The purpose of prayer is to help us work through our problems; thus, it’s not uncommon for prayers to take on the form of a war. It’s where we wage war against the evil that threatens us and against the part of ourselves that goes against God’s will.

It’s sometimes referred to as “praying through,” which means to pray until relief is experienced or progress is shown. In today’s world of instant everything and 140-character tweets, many Christians aren’t equipped to “grab the horns of the altar” and hang on tight until God provides a miraculous solution.

To willingly destroy our will, however, we must first analyze every feeling and desire in that form of prayer. And perhaps our lackadaisical devotion to prayer accounts for our lack of success in submitting.

3. Plan to Experience the Promise

I recall hearing this promise in Scripture years ago, after I had fully surrendered to God’s plan and left my professional job route for a full-time ministry post making $400 per month.

As a result, Jesus responded, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s sake, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life” (Mark 10:29–30).

And I sensed God saying, It won’t be easy, but if you do My will, you’ll reap the rewards!

A definition, please. God’s ultimate goal for us is to eliminate our free will and replace it with His perfect plan for our lives. Furthermore, God’s plans for us are always superior to our own.

God’s promises are not contingent on our merit; rather, they are wholly dependent on God Himself.

Jesus submitted to the Father’s will in the garden and died the death we deserved so that we wouldn’t have to.

When we are in Christ, we have the wonderful confidence that God will not punish us. There’s no indication of why we deserve God’s favor.

Think about it! Jesus spent 33 years on earth, living a life worthy of the greatest honor. His selfless desire to help others is deserving of every blessing from God, the Father, and the heavens.

That’s how big of a deal our salvation is!

When we place our faith in Christ, we get not only the advantages of His death (namely, the postponement of judgment), but also the benefits of His life (namely, access to Heaven and the Father’s blessings). This means that not only does God spare us from punishment, but He also lavishes us with benefits because of what Christ has done for us in his life and death.

It’s grace upon grace, and it’s the whole reason we have hope that the promise will be fulfilled.

Is there anything in your life that you have not yet surrendered to God’s will? I hope this encourages you to keep praying until you experience a true breakthrough. God’s perfect will for your life awaits you when you accomplish this, and it will be greater than anything you could have dreamed of!