Not What I Will but What You Will

Father, we ask that you would continue to gently but powerfully pour out the Holy Spirit upon us.

Father, sometimes your word teaches us things that really go against the grain of our culture

and things that really go against the grain of just ourself, of how we see ourselves.

And so, Father, this is one of those times when your word does this.

And we ask that your Holy Spirit would help us to see the beauty and the wisdom and the power of your word

and that we would believe it and trust you and live our lives in light of your word.

And Father, we ask that you would do this gentle but powerful work of your Holy Spirit within us.

And we ask this in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.

Please be seated.

So, I am the opposite of hip and au courant.

I learned things probably months after others know that there are...

In fact, probably when I learn about a phenomenon going on in social media, it's probably already declining.

But I have discovered this week that there's something going on for those under 30 involved in social media called manifesting.

And it must be a bit more popular than our church.

They get like... I think they've had 150 million views at one of the main sites for this,

which is a little bit more views than our webpage gets by like 150-fold almost.

More than that, way, way more.

150 million-fold.

Anyway, what it is, it's very popular.

And it's... Basically, it's...

There's things that I deserve in life and that I want in life, and I really want to have them.

And so, I need to focus my thoughts and focus my energies and believe that these things are going to happen to me.

That I'm going to get that job.

I'm going to get that relationship.

I'm going to get that friendship.

I'm going to get that recognition.

I'm going to get that raise.

You know, whatever it is, I'm going to get that trip.

And I just need to, like, believe it and put my energy into it and be positive about it.

And that will go out into the universe, and the universe will give me what I desire.

I think I've tried to summarize what manifesting is.

It's a little bit, for those of us who are older, it's like the secret, only more contemporary.

And it's very popular.

150 million views and talked about in lots of different spots.

I mention that because in such a world where something like this is so possible, so powerful and popular,

I read to you just a moment ago this sentence.

Abba, Father, all things are possible for you.

Remove this cup from me.

Now, that's not particularly controversial, but this next bit is.

Yet not what I will, but what you will.

Yet not what I will, but what you will.

This is a profoundly anti-Canadian comment and belief.

In fact, if one of you were to go to your very good, just, social justice, Canadian, secular friends,

you had a group of them over, maybe your neighbors, you have really great neighbors,

and you were to say, by the way, you know, on Sunday we heard about this text,

and George encouraged us and showed us a way that it applies to our lives,

and we should believe it.

Yet not what I will, but what you will.

And if they felt comfortable, or maybe after they'd had a couple of glasses of wine or something like that,

and their inhibitions were removed, they would probably say something like,

really, like Jesus said that?

And you'd say yes.

And then you'd say, and you believe that?

And you'd say yes.

And they'd say, you actually think this is a good idea?

And you'd say yes.

And then they'd probably point to you and say, you've got blood on your hands.

That's the language of abusers.

That's the language of oppressors.

That's the type of language that leads women and children to be abused by men.

It is the language that is used by tyrants to oppress.

And you have blood on your hands, if you encourage people to believe this.

They might also say this.

You know, that sounds like it's a really, you know, okay, I'm going to give you a bit of credit,

but, you know, it's very, very, very disempowering.

Like, don't you think, George, that, you know, young men and young women

just starting out in their careers and trying to get careers and trying to get ahead

and hoping to maybe save up, make a down payment on a house or get a car,

and don't you think, George, that that's a very disempowering thing to have the model

that they're to say over and over not what I will but what you will?

Don't you think that?

George, don't you think that real religion and real spirituality should empower people,

empower them to get what they want, empower them to move forward in life,

and what you've just said is the complete, it's just wrong.

It's wrong-headed.

It's foolish.

You see, Jesus is saying, not yet what I will but what you will goes deeply against the grain

of the Canadian, one of the Canadian cultural stories that we all just understand and we all breathe.

So, what do we say?

Well, first of all, of course, abuse is wrong and a problem.

And I'm not going to say that if you look at it a little bit closely,

you'll see that it's not as bad as it looks.

I'm going to say something different.

I'm going to say that in its context, when you hear Jesus speak,

you understand what he says, that it's beautiful and wise.

That it's beautiful and wise.

And that if you listen to what Jesus says,

and you take it into your heart,

it will help you to achieve the deep yearnings and longings of your heart.

In fact, that when you listen to it more closely,

you'll realize that key bits and pieces of the Canadian cultural story

are actually taking you away from the deep longings and yearnings of your heart.

So, those are bold claims.

Let's go.

If you have your Bibles, let's go.

That's Mark chapter 14, verses 32 to 42, we're going to look at.

Mark 14:32–42

And in terms of the context, just before I read it,

in some ways you could say that the 24 hours,

this is part of a 24-hour period that literally,

and I mean literally in the old-fashioned way of literally,

it literally changes the world.

The world will be different after this 24-hour period than it was before.

And in this profound 24-hour period,

it begins with Jesus as an observant Jew celebrating the Passover meal

and the story of God's delivering his people from slavery and bondage in Egypt.

And by the end of that 24-hour period, that day,

he will have been betrayed,

he will have been falsely accused,

he will have been whipped and beaten,

he will have been crucified,

he will die,

he will be embalmed,

and he will be buried,

and this all takes place in 24 hours.

And this story is right here in the middle of it.

And it goes like this.

And they went to a place called Gethsemane,

so they've just finished celebrating the Passover supper.

He's predicted, amongst other things,

that they're all going to fall away and leave him.

And they went to a place called Gethsemane,

and he said to his disciples,

sit here while I pray.

And he took with them Peter and James and John,

and began to be greatly distressed and troubled.

And he said to them,

my soul is very sorrowful,

even to death.

Remain here and watch.

And going a little farther on,

he fell on the ground and prayed

that if it were possible,

the hour might pass from him.

I'll just sort of pause here for a second.

This has been well commented on by lots of people,

but it's not bad to point it out again.

I've done many, many, many funerals,

and I've talked to many, many, many people

who've gotten a terrible piece of news

that they have cancer,

that it's inoperable,

that their days are not going to be numbered in decades,

not even in years,

probably not even in months,

but maybe in weeks.

And almost all of them handle the news better than Jesus

is handling his upcoming death right now.

I think all of them handle it better.

So what's going on?

That Jesus,

in fact, actually,

if you know the original language,

it's even more desperate

than it's talked about in English.

When it says greatly distressed and troubled,

you need to understand

that's greatly distressed and troubled.

Not just sort of greatly,

but really distressed and troubled.

And when he says his soul is sorrowful,

even to death,

that he has like a deathly type of sorrow.

And his collapsing on the ground

in his sorrow and in his distress,

that's how he's handling

his impending betrayal and death.

So what's going on?

Well, we're going to talk about

what's going on in a moment.

But what we need first

is to see this un-Canadian prayer.

That's the context.

He's not handling this.

Doesn't seem to be handling it very well

by a Canadian point of view, outsider.

And then this is what he prays.

And he said,

Abba, Father,

all things are possible for you.

Verse 36.

Abba, Father,

all things are possible for you.

Remove this cup from me,

yet not what I will,

but what you will.

Now there's, you know,

a couple of things about this.

If you think about it for a second,

it's actually...

I've met a few people

who've said something like this,

but it's a very,

very common thing on the internet,

and it's a very,

very common thing in books and movies.

And the reason why many people

become irreligious

or walk away from the Christian faith

or some other type of faith

is because they've observed a loved one

in deep sorrow

and deep pain

calling out to God

that they would be spared

from the suffering and death,

and God is silent,

and they die.

And that's actually

what we're seeing right here,

at least on one level, isn't it?

It's a story where it appears

as if God is silent

in the anguished cries of Jesus.

And it seems as if

he says in this context,

yet not what I will,

but what you will.

It seems, at least to our Canadian ears,

as if it's him disempowering himself.

It's as if he's enabling abusers

to our Canadian ears.

Well, let's consider this story

a little bit more

and think about it a little bit.

I just finished reading a novel,

a very good novel,

and the novel centered around

a dad and his best friend

and a six-year-old boy.

So the dad, his six-year-old boy,

and the dad's best friend.

And the story centers around

the fact that the dad

and the best friend,

the dad convinces the best friend

that this boy,

the dad had to spend some time

in jail for something.

And the dad convinces his best friend

that his wife is an abusive mom

and convinces his best friend

that the mom's dad

is sexually abusing

the six-year-old boy.

And so the best friend

helps his friend

to kidnap the boy.

And so a big part of the novel,

of course,

is that conversation

and then, of course,

the kidnapping.

And then, of course,

is the chase

as people,

especially the grandfather

of the little boy,

begin a chase

to try to get the,

from their point of view,

to rescue the child back.

And as part of their

trying to evade,

that's the father

and his best friend

and the six-year-old boy,

as part of their attempt

to evade being captured,

they go into a wilderness area

and it's night.

And as this whole journey

is going on,

one of the things

which is very interesting

in the novel

is that the best friend

starts to realize

that he has made

a terrible, terrible,

tragic mistake

and that the abusive parent

was the dad,

his best friend,

not the mom

and that he probably

shouldn't believe anything

that his best friend

has said.

And it's a very well-written novel,

the anguish

and the puzzlement

as he starts to dawn on him

that he has believed

these lies

of his best friend

and that his best friend,

I mean,

the dad,

is abusive.

And so as the chase goes on,

the dad is very hard

towards the little child,

always ordering him around

and this other fellow,

we'll just call him Bob,

and Bob continually ends up

being one who protects

the six-year-old boy

and comforts him.

So they get into this situation

where they're in trouble,

it's cold,

they're going to die of exposure,

they need to get out of it

and they can't go backwards

because of where they are

and the only way

to get out of it

is to go down

a fairly steep side

of a mountain

and then cross some rapids.

And at every stage

as they're going down

this thing,

which is needed

if they're not going to die

of exposure,

at every time

it's at all difficult,

the little six-year-old boy

says,

I can't do it,

I'm afraid.

And at every time

that the little boy

says,

I can't do it

because I'm afraid,

the dad gets angry at him

and says,

I need to toughen you up.

You just got to do it.

But Bob,

who loves the little boy

and cares for him

and consoles him,

reaches his arms out

and says,

we can do this.

We can do this together.

Trust me.

And it's very moving.

So here's the question for us.

When we read Jesus' prayer,

why do we assume

that God is the abusive father

and not the friend

who consoles?

Why do we assume

that God is the abusive father,

not the friend who consoles?

You see,

at every little point

in that journey,

what does the boy say?

I can't do it.

It's not my will to do it.

And what does the friend

who loves the boy,

Bob,

who loves the boy say?

You need to not do

what you will.

You need to do

what I will.

And if you don't do

what you will

but do what I will,

you will ultimately be safe

and you will arrive

at a place of safety.

You will arrive

at a good destination.

So why is it

when we read the text

that we assume

that this is an abusive relationship?

Why is it

that the Canadian cultural story

bends us

to assume

something like that?

if you could put up

the first point

for a second?

Jesus' prayer

is not hurtful foolishness.

It is deep

and beautiful wisdom.

Jesus' prayer

is not hurtful foolishness.

It is deep

and beautiful wisdom.

And we see the beauty

and the wisdom of it

if you think

of another situation.

You see,

on one level,

what is the deep longing

of our hearts?

One of the deep longings

of our hearts

is that we would have

a friend like Bob.

That we would have

a friend who consoles us

and loves us.

That is a deep longing

of our hearts.

We have a crisis

of loneliness

in our world.

I mean,

one of the reasons

I urge you to,

if you can,

to come back

to in-person worship

is that

as wonderful

as the technology

can be

to enter into worship online,

it's not the same

as being able

to see

the disruptive joy

of children

at certain points

and times

of the service.

And you need

to be present

with others

because we need friends.

But here's the other thing.

Consider Louise and me

or any marriage

or any romantic relationship

or for that matter

any friendship.

In a love relationship

or in a friendship relationship,

there has to be

two things that go on

if that actually

is going to work.

If you're actually

going to be able

to be friends.

If you're actually

going to be able

to have that

loving relationship.

And on one hand,

what you need

is you need to put

yourself forward.

Like,

I need to put

myself forward.

Louise doesn't want

to have a relationship

where I'm always

completely absent

and distant

or when it comes time

for us to spend

time together,

I pretend I'm

somebody else

or something like that.

She wants me

to put myself forward

towards her.

But at the same time,

if I only put myself

forward all the time

towards her,

that will kill

the love relationship

because there has

to be times

when I put myself

second relative

to her.

There has to be

times where I say

in a sense,

not what I will

but what you will.

And if there's

never a time

in a relationship

where the husband

or the wife

or one of the two

friends never says

yet not what I will

but what you will,

then that relationship

will not last.

That friendship

will not last.

You see,

the fact of the matter

is there has to be,

if you're going

to have a friendship,

if you're going

to have a love

relationship,

there has to be

a bit of a dance.

The dance of putting

yourself forward

and the dance

of saying,

I'm not going

to be first,

I'm going to be second

or third or fourth

or fifth or whatever

it is.

If it's a family

and you have kids,

there has to be times

that the dad

or the mom

put themselves last.

If that's going

to be a family,

that's a family

of love.

And we see

this very,

very same dynamic

here.

like,

why is it

that with our

Canadian cultural

lens,

we see this

as being

an abusive

type of thing

and enabling

abuse

and not maybe

thinking that it

actually is a little

bit about

how love

looks.

You see,

in fact,

in particular,

as we're going

to see in a moment,

Jesus has to put

himself forward.

The hour

depends upon

Jesus doing

what only

Jesus can do.

He has to put

himself forward.

It has to be

him.

There is no

possible way

for it to be

someone other

than him.

But not only

does he have to

put himself

forward,

he has to put

himself last.

love.

And that's what

love looks like.

See,

part of the

problem that we

have,

unrecognized,

is that the

Canadian cultural

story,

that you have to

be number one,

you have to look

out for number

one,

you need to

empower number

one,

number one needs

to get what

number one

needs,

number one needs

to get what

number one

wants,

number one needs

to get what

number one

desires,

is that entire

cultural story,

as it seeps

into our

thinking and

our affections

and our

emotions and

our imaginations,

kills love,

friendship,

families,

and institutions.

It kills

them.

And you know

what?

On your

deathbed,

on your

deathbed,

the things

that will

bother most

people is

not that they

didn't have

more power.

And I'm not

saying that

there's never

time when you

shouldn't have

power.

I'm not saying

that.

What will hurt

people?

What troubles

them?

The relationships

they wrecked.

The way they

spent too long

at the office

and missed

that opportunity

to love their

wife and kids

or their husband

and kids.

What will bother

you is that

you spent

far too

much time

like this

and never

saw the

beautiful

children for

how beautiful

they are.

You spent

too much

time like

this and

never thought

of your

mom or

your dad.

You spent

too much

time like

this and

never had

time with

your friends

and that's

the regret

because those

are the

deepest and

deeper

longings of

our hearts.

And that is

why Jesus'

prayer is not

hurtful

foolishness.

It is deep

and beautiful

wisdom.

So why is

Jesus scared

or apparently

acting with

such drama?

Here's a

thought experiment.

Imagine for a

moment that

one of you

says I found

this cool

new app

and you

should really

download it

and you

download the

app.

And what you

don't realize

is that

in a week

or two

time,

once the

app has

gotten synced

with all

those things

it has

to get

synced

with,

all of a

sudden you

get a

message that

you have

to show up

at a

particular

room and

here's what

you discover.

Here's what

you discover.

That this

app has

been able

to record

every single

one of your

thoughts for

the last

48 hours.

Every one.

And they've

transcribed them

and you're

going to go

and sit

with your

family and

friends while

they're read

out.

everything

you've

thought for

48 hours.

That

catty

comment about

how your

best friend

looks.

That

smug

assessment

about how

better you

are than

somebody else.

That

lust,

that greedy

thought,

that angry

thought,

that

constant

irritation

with your

mom or

your husband

or your

wife.

every single

one of

those thoughts

for 48

hours has

been transcribed

and is

going to be

read out

to those

who you

thought about.

And it's

going to

happen six

hours from

now, four

hours from

now.

time.

How would

you feel

about it?

Would you

be filled

with sorrow?

Would you

be filled

with deep

distress?

stress?

Would you

maybe even

collapse

emotionally?

Because

to have

what you've

thought

recorded

just for

48 hours,

that doesn't

even count.

It could be

a week,

it could be

a month.

Just to

have that

recorded and

revealed to

everybody,

and to

have to

experience

their anger

and all

those other

things at

you,

in a

room,

that would

be something

that you

could never

recover from

and that you

could never

be consoled

for.

Listen again

to what Jesus

prays in

verse 36.

And he

said,

Abba,

Father,

all things

are possible

for you.

Remove

this cup

from me,

yet not

what I

will,

but what

you will.

So what

is the

cup?

If you

could put

up the

next point,

that would

be handy.

The cup

is an

image that

comes from

what our

Jewish

friends call

the Tanakh

or the

Torah,

what we

call the

Old Testament,

Christians

call the

Old Testament.

It's in

about a

dozen,

15 some

odd different

places.

And if

you look

at those

references,

it is this,

your cup,

sort of a

metaphor,

an analogy,

it is the

accumulated

wrong that

you are

responsible for

and the

Lord's just

anger at

the wrong

you are

responsible for.

Your cup

is the

accumulated

wrong that

you are

responsible

for and

the Lord's

just anger

or wrath at

the wrong you

are responsible

for.

Now notice I

said responsible

for because I

want to capture

sins of

omission and

sins of

commission.

It's both

those times,

using my

analogy of the

lustful thought

or the angry

thought or the

vengeful thought

or the

unforgiving

thought,

and it's also

those times that

you pretended you

didn't get a

text to pick up

your brother or

your sister or

your friend and

give them a

drive and you

pretended you

didn't get it.

And it's not just

the pretending,

it's the failure to

do something that

you could have

done.

You're responsible

for that.

It's things you've

done and the good

things that you

could have done,

should have done,

and didn't do.

You turned a blind

eye, you were a

deaf ear to it.

And so those of us

who like fantasy

movies and all,

it's like those

things that you

see in fantasy

movies where,

you know,

there's some evil

wizard or whatever

and he wants to

make himself or

she wants to make

herself stronger

and she somehow

finds a way to get

the evil from other

people into a cup

and they can drink

it.

And of course,

that is only a bad

thing for that

person and for

everybody else.

But it's almost as

if every time you

go through life and

you have that thing

that you're responsible

for that you're

wrong and it goes

into the cup,

imagine something

really black and

foul smelling,

really just not

even pure black,

just something that

muddy and foul

smelling and rank

and it goes into

a cup and every

time that happens

it goes into a

cup and it goes

into a cup and

the cup doesn't

overflow, it just

becomes more

concentrated and

more concentrated.

And it's not just

like in the fantasy

novels where it's

just that the bad

things go into the

cup because then

you might be an

evil wizard and

actually desire to

have that because

you might foolishly

think that if you

can get all that

badness back in you

you'll only be

stronger but that's

not the way the

world works and

it's not just

anger in the cup

as if God is

this crazy,

anal, angry,

angry, driven

person.

It's both.

It's the wrong

and people's,

and God's anger

at the wrong.

To give you a sense

of why that's a

just thing, it

would be just as

imagine for a

moment that Louise

was to share with

you something that

I had done which

was wrong and

she shares that

wrong with you and

all of you would

have turned from

looking at her and

looked at me and

said, George, that

was wrong.

And if Louise says

that was wrong, you'd

all be going like

this, yes, that was

wrong.

You're right to be

angry.

And George, like,

what were you

thinking that was

wrong?

Louise is right to

be angry.

And God, in a sense,

is involved in

everything you do

that's wrong and

it's not only that

he's involved with

everything that you

do that's wrong,

he's also doing

something which

social justice

warriors and others

properly want, which

is to hear the

cries of the

victims and to

have the victims'

cries heard so

that those who

are perpetrating

terrible things on

the victims, that

they know and

they hear that and

they feel it.

And so in that

cup is all of the

wrong that I'm

responsible for and

God's proper anger

at that wrong and

it goes into a

cup.

And if I would

be unmade and

inconsolable and

devastated after just

having 48 hours of

my thoughts revealed,

how destroyed would

I be to have my

whole life revealed?

If you could put up

the next slide.

So when Jesus

prays, Abba,

Father, all things

are possible for you,

remove this cup from

me, yet not what I

will, but what you

will.

This is giving us

another image of

what's going to

happen when Jesus

dies on the cross.

The death of Jesus

on the cross is

his taking your

place and drinking

your cup.

That's what you

see when you see

Jesus dying on the

cross.

It is the weight of

not just having to

drink my cup, and

that would be a very

foul cup.

But also drinking

yours, and

yours, and

yours, and

yours, and

yours, and

yours, and

yours, and

yours.

And because he's

God, the son of

God, he has a

sense of just how

foul that

accumulated cup

will be of all

the cups of all

the world, of all

the people, that

he will drink, and

he will be unmade

and desolate, because

he drank my cup, and

he drank yours.

And that's what he's

doing on the cross.

Listen to the

prayer again.

Abba, Father, all

things are possible

for you.

All things are

possible for you,

God.

Remove this cup

from me, yet not

what I will, but

what you will.

And Jesus will

leave there, as

we'll see in a

moment, to walk

towards the

cross, to

drink the

cup.

If there was

no other way

other than Jesus

drinking the

cup for you

to be made

right with

God, that

means your

situation is

vastly worse than

you've ever

dreamed.

but at the

same time, if

there's no

way, if

Jesus has

done such a

thing for

you, you

are vastly

more loved by

God than

you can ever

possibly imagine.

And that's the

message of the

gospel.

I'm vastly

worse.

I'm vastly

worse.

than my

three o'clock

in the

morning, and

I can't

sleep, times

of torment.

And I'm

vastly more

loved by the

triune God

than I can

ever possibly

imagine.

Why is

this whole

story?

We can

begin to

see that

Jesus'

prayer is

not just

hurtful

foolishness,

it is deep

and beautiful

wisdom.

And this

becomes even

more clear

as we wrap

up, and

we're going

to conclude

with a

prayer in

just a

couple of

minutes.

Look at

what continues

after verse

37.

And he

came and

found them

sleeping.

Remember, he

asked them if

they would

watch and

pray with

them, and

he found

them sleeping.

And he

said to

Peter,

Simon, are

you asleep?

Could you

not watch

one hour?

Watch and

pray that you

may not enter

into temptation.

The spirit

indeed is

willing, but

the flesh

is weak.

And again,

Jesus went

away and

prayed, saying

the same

words.

And again, he

came and

found them

sleeping, for

their eyes

were heavy, and

they did not

know what to

answer him.

And he came

the third time

and said to

them, are you

still sleeping

and taking

your rest?

It is enough,

the hour has

come.

The Son of

Man is

betrayed into

the hands of

sinners.

Rise, let

us be going,

see my

betrayers at

hand.

See, there

is nothing

more empowering

than being

loved.

And to

seek power

without love

is disempowering,

but to be

loved is

empowering.

To have a

friend who

understands you

is empowering.

To have a

good purpose

and a meaning

in life is

empowering.

To die, to

always having

to be number

one, because

you know there

are times that

for justice's

sake and

goodness's sake

and beauty's

sake and

love's sake,

you must

choose to be

number two

or number

five or

number 15

or even way

down the

ladder than

that, is

profoundly

empowering.

And the

Canadian

cultural story

will never

lead you to

that truth,

but the

gospel will.

And it

also says

something very

helpful.

If you

could put up

the next

to last

point,

you know

that thing

about you're

sleeping,

there's

temptation,

the spirit

is willing

and the

flesh is

weak.

Here's the

thing,

Jesus drinks

this cup

for ordinary

people like

me and

you,

and this

line is

for

Christians.

This is

part of

the emotional

power and

beauty of

the gospel.

Until you

see him

face to

face,

you are

weak,

and you're

complex,

and you're

divided,

wounded,

and you're

held in

the palm

of his

hand.

I am

weak.

Sometimes I

want to do

things and

my body

just gives

out on me

as I get

older.

The body

gives out

on you

more and

more.

And then I

am both

doing good

things and I

do sinful

things.

I'm divided.

I'm divided.

You know,

the models of

human beings

is if somehow

you can pick

one thing

in you and

build your

whole identity

around you,

that's just a

foolish understanding

of what human

beings are

like.

Human beings

aren't just

one thing.

We're not just

their skin

color or the

sexual desires

of the week

or the month.

We're not

that.

We are weak.

We do get

tempted.

We are

complicated.

We are

divided.

That's what

human beings

are.

And here we

see that

Jesus knows

all of that.

And we

know that if

we are his,

we are held

in the palm

of his hand.

I'd like to

invite you to

stay,

stand,

please.

If you could

put up the

final thing,

yes,

I'm going to

invite you to

pray this

prayer with

me.

I'll read

it out first.

And in some

ways,

what I've just

tried to do

is I've

tried to

summarize this

prayer of

Jesus in

light of

this story.

And it's,

you know,

for some of

you,

if you've

never given

your life to

Christ,

this is a

conversion

prayer.

And for

those of us

who have

known him,

this is just

a deepening

prayer.

To pray,

Abba,

Father,

from the depths

of your love,

your son

drank my

cup of

sin and

your just

wrath at

my sin.

Please fix

my heart

on his

once-for-all

sacrifice,

so that I

will pray

boldly,

knowing that

all things

are possible

for you,

and that I

will pray

humbly,

saying,

yet not what

I will,

but what

you will,

in Jesus'

name.

I invite

you to

pray that

with me

right now.

Let us

pray.

Abba,

Father,

from the

depths of

your love,

your son

drank my

cup of

sin and

your just

wrath at

my sin.

Please fix

my heart

on his

once-for-all

sacrifice,

so that I

will pray

boldly,

knowing that

all things

are possible

for you,

and that I

will pray

humbly,

saying,

yet not what

I will,

but what

you will,

in Jesus'

name.

Amen.

Father,

may this

prayer grow

as a

prayer of

our heart,

and we

ask this

in Jesus'

name.

Amen.

Please take

up.