Day 23 of Lent :: Abandonment

“Not my will,
but yours be done.”

Luke 22:42

In the Gospel of Luke, we have a unique picture of the humanity of Christ being put to the test. Would he endeavor to follow the path of humanity toward self-preservation or would he lay down his own desires for those of God. “Father,” Jesus prayed, “If you are willing, take this cup from me…” We don’t know how long Jesus wrestled with this single prayer – an hour, two, perhaps the better part of the night. This wasn’t some flippant prayer of piety, it was ultimately a prayer of abandonment. It was a prayer of surrender to the “will” of the Father. “The test,” wrote Oswald Chambers, “is to believe that God knows what He is after.”* And, not only that, but that what He is indeed “after” is significantly better than any thing we could "hope or imagine. "

Prayer:

I abandon myself into Your hands;
do with me what You will.
Whatever You do, I thank You;
I am ready for all, I accept all.
Let only Your will be done in me
and in all Your creatures.
I ask no more than this, my Lord.
Into Your hands I commend my soul;
I offer it to You all the love of my heart,
for I love You, Lord,
and so need to give myself into Your hands,
without reserve and with boundless confidence.
For You are my Father. Amen.
by Charles de Foucauld

Action:

Lent is a time when we remind ourselves that God’s will is perfect. It’s a time that we surrender again our will and declare, “Your will be done!” Today, reaffirm your commitment to follow God, wherever He may lead you.

I live each day to kill death;

I die each day to beget life,

And in this dying unto death,

I die a thousand times and

Am reborn another thousand

through that love.*

Julia Esquivel

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Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest, 218.

Julia Esquivel, Threatened with Resurrection: Prayers and Poems from an Exiled Guatemalan, 67.