How to Have a Strong Will
And he went a little farther, 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. And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. Matthew 26:39-42 (KJV)
Jesus went through a battle of wills. We all do. Will we choose to do God’s will or our own? Did you know we can actually strengthen or weaken our wills?
The less we pray, the weaker our wills become and it becomes easy to give into temptation. And when we yield to temptation, that weakens our will as well. Every time we choose to disobey God’s will, our will becomes weaker and weaker until we just give into sin without resistance.
As we choose to do God’s will, our will becomes stronger and more willing to do His will. When we feel weak or unable to do His will, pray, “Lord, make me willing to do Your will.” God can strengthen you to do His will. As you are willing and God helps you to do His will, you will have power over your flesh. The power of your flesh will grow weaker, your spirit will grow stronger, and eventually your spirit will dominate your flesh so you are more willing to obey God.
The more we pray, the more we will yield to God and not to the flesh. Instead, when temptation comes to try to make you fail, you will have the strength to choose correctly. When we pray in the Holy Spirit, our spirit is strengthened. When our spirit is in dominion, it has power to direct our soul, which is our mind, will, and emotions. So, as we are directed by our spirit man to yield to God, our will is more willing to do what it is told by the Lord. Praying in tongues is a powerful thing.
The more we feed something, the more powerful it becomes. And, when we don’t feed something, it becomes weaker. When we feed our spirits by praying in the Holy Spirit and feed our spirits by reading the Word, temptation will not affect us.
Our wills can become one with God’s will as we fully surrender to Him. Then we’ll have the strength to go through anything and not be defeated. We will fulfill the will of God for our lives. Just as Jesus fulfilled the will of God, we can too.
