In this episode, we reflect on Jesus’ final words in Luke 23:46: “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Even in the agony of the cross, Jesus held nothing back from the Father. He entrusted His whole being, His mission, and His final breath into the Father’s care with complete trust. These words show us the deep relationship Jesus had with the Father and give us a powerful prayer for our own lives. When we are afraid, hurting, uncertain, lonely, or simply moving through the ordinary moments of the day, we can pray the same words and place ourselves into God’s hands. Learning to say, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit,” can become a daily act of surrender, trust, and peace—one that prepares us to rely on God in every circumstance. Music: "Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Into Your Hands
I have a very special gift for you today. My friend and spiritual advisor gave an amazing talk at our prayer group yesterday. Today I want to share her talk with you so you can be blessed as we all were. I know you will enjoy it just as much as we did. Here is Nancy’s talk.
Luke 23:46 “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”
These are the last words of Jesus before he died on the cross, in Luke’s gospel. These follow the compassionate words of “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” and “I assure you: this day you will be with me in paradise.”
The words of a dying man should be heard with great earnestness. Let us focus on Luke 23:46: “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit,” and start by looking at the word SPIRIT. This pertains to the vital principle of life, the essence of a person, the whole being: body, soul, mind, and heart. Jesus was not holding anything back. Look at Him in your mind’s eye: bloodied, swollen, pierced by thorns and nails, His flesh torn apart by the whips, gasping for each breath. Yet His focus was entirely on His Father, whom He trusted.
To COMMEND is to trust for care or safe-keeping, or to give honor and praise. Jesus commends himself and his mission of salvation to His Father.
Jesus, unlike us, was 100% trusting in His Father’s HANDS to grasp and hold Him. Jesus shows a close, loving, personal relationship with His Father and a complete confidence in Him even during His bitter anguish. These same words are in Psalm 31:6, which Jesus must have prayed often during His life. These words are a declaration of victory! Jesus is in the hands of His Father. Three times in Luke and Matthew’s gospel it is mentioned that Jesus would be betrayed and delivered into the hands of sinful men. Yet here in the hour of His death Jesus, Himself, commends His spirit into the Father’s hands.
Signs of this gift of Himself were abounding: thunder, darkness, the curtain in the temple torn from top to bottom (The historian Josephus records the veil was 3 inches thick), the earth shook, and the dead rose.
We, Jesus’s disciples and followers, have a powerful example to follow. How would it change our lives if we stopped and heartfeltly prayed these same words every day? It would transform us! It would draw us intimately into the union of the Trinity. When in our own anguish, it would give us peace; in doubt, it would shine a light; in simple routine things, it would give us hope; in loneliness, it would give us God’s hand to rest in; in pain of all kinds, it would give us the loving companionship of God.
I pray that you and I will be touched deeply by these last words of Jesus and that they will be repeated often in our lives till we say them in that last glorious moment.
Thank you all so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I want to invite you to join my mailing list if you are not already on it. I will not overwhelm you with messages. I will not send out more than 1 email a week, and often it is much less than that. I send emails with information on what I am doing, any upcoming events like retreats, or new books coming out. CLICK HERE to join my email list. You can also sign up to receive the Word from the Lord emails. Then you will receive one word of prophecy from our prayer group each day. That is a great way to start your day! CLICK HERE to receive the Word from the Lord daily emails. I will place links for both in the show notes. You can always sign up, and if you decide you no longer want to receive emails, it is easy to unsubscribe. You just click a button at the bottom of the email, and you will no longer receive emails from me. I look forward to meeting you here again on Monday. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day!Daily Christian devotional, Short daily devotional, Christian encouragement, Grow closer to Jesus, Walk with Jesus, Bible devotional, Names of God Bible study, Christian testimony, God loves you, Christian spiritual growth
Today’s Word from the Lord was received in February 2026 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “I created the Universe and you! I AM the Great I AM! I AM He! Stop fearing! I AM with you!”