Your Will Be Done...

Matthew 6:9-10 reads, “This, then, is how your should pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”(NIV)

Prayer can be one of the most beautiful, frustrating, and perplexing things imaginable. So often we hear stories of when God came through like a knight in shining armor to save the day by providing someone with a financial miracle, physical healing, or renewed relationship. When the church hears about these miracles they are quick to display "God Answers Knee Mail" on the church marquee for everyone to see. Probably well intended because these stories do offer us hope and are instrumental for our faith. However, I would suggest, more often we pray for God to do something with our finances, health, and relationships, but feel like nothing happens. We believe that God is the source of everything we need, but we wonder where He is when we truly need something from Him. I mean certainly it is not God’s will for us to struggle financially, suffer physically, or to endure relational hardships. Or is it?

We have probably all evaluated our prayer life at one time or another asking ourselves, “Am I doing this right?” It is safe to say that the disciples were asking themselves the same question because they asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. Jesus responds with a big, mature, pinnacle, varsity level prayer and then says pray like this.

When we pray “your will be done” what are we praying for?

It is a scary prayer because when truly communicated from the heart, it puts God completely in the center instead of us. It is not a prayer for God to make our dreams come true or for God to bless us, but it is a prayer that positions us in a way that when things do not go our way, it is okay because God is in the center of it all. This is not a prayer for a hedge of protection, or a million dollars, but one that requires complete trust and surrender in God.

The cry of our heart is not for a certain thing, but in the thing which causes our heart to cry out, God is magnified and our desire is for His will to be done. It is not just a five minute prayer in the morning when we wake up that we can cross off of our to-do list. It is a prayer that commits our entire day, month, year, and life to God and His will. It is a prayer that places God at the center of our job, relationships, family, finances, and future. It is a beautiful prayer and one that is completely God-centered and selfless.

How do we pray for God’s will?

Luke 11:9-10 reads, “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”(NIV)

With God at the center, we persistently ask, seek, and knock for His will to be done.

Ask - We ask for God’s will to be done in our relationships, job, life, education, family, etc. We ask God for healing, restoration, and provision.

Seek - Asking is sometimes the easy part. I have been guilty of saying, “I hate this about me, take this away from me Lord,” but then I do nothing about it. Sometimes the answer to our prayer is for us to do something about it. If we ask God to help us financially while spending money on clothes we do not need, food that is not good for us, and entertainment that does not bring glory to Him, we are telling God that we do not want His help. When we ask, but do nothing, we are not praying for God’s will to be done. Seek out advice, wisdom, and personal responsibility.

Knock (wait patiently) - When we knock we are in essence waiting for a response, waiting for some sort of answer. This is the hardest part of this prayer. It is often easy to trust God’s power, but not easy to trust His timing. It is tempting during this process to make things happen on our own, but it is encouraging to know that through the waiting process true spiritual transformation happens. It is in the knocking stage when we can evaluate our lives and discover if God is in the center or if we are.

Are you praying for God’s will to be done? Remember, it is not an easy prayer and one that requires complete trust and surrender in God.