"Thy Will Be Done,"
Pastor Bob Leroe, Cliftondale Congregational Church, Saugus, Massachusetts
"Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth"
When I was stationed in Frankfurt, Germany, I often reported to V Corps Headquarters, which was located in the historic Abrams Bldg. To get upstairs there were two options-either take the stairs, or the Paternoster, a very unusual elevator. There were no doors, only an opening, and the elevator never stopped; it just slowly went up and down and you had to hop on. Many people took the stairs. The name Paternoster is Latin, translated "Our Father", another way of referring to the Lord’s Prayer. I could only surmise that if you took that elevator you did some praying!
It’s been pointed out that this is the Lord’s Prayer for His disciples, that Jesus never prayed this prayer. That’s true, however, the phrase we’re considering today He did pray, in the Garden of Gethsemene. There in agony anticipating the Cross our Lord prayed, "Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me; yet not My will but Yours be done" (Luke 22:42). He was submissive to the will of the Father. He knew the burden of unanswered prayer. In the school of Gethsemene we learn to distrust our own ideas of what is best for us. We learn to submit to God’s will. Earlier Jesus stated, "I have come down from heaven not to do My will but to do the will of Him who sent Me" (John 6:38).
The fact that we begin in the Lord’s Prayer with hallowing God’s Name, then asking for His Kingdom rule in our lives, then for His will to be accomplished, shows that this is hardly a self-centered prayer. Yet we are prone to approach God with a self-serving attitude that says: "My will be done". The worst thing God could do at such a time might be to give us precisely what we want. Thankfully, God’s answers are wiser than our prayers. Prayer is not a tool for getting-it is a means of becoming what God has intended for us. It’s fine to let God know our needs, but then we trust Him to decide how to respond. The words "be done" could be translated "let it be." When we pray, do we understand that God has a will for our lives? We should seek God’s will daily. He will always give us enough light to take the next step. It’s not easy to pray this way-we’re used to having a vote in everything; we’re not used to surrendering our plans to God’s purpose.
Aladdan rubbed a lamp and a genie appeared, granting him three unconditional wishes. Sometimes we view God as a genie. God doesn’t always give us what we want-He does give us what we need. Our problem is, we can’t figure out how certain things can possibly be for our benefit-we get sick, get laid off, we have to move, we have trouble with a relationship-and we begin to think God is absent. How can this possibly be His will? We have to remind ourselves that His ways and thoughts are above ours. Praying "Thy will be done" means we don’t expect God to change His plans to accommodate our wishes. Sometimes we would be more honest to pray, "Thy will be done-so long as it coincides with mine"! We will do God’s will acceptably when we prefer His will.
The reason some people avoid consideration of God’s will is misguided thinking-they figure all God wants to do is make their lives miserable. They assume that God’s will is going to be harsh or difficult. I believe that God gives us a desire to live according to His will. We should feel like David who prayed, "I delight to do Your will O Lord." If there is no interest in doing God’s will, we might want to reevaluate whether we’re really believers. A true desire to pray "Thy will be done" is evidence that we are genuine Christians.
But let’s deal with this reluctance to submit to God. If you had children, and they told you one day that they’d made up their minds to obey you fully, would you figure, "Now I have a chance to make my children’s lives miserable"? The same is true with our heavenly Father. He does not wish to make us unhappy-He has what’s best for us in mind. Jesus comments on this in Matthew 7; He says, "If your child asks you for bread, would any of you give him a stone? Of course not!…so how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask Him." God does more for us than we can imagine; definitely more than we appreciate.
The Bible often counsels us to "wait on the Lord". We don’t like to be put "on hold." Part of trusting God is being willing to accept His timing. When in doubt, we patiently wait for His answer. It would be nice if learning God’s will could be a technique that could be taught; the problem is, grasping God’s will comes from studying the Scriptures and by communion with Him, from the intimacy of prayer. Faith means accepting the silence of God.
Since God is going to prevail, and since He already knows our needs, why bother to pray? We come to God in prayer, not to try and change His plans, but to embrace them. Prayer is an act of yielding to the divine plan. God transforms us through prayer, even though He may not change our circumstances. The goal of prayer is not so much tangible answers but a deepening life of dependency upon God.
God does not promise that we will like all that He brings into our lives. Our obedience is more important than our happiness; yet in God’s will we will find joy if we choose to. We can be content no matter what happens.
Persistency in prayer keeps us from self-reliance. We have a right to refuse to accept certain situations in the world. We even have the right to question God-so long as we’re willing to accept the outcome. It’s been said that a lack of persistency in prayer will lead us to strike a truce with things that are wrong. When we pray for God’s will to be done, according to John MacArthur, we are "praying against the fallen state of the world; we’re rebelling against the evil of the world and the things that go against God and His word." God loves heroic faith; we don’t storm the gates of heaven enough.
It’s not so easy praying "Thy will be done" when someone we know is sick. We want nothing less than a full recovery. Yet if we are truly people of faith, we understand that God even has a purpose for illness. It is wiser to pray "for the best possible outcome" because we don’t know what is best for us. I’ve often prayed, "God, this is what I want, but I don’t know if this is what’s best for me." Faith makes requests, then leaves the results to God. We might also pray that we can accept that outcome. Prayer may not change our situation, but it changes us-it helps conform us to the will of God.
What if we spent our whole lives outside of God’s will? I don’t think a true believer would want to do this. I wouldn’t want my evaluation on judgment day to read: "Nice try, but he missed the whole point."
God permits-He allows things to occur that are not part of His will: He wants people to live lawfully; however people are free to rebel against God and commit sin, which in turn has built-in consequences. Scripture says that "God is not willing that any should perish" -yet many do reject Him and His gift of eternal life. Jesus wept over those who refused His love. God’s permissive will may differ from his perfect will. God desires that all come to a saving knowledge of the truth, but unbelievers are free to reject the gift God wishes to give. God is not the Author of sin; we are responsible for our choices. We are personally accountable for how we conduct our lives. Sometimes we ask God to guide our decisions, and at other times we regretfully decide things on our own apart from God.
Last Sunday evening we focused on something that is definitely not God’s will-domestic violence. We held a vigil to remember the victims of domestic violence, to raise awareness in our community. In prayer we do not escape or evade the ugliness of the world-we rather confront it.
In I John we’re told that we can approach God "with confidence…that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us" (5:14). God doesn’t offer us a blank check. Our prayers must be in harmony with His will. When we seek God’s will, we need to ask God to place in us a desire to want what He wants us to want-then when we pray, we will be praying intelligently, according to His will-and we will can expect results. We should pray with confidence, knowing that God causes all things to work together for good (Romans 8:28). Prayer releases the power of God into our lives. We can live expectantly, knowing God’s purpose will come to pass, "as in heaven, so on earth."
Prayer: Father, we place our lives in Your hands. Help us to let go and submit to Your providence. We surrender to Your will, yet we confess that we’re afraid to give up control; we’re concerned about what may happen. Help us to relinquish our desires and embrace Your perfect will. We know that it is Your will that we become more like Jesus; help us to attain Christ-likeness, for Your glory-Amen.
