| What
do you think the will of God is?
Elmer
Towns points out in his book Praying the Lord’s Prayer that people look
at God’s Will in a number of different ways. The will of God is like a
box of Cracker Jacks. Most of the time you get a handful of ordinary
stuff. Only once in a while do you get a prize. The will of God is like
Santa’s bag. It is full of gifts, but he only comes once year to good
little boys and girls. The will of God is like a 911 emergency number to
use in case of emergencies. The will of God is like the presidents red
phone to be used as a last resort.
Actually the
will of God is best described by the apostle Paul in his letter to Rome.
“There I urge you
brother and sisters,
in view of God’s mercy,
to offer your bodies as living sacrifices,
holy and pleasing to God –
this is your spiritual act of worship.
Do not conform any longer
to the patterns of this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able
to test and approve
what God’s will is –
his good pleasing and perfect will.”
”(Romans 12:1,2)
Several
essential truths need to be established with regards to God’s will.
First, God DOES have a plan for your personal life.
Do
you believe that God has a plan for your life?
What
you might never have realized is that when you pray “Thy Will Be Done”
you are affirming the truth that God does have a plan for your life.
Second,
FOLLOWING God’s plan is good for you.
When
you pray “Thy Will Be Done”
you are not only affirming that God has a plan but you are also asking
God to step into your life and carry out His will. Praying, “Thy will be
done” means you are inviting God to build your life.
Think
of it this way. There was a couple who hired an architect to design
their dream house. The architect provided them with blue prints and
architectural drawing. The house was perfect. They couldn’t ask for
better plans. Yet when construction began the couple told the builder
that he didn’t have to follow all the architectural plans. Do you see
where this story is going?
Deviating from the blue prints would compromise the integrity of the
house. When we deviate from God’s blue prints for ourselves we
compromise our own integrity.
Praying,
“Thy will be done”
means you trust God’s decision making ability for your life.
When
I was a child I loved the paint by number picture sets. The great thing
about these painting is that before you even began to paint you knew
what the picture was going to look like. Because I knew what the picture
looked like I never questioned what colors I was to put where. I trusted
the maker of the painting.
That
is the kind of trust we must have in our maker, in our God. If you think
about it God is the only one who sees the big picture of your life
because He is creating your masterpiece. To you and me, it might not
make any sense why God colors in suffering and pain. It might not make
any sense why God colors in failure and disappointment. It might not
make any sense why God colors in death and loss. Why is it that we
question God’s master plan for our life when he paints our life with
these things but never question God’s wisdom when he colors in health,
prosperity, success, wealth, and good times? Why do we call God’s will
into question when we don’t get the desires of our heart? When you pray
Thy will be done you are not asking for the desires of your heart but
rather you are asking for the desires of God’s heart to be done in your
life.
Praying
Thy will be done is not asking God to do His will. It is not asking God
to change His will. It is not asking God to bless your will. It IS
asking God to help you find and do His will in your life.
“There I urge you
brother and sisters,
in view of God’s mercy,
to offer your bodies as living sacrifices,
holy and pleasing to God –
this is your spiritual act of worship.
Do not conform any longer
to the patterns of this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able
to test and approve
what God’s will is –
his good pleasing and perfect will.”
God
wants you do His will because it is good for you, for your family, for
your church, for God. God wants you to do His will because God only
wants the best for you. God wants you to do His will because He gave His
Son to make your new life possible, therefore we should joyfully give
ourselves as living sacrifices for His service.
When you pray Thy Will Be Done on earth, in my life, as it is in heaven
you aren’t God to blend your will with His will. It is praying, “Your
will is mine, I will do what You want me to do, please show me Your
will.”
Jesus
said,
“If anyone loves me,
he will obey my teaching.
My Father will love him,
and we will come to him
and make our home with him.”
(Jn14:23)
When
you pray “Thy will be done”
you are affirming that God loves you just the way you are, but He loves
you too much to leave you that way.
“Therefore do not
conform any longer
to the patterns of this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able
to test and approve
what God’s will is –
his good pleasing and perfect will.”
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