“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 Your kingdom come,
YOUR WILL BE DONE
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.”
IT’S HARD TO PRAY, “YOUR WILL BE DONE”
It’s easy to say, but hard to really pray.
In the Lord’s Prayer, this is the first difficult part to pray for many people.
You see, by nature we want “our” will to be done.
We want “our” agenda to be accomplished.
We want to get “our own” way.
And many times, that conflicts with the will of others, as well as the will of God.
It doesn’t have to, but often does.
You see, there is nothing in and of itself wrong with having a will and wanting it to become a reality.
The problem comes when there is a clashing of the wills.
MISUNDERSTANDINGS OF BEING
“OUT OF GOD’S WILL”
1. “Once out, always out.”
This is not true.
Just because we “Sin” does not mean we have blown it forever.
Sins can be forgiven.
Just because we make what looks like a “Mistake” doesn’t mean that a wonderful “good” cannot come out of it.
You see, it may not have been a mistake at all from God’s perspective.
2. If I’m “In” God’s will, things will go great.
All we have to do is to look at Luke 8 to see that that is not true.
“One day Jesus said [It is God’s will] to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out.
[They obeyed, therefore were “In God’s will”]
23 As they sailed, he fell asleep.
[Does it ever seem like Jesus has fallen asleep in your life?]
A squall [A sudden burst of wind causing a storm] came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.
[It was a serious storm]
24 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” [They were certain that they would drown]
He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. 25 “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples.
[They were certain that they would drown, but that was only from their perspective.]
WHEN WE ASK GOD “WHY”, HE ASKS US “WHERE”
“Where is your faith?”
So, when we are in God’s will, expect:
· Things might be stormy.
· It may not seem as if God cares.
CALM “BEFORE” THE STORM
There is usually a calm before a storm whether we know about the coming storm or not.
CALM “DURING” THE STORM
This is God’s will for us as to the kind of faith that he wants us to have during stormy times.
CALM “AFTER” THE STORM
Though it doesn’t always happen in our life, God’s will is that we See, Learn and Grow from having gone through a storm, which can help us BEFORE & DURING the next one… and there will be a next one.
IN ALL THINGS, AT ALL TIMES, TRUST IN THE LORD
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
-Proverbs 3:5,6
THE PROBLEM OF NOT KNOWING “WHY” IS OUR NOT FULLY UNDERSTANDING GOD’S WILL
With respect to the subject of the “will”,
one of the greatest million-dollar questions has to do with God’s will.
Why?
Why God?
I have a million “Why-questions”.
The stronger the emotion, the greater the
“Why-question”.
The more [Hurt] that we feel, the more we ask God, “Why?”
[Pain, Anger, Confusion, etc.]
We ask this mostly when our own will is
not being done.
When we don’t get our way…
When things don’t look like they are fair…
When we personally feel the deep pains of our own hurt or the hurts of others.
There is no “one” satisfactory answer that I could give to you that would explain why things happen.
There are a million reasons why they do.
Because of the fact that there are millions of people in the world and God has given “free will” to everyone of them, there are endless combinations of reasons why things happen.
The real question that people are asking is,
“God, why do you allow certain things to happen that bring so much pain?”
Jesus’ model of prayer simply focus us on “our” accepting “His” will.
Not getting too deep today,
God has an Ultimate Will and a Permissive Will.
He does not want bad things to happen
[Ultimate Will],
but he will permit them
[Permissive Will].
In fact, he “has to” permit a certain amount of bad things, or he would have to totally take away
“Free Will”.
That will only happen at the end of the world
[His Second Coming].
Only then will there be;
“…no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
-Revelation 21:4
In a sinful world there will always be sin.
God offers forgiveness, but not perfection,
Perfection will only come when
GOD’S WILL
1. Wanting us to want what he wants.
“Your will be done” means that we should want what “God wants” for our lives.
Prayer is NOT about getting “our” will done and listened to in heaven,
it’s about getting “God’s” will done here on earth.
Isaiah 14 talks about Satan and people that have a selfish attitude like him.
In Satan’s rebellion against God, five times he used the words, “I will.”
“How you have fallen from heaven,
[Kicked out of heaven]
morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low the nations!
13 You said in your heart,
“I will ascend to the heavens;
I will raise my throne
above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.[b]
14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.”
-Isaiah 14:12-14
Do you know anyone who lives like that?
“My will, My will, My will”.
“I want, I want, I want”.
Satan was saying, MY WILL BE DONE.
Are the things that you are thinking, saying, doing, and asking God for about his will or your will?
In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed that he wouldn’t have to go to the cross.
Could there be another way?
He stated his will, but in the end he yielded to God’s will.
“Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
-Matthew 26:39
Jesus did not sin by wanting a different way to offer forgiveness than by his dying on the cross.
It is not a sin to struggle with God’s Ultimate
or his Permissive Will.
In our humanity, we will always struggle to a certain degree.
Do what Jesus did.
The bottom line is that
Jesus said to God, his Father,
Not my will but yours be done,
while Satan was saying to God,
Not your will, but mine be done.
In life, we will find ourselves either saying
yes to self and no to God
or
no to self and yes to God.
Q: Where in your life might you either directly or indirectly be saying to God
“Not your will but mine?”
Q: What needs to change?
THE BIBLE REVEALS GOD’S WILL EVERYONE
1. Wanting us to want what he wants.
“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things ABOVE, [Spiritual, Heavenly things] where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 SET YOUR MINDS on things ABOVE, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.”
-Colossians 3:1-3
2. That all would hear about the death & resurrection of Jesus and trust him for forgiveness and be SAVED.
“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
-2 Peter 3:9
3. Glory would be given to God.
The angels said to the shepherds when Jesus was born;
“This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
-Luke 2:12-14
4. Love one another.
“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
-Matthew 22:37-40
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
-John 13:34,35
“Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.”
-Romans 12:10
“Let us consider how we may spur one another on [Encourage] toward love and good deeds…”
-Hebrews 10:24
“Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.”
-2 Corinthians 13:11
VIDEO
When the future is uncertain,
Trust in the Lord.
We are safely in His hands,
That’s why He came.
No crisis can stop Jesus…
Trust in Him.
Lord, “Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.”
Pastor Dave