Of all of the things that we can pray for, if you were allowed to ask for only one thing in your lifetime with a guarantee that it would be granted, what would you ask for? What all inclusive and perfect request could you make that is guaranteed to satisfy every condition, every situation and every need perfectly? What could you ask for that would encompass all people and things and create an environment of peace, healing, joy, contentment etc.? Jesus knew, and He shared it with us in yet another profound example for us to follow in The Lord's Prayer;
Matthew 6:10 (NLT) "May your will be done here on earth, just as it is in heaven."
In my lifetime I've had countless opportunities to pray on my own behalf and also on behalf of others. I have approached our God with so many situations and needs knowing that He alone has the ability and power to control the multitude of circumstances of any life. Every time, I've searched my heart and mind (my own wisdom) for the best way to pray for these things in order to make the perfect request ... until more recently...
If you've followed my writings, then you know that Father God has impressed on me a burden to share a very powerful word - perspective. In God's perspective, this life in front of us now is not the end. It's not more that an introduction to the life that He created us for. If I die to this life today, it would not be the worst thing that could happen to me. The worst thing that could happen to me, would be for me to begin the everlasting life that He created me for permanently damned and separated from God. The things that I suffer in this life are so fleeting and momentary in the perspective of eternity. But they're potentially so very valuable if they are part of His plan for equipping and preparing me for eternity in the house of my Father. A recent situation gave me a moment of pause and made me recognize that though our Lord has a plan in place for each of our lives, if we're not aware of what He might be doing in someone's life or seeking Him in this, that our good intentions can actually be an interference. I hadn't really thought about this much. I just knew that someone was suffering and I was making a personal sacrifice to intercede on their behalf. I was "doing a good thing". Out of the blue came a word from someone I love and respect very much that at the time, shocked me and made me realize that my "help" could be in conflict with what our Lord was trying to accomplish in this other persons life. I honestly couldn't say even now whether it was or wasn't ... I hadn't asked Him about it one way or another. As I said, I was focused on "doing a good thing". Well, for me it was another lesson regarding the possibility of a good thing gone bad, but only because I didn't have the forethought to seek God's will before I jumped into what I considered to be an act of Christian kindness - my duty right? Maybe, maybe not ...
I know without a doubt from the experiences in my own life that sometimes for various reasons (most often beyond my own wisdom at the time) our loving Father finds it to be in our best eternal interest to allow us to learn uncomfortable and sometimes even painful lessons. I sometimes wonder if as a young boy I was carrying my brain in the toe of my sock one of those times when I accidentally kicked the bed post because He's had to work so hard at getting my attention sometimes. There have been many of those painful lessons in my own life and before I go any further, I want to make it very clear that I am sincerely grateful for every one of them now. If it had not been for His interventions, this life would have ceased for me very long ago and I likely would have been damned to eternal torment. Before you have an opportunity to think that I'm being melodramatic about what's painful, let me say this: I have survived drug addiction and attempted suicide at the ripe old age of 17, the sudden loss of 2 of the very few people that I allowed myself to become close to and needed desperately at the time, a devastating house fire that dislodged my wife, myself and our children taking with it a share of our past, multiple car wrecks, 3 simultaneous strokes, numerous injuries in construction accidents, the loss of my business and eventually our home ... and these are just some of the highlights.
But in every event, though I may not have seen the reasons for it or recognized His hand at the time, by His grace and His mercy He has restored me and I now see that He was teaching me something life changing. Instead of bitterness for what I've suffered, I rejoice, carrying in my heart the knowledge that every time I've cried in pain, there were tears in my Fathers eyes also, but that He loved me enough ... to let me suffer ... to learn to live ... forever. That's part of what this life is all about.
I've learned to love justice and compassion, not just for myself, but for every man ... just like my heavenly Father. I've learned the value of patience, the immeasurable value of trust - faith in my God. I've learned to carry as my shield with me the truth that in all things, my heavenly Father has my eternal best interest at heart and that all that I need to do is trust Him regardless of what the world or circumstances might say - He's never let me go, or fall to my death. I understand deep sorrow enough to comfort another and recognize what they might be feeling. I've become sensitive to it and I can feel their pain. But from my own sorrows, I've been raised to resolved and abiding joy - not grinning constant smiles and laughter, but a constant and abiding peace filled joy that can't be taken as long as my Father reigns in heaven. I've learned without a doubt where my provision really comes from and who protects me when I can't protect myself. I've come to know without any question or any doubt that He is. I've also learned that tenderness, love and compassion are signs of true strength in a man - not weakness! They're the hardest standards for a man to carry in this world ... but they're worth it! Especially when you realize that these are the traits of our Father and that by sharing them with Him, you become sensitive to His heart. These are only some of the things that I've learned and I wouldn't trade them for any amount of comfort or worldly things. They're too valuable. They've helped to teach me and change me ... to be a friend of my God ... and that ... I'll enjoy for eternity. All of this ... was part of His plan for my life.
You might be surprised at my rambling about my own life, but I've shared all of this to come to one very big question: The next time you pray, whether it be for yourself or for the critical issues in the life of another, who's wisdom will you trust? Yours? Mine? ... Or will it be our Gods?
Will you choose to make your own requests from your own wisdom - to try to come up with a request that you think is the right answer? Or will you be willing to ask Him for His will to be done in the issues you're facing whatever His will may be? Surrendering our will and wisdom to His is a huge matter of trust. But it's critical. Do we trust Him really? Are we willing to ask that His will be done in the lives of those we hold dear or even our own no matter what His will might be? Even if it means that there might be suffering?
Honestly, it has taken me a lifetime to get over my fear of that one phrase of the Lord's prayer. Partly because I knew what it might mean to me - it might hurt. But as my faith - my trust has grown in the loving and faithful heart of our Father and as I've begun to see the results of His work in me - that fear has disappeared. I now can, and do, honestly and sincerely pray "Lord I pray that your will would be done in my life above all things, because I know that your ways are so perfect, your wisdom so far above mine and that your intentions are always for my good because I know that you love me tenderly."
Matthew 6:10 (NLT) "May your will be done here on earth, just as it is in heaven."
So much wisdom in just one short phrase...
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