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Your Will Be Done...

 "In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen."  Matthew 6:9-13 (NKJ)

While interceding for others in prayer, and even when petitioning the Lord on my own behalf, I've been repeatedly led by my own human emotion and wisdom in the past when seeking resolution to a particular issue or situation. In fact, I did that very thing for years without ever really giving it a thought - it just seemed natural. I knew what my heart desired and what the natural tendency of the human condition required me to seek - whether on my own behalf or that of someone else. But one day as I was praying for someone, I began to feel as though the Lord was confronting me.

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD . “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts." 

The LORD's own words from Isaiah 55:8-9 (NLT) suddenly came into focus in the forefront of my mind while I was still in the middle of my prayer. I was struck with an unsettling question: was I praying for something that was against God's will? How could I know? I might think I know and understand what God wants in a particular situation or condition, but my limited wisdom and understanding could possibly fail me and lead me to pray in conflict with what His far greater wisdom and understanding might require. I may know in detail what I want for myself or someone else with great passion, ... but what if my asking it is in defiance of the Lord's will? Would I be so bold? The thoughts didn't stop there... "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" - It's a statement made in trust and submission.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and the only person to walk through this life with perfect performance before the Father, taught us how to pray by giving us the model prayer that I quoted from Matthew 6. In my own mind, it serves as the outline and perfect communication of a prayer before the LORD and if so, what possible objection could I have toward simply following it? The most obvious reason is that He might not respond in the way that I or someone that I'm praying for wants. But trust and faith beg a wise question: Is our will the perfect resolution to any situation or circumstance? Do I know better than Father God what the perfect answer is - even to my own troubles? Take it a step further and I have to ask myself: Am I perfect or even my own master? Of course the answer to both is no. So the next question is ... Am I willing to trust God and to submit to His will and authority over me? 

My personal response in answer to those questions has changed the way that I pray. Even though in honesty I still wrestle a little with some human concern over what the possible outcome at times might mean, as well as with the possible objections of someone I might be praying with at the time, my prayers are now intended to give deference to the LORD's will over any request I might make. For example, toward the closing of my prayer now it might sound something like this: "Lord, if anything I've asked is in conflict with Your will, I pray also that You forgive me and that above all else Your will be done".

I desire the perfect answer and response to any situation and circumstance - whether for myself or someone else. That perfect answer possibly and even most likely ... isn't my own. God's wisdom, understanding and knowledge far exceed my own. Coupling those facts with what I know from His word about His heart toward His children gives me confidence when submitting to His will for our good.

"For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11 (NLT)

LORD, I pray YOUR will be done...


"No, O people, the LORD has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God."  Micah 6:8 (NLT)



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