“Pray then like this:
‘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 also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.’” Matthew 6:9-13
We began a couple of weeks ago looking at the Lord’s Prayer as a model for our prayers as well as a prayer that needs to be incorporated into our daily lives again especially when we are in that place that we are not able to pray ourselves. The Scriptures remind us that the Spirit will give us words when we don’t have any and here is one of those places where the Lord speaks to us to remember and use this prayer with regularity.
We began by seeing how God desires us to call Him Father… “Our Father”! This was the Lord Jesus’ favorite title used for His Father and as we are in Christ we have been adopted and He is our Father as well. He is “Our Father in heaven..” who is overall not to coerce us into anything but to willingly choose and love us as Hs own. We are to revere Him as we pray “…hallowed be your name.” He is holy…holy…holy! He defines holiness and we need to fear the Lord with our whole heart filled with the desire to uphold that holiness as we walk in His prescribed ways to bring Him glory and to be a blessing to those around us. And lastly, we have seen that we are to pray for what He has promised from the beginning “Your kingdom come.”
Now we come to the third petition, “your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” This, first of all, speaks to the Sovereign Will of God which basically means that God needs no one’s permission to do whatever He wishes…and He will do whatever He wishes, according to His nature, for His own glory and the good of His children. He created… which brings Him glory… and He redeemed His own …bestowing His grace on the ones He chose before the foundations of the earth…which brings Him glory. This expression of God’s will focuses on the fact that God sovereignly ordains everything that comes to pass. In other words, there is nothing that happens that is outside of God’s sovereign will. This aspect of God’s will is seen in verses like Ephesians 1:11, where we learn that God is the one “who works all things according to the counsel of His will,” and Job 42:2, “I know that You can do everything, And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.” This view of God’s will is based on the fact that, because God is sovereign, His will can never be frustrated. Nothing happens that is beyond His control.
Secondly, we see that this speaks to the Prescriptive Will of God which is revealed in His precepts and commands. Jesus was not telling His disciples and us later to pray for God’s sovereign will because we do not need to pray for that…it is done on earth as it is in heaven. Obviously Jesus is teaching us to pray that God will carry out His prescriptive will through us…that we will obey this will as those in heaven do. He is basically restating this petition when He tells His disciples, “If you love me, keep my commandments.”…. God’s revealed will…which is found in the Scriptures…God’s commandments, His statutes…His precepts…His desires….these reveal His character and what He expects that we will do as kingdom citizens. (See also Duet. 29:29) God’s revealed will lets us know what is right and wrong…so that we might love Him as He commands.
What do we pray for when we pray, “May your will be done…”? That God will enlighten us to His will, so that it may be done. For we must know His will before we can do it. So many people in the church say… “I don’t know the will of God.” or “How can I know the will of God for my life?” I usually answer with something like… “You must not read the Bible much…since everything you need to know to answer either of those questions is in there.” And then second, I sometimes ask, “Which is more important in your life…the things you want…or bringing God glory?” The answer is that God answers both of these in His Word and by His will. When we carry out His will to glorify Him He will take care of all our needs. “The LORD is my shepherd: I shall not want.” This passage means so much more than God meeting our needs, but it doesn’t mean anything less. If God takes care of the birds…how much more will He care for His children?
In what manner are we to do God’s will? I love Jesus’ answer to this question… “…your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Huh? We must do it in the manner He prescribes…as it is done in heaven.
1. Without question or hesitation. It is clear throughout Scripture that the angels never question God’s will…they just carry it out…and so are we to do so in joy and gratefulness for God grace. All creation glorifies God without hesitation and we should do it the same way because of the grace shown us in the gift of eternal life.
2. Willingly without complaint….the angel’s and those that we see in heaven in the Revelation, desire is to honor and glorify God…there seems to never be a moments struggle with anything God commands. See Rom. 12:1. Zeal has been described by the rabbis as a love that can’t sit still…comparing it to a child that is always moving, discovering and delighting. Fervent angels are given the name “seraphim” – “burning ones”…they are truly on fire for the Lord…and we should be as well.
3. Continuously and with our best. See Numbers 18:29, 28:7…gold is mentioned more times in Scripture than any other precious metal…for it is considered to be the best…that is why we are to give our first fruit for our tithe and offerings…we give the best…not what’s left.
4. Without adding to or taking away from what God has revealed. He reveals clearly how things are to be done and we are not at liberty to change that to meet our own fancy. Just like in heaven.
In other words, we are to act on God’s revealed will as if it is our “default” like the angels…it is written into their DNA…they cannot NOT do God’s will! We are expected to Do God’s will in the same manner…our fallen nature robs us of being “perfect” in this life…but our renewed nature enables us by God’s grace and the work of the Spirit to give a “perfect effort” based in God’s grace…to do our absolute best!!!
We pray “Our Father”, why wouldn’t we want to do His will at all times? We must or we are acting like illegitimate children…disobedient. By praying, “Hallowed by your name” it should delight us to strive to give Him the quality of devotion that His name and title deserves and is accustomed to from His Son. When we pray “Your kingdom come” should we not seek to be in full submission to His laws and precepts? So then we are to strive today to pray and see that His “…will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”…as we are called upon to live as He prescribes to bring Him glory and to be a blessing to those around us.
God Bless y’all today.
In His Grip,
Pastor Mike
