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After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
(Matthew 6:9-13 - KJV)

Many of us know the “Lord’s Prayer” and could probably recite it from memory. And while this article will not be a study on these 5 verses of scripture, we’re going to pay special attention to an idea that is presented in verse 10.

...Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

How many times have we heard the concept that because we are believers in Jesus Christ, we have some sort of untapped power and favor available to us that somehow means that God will be a tag-along to whatever we want to do in life.  So if we want to be rich, then if we follow some sort of faith formula, then we’ll be rich. If we want to have perfect health, then we’ll follow some sort of faith formula and have perfect health. And the list goes on.

Now it isn’t that God doesn’t heal and it isn’t that God doesn’t allow people to obtain material wealth but we must get back to the mean reason why we exist in the first place--for the glory of God. The foundation of our existence isn’t based on our “hopes and dreams,” it is based on bringing glory to our Creator (Isaiah 43:7). And that is why He does not value this life in the same way that many of us do. We scramble about this life trying to do this and trying to do that but in God’s eyes, this life is but a vapor and it is the life to come that is much more significant. This is why Jesus says this:

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
(Matthew 6:19-20 - KJV)

And now, we will explore the main topic of this article, which is how the will of God needs to supercede the will that we would have for our own lives. In many of the scriptures we read about the “will of God,” it is referring to His desire. Does our desire match His desire, even to the point that we would be willing to lose out on the things of this life for His sake? Consider Jesus’ situation in the Garden of Gethsemane:

And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
(Luke 22:41-44 - KJV)

Look at what Jesus went through just minutes before His arrest and eventual crucifixtion. There was a battle going in within Him. His flesh did not want to go through the suffering that He was about to endure. Aren’t we also the same way many times in our lives as we seek to endure in our faith? Jesus wanted this cup of suffering that He was about to consume to be removed from Him. In the same way, it doesn’t feel good to us when we have to suffer for the sake of Jesus in our own lives. But Jesus’ conclusion was that He will set aside the desire of His flesh in order to embrace the desire of God. Are we willing to do the same?

Then the king said to Zadok, “Carry the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the Lord, he will bring me back and let me see both it and his dwelling place. But if he says, ‘I have no pleasure in you,’ behold, here I am, let him do to me what seems good to him.”
(2 Samuel 15:25-26 - ESV)

Do we have the same attitude that David had, where He requested that the Lord simply would do with Him whatever He desired? What if God had any one of us go through a season of failing health, unemployment, betrayal, wrongful persecution or even death as part of His will. Will we continue in faith like Jesus did all the way to the cross, or will we put our crosses down and leave the path that God has called us to? We put so much stock in the things of this life and we must understand that this is temporary and at the same time, this is where our testing is taking place. Are we really willing to go the distance for the Lord?

Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore? And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.
(Matthew 19:27-29 - KJV)

The question that Peter asked was a fair question and if we really look into Jesus’ response, it has nothing to do with a promise of riches, perfect health or an avoiding of suffering in this life. But the promise is that God will reward us for our life of sacrifice. In this life, what we’re guaranteed is possessing all the spiritual blessings we need to endure in the faith (Ephesians 1). And in the life to come, we get to dwell with the Lord Himself. As I said in the previous article, remember that Jesus is the Prize and He is our Source. Let us stop depending on the things of this life and the things of this world for the living water (John 4:10-14) and bread of heaven (John 6:48-51) that only Jesus can provide.

So how do we get to the place where we are in the will of God and where He desires us to be?

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
(2 Peter 3:9 - KJV)

The first way to align yourself with God’s will (desire) is to repent and believe in Jesus Christ, or to return to Christ in repentance if you have walked away from Him. The promises of the new covenant in Jesus Christ are only for those who endure in the faith and are presently following Him. So this is the starting point.

“I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
(John 5:30 - NASB)

As we go about our lives, are we doing the desires of God in whatever capacity He has placed us in? Are we being lights in this world? Are we living holy and upright lives through the working of His Spirit in us? Has His will become your will?

Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.
(Psalm 37:4 - NIV)

The key to this verse is understanding that when we delight ourselves in the Lord (align ourselves with what He is about), then we will have the desires of our hearts. When we delight ourselves in the Lord, we delight in His ways and in His will and make them our own. So then the desires of our hearts are a result of His desires in a sense and He is happy to give them us. Remember we are told in the epistles that when we ask for anything according to His will, we will receive it (1 John 5:14-15). But we and God must be on the same page.

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,
(2 Timothy 4:3 - NASB)

Let us not be like the people described above but let us be of people who say to God in our hearts that “we will” instead of “we won’t.” Because if our “will” isn’t in harmony with God’s will, then we can expect to be doing things that are contrary to what He desires. And those who put themselves in opposition to God’s will put themselves in opposition to God and I pray that if you are such a person, repent and return to Him.

Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
(Hebrews 13:5 - KJV)

Conversation means “way of life.” As long as we are continuing in Christ, we know that the Lord will never leave us nor forsake us. This is more precious than anything or anyone can provide us in this life and we must trust God in this. The safest place we could be is in God’s will and remember that He is the Prize, He is the Treasure and He is Life.
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