The Lord's Prayer (4)

Quintus Heine

Matthew 6:10 "Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

In heaven, God's will prevails completely. In God's dwelling place, his will is not opposed.  Here on earth this still happens and that’s why this prayer asks that God's will be done here as it is in heaven. With this prayer, we ask God to help us not to pray against his will.

To pray for the will of the Lord is to commit ourselves to deliberately seek the Lord's will. It requires (1) obedience to God and (2) surrender to God.

Obedience: God's will is recorded in the Bible. Therefore, it’s important to study the Bible - prayer and reading the Bible usually go hand in hand. Futhermore, you also become aware of the will of the Lord as you live closer to God. The further you live from God, and the less you read the Bible in its entirety, the harder it is to distinguish his will. The more you pray, the more clear God's will for you becomes (see Psalm 13). God is always with you through his Spirit. He reveals his will to you by, among other things, the Bible, your conscience, Christian friends, circumstances, common sense and prayer. To seek the will of God means to be obedient to God's Word and the Holy Spirit! We must fight against our own will to enforce God’s.

Surrender to God: With this prayer we declare ourselves willing to accept God's will for our lives no matter what happens to us or how our prayers are answered. If our lives turn out differently than what we asked for, we must still bow before the Lord and accept it. If you pray this prayer, you give your own will over to the will of the Father, that’s why we always pray "not my will, Lord, but your will!" You hereby declare that God is in control of your life. Our own dreams are not necessarily God's dreams for us. There must be a total commitment of our whole being unto God. Like Job, we must be still before God because he is in control.

Prayer: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and for ever. Amen.