Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven, Matt 6:10.
All my life I have thought of this in a passive sense. I pray for something, just as the Lord did in Matt 26:39, 42, and then add, “But thy will be done,” as if God is the only who expected to do His will. Then suddenly one day I thought, “Doing God’s will is the simple definition for obedience.” If I am praying for His will to be done, I have an obligation to do that will myself.
I cannot pray, “Thy will be done” if I look at one of his commands and say, “But God wouldn’t mind if…” I can’t expect an answer to my prayers if my answer to His will is, “I do well at everything else and this is such a small thing.” If I do not obey in even one instance I am not doing His will.
So I did a quick little study. I may have thought that “God’s will” had more to do with what He does, but I was wrong. Notice the following.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven, Matt 7:21. A lot of people out there go around doing “good deeds,” but if doing God’s will doesn’t come first, it isn’t worth a thing.
For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother, Matt 12:50. You are not in the Lord’s family if you are finding excuses for your disobedience.
Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work, John 4:34 If you want to follow in his footsteps, doing the Father’s will must become an essential of life, every bit as much as food.
If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority, John 7:17. You can’t go around claiming to know Jesus if you are not obeying the Father.
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect, Rom 12:2. The only way to know God’s will is to change your life.
For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality, 1Thess 4:3. You are not doing the Father’s will if you are engaging in sexual sins of any kind.
Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you, 1Thess 5:18. You are not doing God’s will if you are whining and complaining about your station in life, about your trials, about the suffering you must deal with, especially those due to your faith.
For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised, Heb 10:36. It isn’t always easy to do the Father’s will and the task is never completed. One good deed doesn’t mean your work is finished.
[God will] equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen, Heb 13:21. No matter how hard it seems, he will see that you have whatever you need to do His will. If you didn’t manage to do it, it was your fault, not His.
The next time you end a prayer, “Thy will be done,” remember that you are as much responsible for that as He is. If you aren’t willing to do His will in every aspect of your life, why should He believe you mean it when you pray? And why should He do what YOU want, when you won’t do what HE wants?
Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God, 1Pet 4:1-2.
Dene Ward
All my life I have thought of this in a passive sense. I pray for something, just as the Lord did in Matt 26:39, 42, and then add, “But thy will be done,” as if God is the only who expected to do His will. Then suddenly one day I thought, “Doing God’s will is the simple definition for obedience.” If I am praying for His will to be done, I have an obligation to do that will myself.
I cannot pray, “Thy will be done” if I look at one of his commands and say, “But God wouldn’t mind if…” I can’t expect an answer to my prayers if my answer to His will is, “I do well at everything else and this is such a small thing.” If I do not obey in even one instance I am not doing His will.
So I did a quick little study. I may have thought that “God’s will” had more to do with what He does, but I was wrong. Notice the following.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven, Matt 7:21. A lot of people out there go around doing “good deeds,” but if doing God’s will doesn’t come first, it isn’t worth a thing.
For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother, Matt 12:50. You are not in the Lord’s family if you are finding excuses for your disobedience.
Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work, John 4:34 If you want to follow in his footsteps, doing the Father’s will must become an essential of life, every bit as much as food.
If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority, John 7:17. You can’t go around claiming to know Jesus if you are not obeying the Father.
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect, Rom 12:2. The only way to know God’s will is to change your life.
For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality, 1Thess 4:3. You are not doing the Father’s will if you are engaging in sexual sins of any kind.
Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you, 1Thess 5:18. You are not doing God’s will if you are whining and complaining about your station in life, about your trials, about the suffering you must deal with, especially those due to your faith.
For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised, Heb 10:36. It isn’t always easy to do the Father’s will and the task is never completed. One good deed doesn’t mean your work is finished.
[God will] equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen, Heb 13:21. No matter how hard it seems, he will see that you have whatever you need to do His will. If you didn’t manage to do it, it was your fault, not His.
The next time you end a prayer, “Thy will be done,” remember that you are as much responsible for that as He is. If you aren’t willing to do His will in every aspect of your life, why should He believe you mean it when you pray? And why should He do what YOU want, when you won’t do what HE wants?
Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God, 1Pet 4:1-2.
Dene Ward
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