Your Will Be Done

Matthew 6:9–13 KJV 1900

9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 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.

OPEN:

Are you in the will of God?

While that may be another sermon series on its own...

Modernists like to say, are you fulfilling your destiny? Are you doing what you were made for?

More often than not we attach that to some grand sense of fulfillment in our work…if I’m not doing what I’m totally passionate about, then I must be out of sync with what I was made for?

But what were you made for in fact?

Recap:

Up to this point, the prayer has been all about God.

We have prayed for God’s name to be displayed as holy through us and throughout the world,

for God’s kingdom to be lived out by us as we surrender to our Great God and King

and today for God’s will to be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.

But from this point on we will pray for ourselves—our provision, our pardon, and our protection. It is the third petition (very closely related to the first 2) that brings the Lord’s Prayer down to earth, making the transition from our Father up in heaven to his children down on earth.  

So the question, What is God’s will for my life? comes quickly, when we see Jesus asking us to pray about God’s will here on earth. But do we mean the same thing He does? Better still, could there be something a little more important than having all my questions answered and dreams fulfilled as I live out my full potential in vocation or creativity…that may come, but it’s not enough.

Let’s ask ourselves a couple of questions?

How does Scripture help us understand the will of God?

What is God’s will…in Heaven?

What is God’s will for me…or better us (since we’re praying collectively)?

Matthew 6:10 ESV

10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

WHAT IS THE WILL OF GOD?

HOW DOES THE BIBLE HELP US UNDERSTAND THE WILL OF GOD?

There are a handful of words used where the Bible speaks of the “will of God”…and there are several meanings attached to the concepts around them.

1. The Sovereign / Efficacious will of God. (SPROUL) //

This is already done in Heaven.

Psalm 135:6 ESV

6 Whatever the Lord pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.

God wins! The lamb is seated on the throne - in total command of all creation. John was granted a glimpse of this in Revelation…it’s going to happen

Revelation 21:1–4 ESV

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

2. The Preceptive Will - His law and commandments // Revealed Will of God

Deuteronomy 26:16 ESV

16 “This day the Lord your God commands you to do these statutes and rules. You shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul.

Acts 17:30 ESV

30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,

A tension will always exist between God’s sovereignty and man’s will, therefore we should not try to resolve it by modifying what He says about either reality.

God is sovereign, but He gives us choices. And it is in His sovereignty that He commands us to pray, “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”

3. God’s Disposition or Inclination / His desired will

2 Peter 3:9 ESV

9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

Note verse 4

1 Timothy 2:1–4 ESV

1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

We pray, “Hallowed be Thy name,” yet God’s name is infrequently hallowed here. We ask for His kingdom to come, yet there are many who reject His reign. Thus His will is not inevitable. In fact, lack of faithful prayer inhibits God’s will because in His wise and gracious plan, prayer is essential to the proper working of His will on earth.

May I also suggest that we see these all collide in the garden of Gethsemane as Jesus prays not my will but thine be done.

So, what is God’s “will”…well which one?

John 3:16 ESV

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

WHAT IS THE WILL OF GOD…IN HEAVEN?

Since sin is removed in Heaven.

Since Heaven is comprised of those who have folded their earthly tent and died in Christ Jesus

Since Angels are also there - those special created beings

WE SEE PERFECT OBEDIENCE THERE

God’s Sovereign will is perfectly occuring in Heaven - unhindered obedience, unbroken fellowship…THAT WHAT HE HAS DECREED HERE ON EARTH - IT’S HIS DESIRE FOR US.

WHAT IS THE WILL OF GOD FOR ME?

What is the will of God for your life?

Pastor Kevin DeYoung writes about this way in his book, Just Do Something

Themelios: Volume 34, No. 3, November 2009 Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God’s Will: Or, How to Make a Decision without Dreams, Visions, Fleeces, Open Doors, Random Bible Verses, Casting Lots, Liver Shivers, Writing in the Sky, Etc

5. God guides us in decision-making but does not expect us to discover every aspect of his plan for our lives ahead of time (pp. 63–74). “Apart from the Spirit working through Scripture, God does not promise to use any other means to guide us, nor should we expect him to” (p. 68).

Let’s lay the groundwork here.

For you to come to know the Lord and submit to His rule in your life. Repent of your sins and cast yourself upon the Lord.

2 Peter 3:9 ESV

9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

HAVE AN ISAIAH 6 Encounter with the Lord!

Isaiah 6:1–8 ESV

1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” 4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” 8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”

See the Lord as the great God and King that He is - worthy of worship!

See yourself as undone, unclean, and unworthy.

(as you’re convicted by the Holy Spirit), confess that sin to Him

Receive the Lord’s forgiveness, be filled with and led by the person of the Holy Spirit as that’s the way the Lord comes to live in and through you

Understand that He didn’t save you to sit…he wants to send you on His mission to glorify Him as he builds His kingdom through you!

Consider what happened to the only man who ever totally surrendered to God’s will: Jesus Christ. Jesus always did what God told him to do. His only purpose in life was to submit to the will of his Father in heaven. “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work” (John 4:34). For Jesus, doing God’s will was life itself.

Submitting to God’s will for our salvation is only the beginning, however. When we pray, “Your will be done,” we are committing ourselves to God’s will for every aspect of life and death. We are adopting God’s agenda and throwing away our own

TURN WITH ME TO 1 THES 4

1 Thessalonians 4:1–8 ESV

1 Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. 2 For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. 7 For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. 8 Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

Minimally...

you are set apart by God!

you abstain from sexual immorality

you know how to control your body in holiness & honor

not consumed with consuming / passions

you don’t look for ways to be critical or vengeful toward Christians

1 Thessalonians 5:16–22 ESV

16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.

you’re JOYFUL

you’re PRAYERFUL

you’re GRATEFUL & THANKFUL

you’re WALKING IN STEP WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT

you ACTIVELY LISTEN TO PREACHING & TEACHING of SOUND DOCTRINE

you WOULDN’T BE MISTAKEN FOR EVIL

Knowing the baseline of God’s Will produces...

Colossians 1:9–11 ESV

9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy;

To have spiritual wisdom & understanding

To walk in a manner worth of the Lord

To bear fruit as you do good and learn more of Him

To be strengthened with all power

To endure with joy

Praying the Lord’s Prayer Chapter 7: Thy Will Be Done

Here more clearly than anywhere the purpose of prayer becomes plain: not to make God do my will (which is practicing magic), but to bring my will into line with his (which is what it means to practice true religion

Here are some extracts from the historic Covenant Service of the Methodist Church from 1755. Following a reminder that in the New Covenant God promises us “all that he declared in Jesus Christ,” while we for our part “stand pledged to live no more unto ourselves,” the leader says:

O Lord God, Holy Father, who has called us through Christ to be partakers of this gracious Covenant, we take upon ourselves with joy the yoke of obedience, and engage ourselves, for love of Thee, to see and do thy perfect will.

Then all the worshipers join in words that John Wesley took from the Puritan Richard Alleine for this purpose in 1755:

I am no longer my own, but Thine. Put me to what Thou wilt, rank me with whom Thou wilt; put me to doing, put me to suffering; let me be employed for Thee or laid aside for Thee, exalted for Thee or brought low for Thee; let me be full, let me be empty; let me have all things, let me have nothing; I freely and heartily yield all things to Thy pleasure and disposal.

And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Thou art mine, and I am Thine. So be it. And the Covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.

Prayer is not a vain duty to be performed for the sake of obedience only.

We must pray in faith, believing that our prayers do make a difference to God. To guard against such passive and unspiritual resignation, Jesus told the disciples the Parable of the Importunate Widow—“to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart” (Luke 18:1).

Remember, this is “OUR FATHER”…so the question might be better posed, “what’s your will for us - GCC?”

Let’s pray to our great High King...

Let’s pray his precepts are followed with joy by His people...

Let’s pray to be a part of his Kingdom-advancing. Gospel-Revealing Disciple-Making-Disciple multiplier as we pray, “Your Will Be Done on Earth as It Is In Heaven!”

PRAY

Before we get into the nuances of specific assignments,

His will for us is to walk in obedience,

fulfill the Great Commandment and

work toward the Great Commission!