“….. Thy will be done….”Matt. 6:10
Every time I read this I can’t help but wonder if we’re really being honest when we pray. Perhaps we’re not as sincere as we pretend to be, or as we think we are. That petition sounds good until it is answered with something we don’t like or want. Sometimes we say “Thy will be done“, but we really mean “My will be done”. Evidence of that is seen in our complaining about our lot in life.
An article in Our Daily Bread says, “In Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s `A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich,’ Ivan endures all the horrors of a Soviet prison camp. One day he is praying with his eyes closed when a fellow prisoner notices him and says with ridicule, “Prayers won’t help you get out of here any faster.” Opening his eyes, Ivan answers, “I do not pray to get out of prison but to do the will of God.” Prayer is not manipulating God to get what we want but discovering what He wants us to do, and then asking the Holy Spirit to enable us to do His will. Prayer is not a way to get what we want but the way to become what God wants.”
Robert Law once wrote that…”Prayer is a mighty instrument, not for getting man’s will done in heaven, but for getting God’s will done on earth.” We need to think about that. If we can’t be satisfied with God’s will we’ve got a much bigger problem than just being deprived of our desires.
If we really believed that God’s will is right, best, and safest why would we want anything else? Not only should we be willing to accept God’s will, we ought to ask for it. Sadly some folks are so obviously insincere about wanting God’s will that it would be laughable if it wasn’t so serious. Their attitude and actions show that they are running from it not to it. And that is a great hindrance when they pray about other things. Not until our wants agree with His will can we expect God to grant our petitions. An attitude of being willing to accept whatever God appoints or allows always gets His attention. -HDS
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346
