Your Will Be Done

As I continue to meditate on the Lord’s Prayer and use it as a structure for my prayer life, my heart continues to be awakened to the awesome privilege it is to have the God of the Universe capture my heart and give me nourishment for each day to live.

“Your kingdom come,
Your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven”

We long for the day when we will be able to live in the fullest expression of God’s kingdom when Jesus comes again, but what do we do in the mean time? Many helpful books have been written on this subject. If you are a reader, Russell Moore’s book The Kingdom of Christ: The New Evangelical Perspective might be one that you want to pick up. But what can you pick up from God’s Word yourself?

A few of our pastors and staff were able to hang out with Harold Best this week. He defined prayer as “getting in God’s face with His Word.” We all thought this was a beautiful definition.

Do you think Paul prayed for things that were within God’s will? That would be a definite “yes.” If you look at Colossians 1:9-14, we see Paul praying for the following things for the Christians at Colossae.
–That God would give them complete knowledge of His will
–And to give them spiritual wisdom and understanding.
–The result would be that they would live in a way that would always honor and please the Lord
–Producing every kind of good fruit
–All the while, that they would grow as they learned to know God better and better.
–That they would be strengthened with all God’s glorious power (so that…)
–They would have all the endurance and patience they need.
–That they would be filled with joy…
–Always thanking the Father.
The remaining part of the passage reminds them what they have to be thankful for.

So if you are having problems praying God’s will for yourself and others, just pull out one of Paul’s prayers and maybe focus on one or two thoughts. In doing this, you will know that you are praying God’s will for yourself and others.

Other Prayers of Paul:
Philippians 1:9-11
Ephesians 1:15-23
Ephesians 3:14-21
Romans 15:14-33

Another recommended book is D.A. Carson’s A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and His Prayers. I am currently being blessed in a big way by this book.