Your Will Be Done

“Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Many people begin their prayers by saying. “Lord, if it be Thy will…” This is not necessary, and may even be hindrance to effective prayer. God already knows His will.  God is asking us to remember that His will is more important than our will. We should be praying that His Will cover all the earth.

God’s will is not as mysterious as we think it is.  We just don’t want to know it as much as we imagine. In order to know God’s will, though, we must spend time with God in quiet, listening prayer. 

Prayer is not just talking to God. It is God talking to us. If we listen to God, we should know God’s will for us as well.

The “Your will be done” prayer is not a surrender to hopelessness or a false determinism.  God wants us to pray for our will, as well as His. But the ultimate goal of a believer for his will and God’s to be one and the same.  As we draw closer to Him,  we come to know His will on our knees before Him. 

“Your will be done” is a battle prayer, not a peace prayer. It is a prayer for God to win all the battles on earth, the way He has already won heaven. It is a prayer that the kingdom of sin will be overthrown, that justice will prevail, that the poor will be fed and the broken will be healed, and that those who do not know the Good New will receive and believe.

“Your will be done” is not a general, worldwide prayer. It is kind of prayer we pray—a prayer for God to specifically overthrow the evils in this world, the way He has already overthrown the Evil one in heaven.

“Your will be done” is the prayer when we claim the promises of God for those around us, beginning with those who are in the greatest need.  We ask for God to fulfill His will, not for our own sake, but for His  God’s will is to be done, so that He may get the praise, and others beside ourselves may get the benefit.

Father, as I see the injustice in the world around me,  I become ever more aware that Your will is not being done  Let the world we live in become conformed to Your divine will.  Let peace and justice reign in this world and the next.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.