DIFFERENT WAYS OF THINKING ABOUT GOD S WILL

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1 THY WILL BE DONE (Romans 12:1-2; Matthew 6:10) INTRODUCTION An adult Sunday School class one time was discussing the best time to pray, when one man remarked, "I do some of my best praying while driving." From the back of the room, in a quiet voice, the man's wife agreed. "I, too, do my best praying while you are driving." When do you do some of your best praying? Jesus seemed to have done some of His best praying in the morning. Mark 1:35 reads: Mar 1:35 Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed. Many times we when go to pray we need to get into a praying mood, into a praying frame of mind. One way of getting into a praying frame of mind is to run through feelings evoked through the relationships implied in the Lord s Prayer. Think of these feelings towards God that each phrase should produce. Intimate feeling OUR FATHER Reverent feeling HALLOWED BY THY NAME Submission feeling THY KINGDOM COME Obedient feeling THY WILL BE DONE Dependent feeling GIVE US BREAD Spiritually Clean feeling -- FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS A feeling of Guidance LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION Protected feeling DELIVER US FROM EVIL When you pray the Lord s Prayer for yourself, come to Him with these feelings in your heart and you will be in a better frame of mind to pray. We are now at the third petition of this prayer in our series of sermons. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. In this third petition there are two parts. We are praying something about God s Will, that it may be done, and how God s Will is to be done, on earth as it is in heaven.. DIFFERENT WAYS OF THINKING ABOUT GOD S WILL February 19, 2017 Corntassel CP Church Page 1

2 What are we asking for when we pray for God s Will to be done? First, let s think about how the Scriptures speak about God s Will. Let me read you three different verses and see if you can discern three ways of looking at God s will. Daniel 4:35 (ESV) all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, "What have you done?" 1Th 4:3 (NIV) It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 2Pe 3:9 (NKJV) The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. Let s look at these tghree ways the phrase God s Will is used. The first of these three verses speaks of God s will as something that God sovereignly plans on doing. This will of God will always take place. It is not conditional, nor dependent upon anything or anyone, but it depends only on God s predetermined counsel or plan and His sovereignty. Some theologians call this the secret or decreed will of God. It is secret in that we don t know what this will is until it happens or unless God shows it to his prophets in Scriptures. It is the decreed will of God because God decrees what He pleases to accomplish and it happens. When we pray Thy will be done with this sense of God s will in mind we are basically affirming in our hearts the right and authority of God to carry out His sovereign plan for this earth. We are affirming as Paul did in Ephesians 1 that God works all things according to the counsel of His Will. (1:11) Or as Nebuchadnezzar confessed in Daniel 4:35 All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: "What have you done?" But this is not the primary sense that we are praying for in this petition in the Lord s Prayer. The second verse we read (I Thes 4:3) is speaking about God s revealed will or preceptive will. God s revealed will or preceptive will is the way God wants us to live, to live according to His precepts or commands. This will is found in the Scriptures and it defines our duty before God. The Bible is filled with God s commands to live like God wants us to live. Love one another, forgive one another, pray without ceasing, love not the world, follow me, etc. I believe that this is the primary will we are praying for in the Lord s prayer. We are February 19, 2017 Corntassel CP Church Page 2

3 praying that God s revealed will for how we should live and relate to one another be done on earth., The third verse we read has another perspective on God s will. It is God s desired will. When it speaks in II Peter 3:9 that God s is not willing that any should perish but all come to repentance, it is not speaking of God s decreed will, because not all do come to repentance. It is not speaking of God s revealed will because it is not a command telling us how to live. It is expressing a desire of God. When we pray Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven we are primarily praying for God s revealed will be done on earth. More personally we are praying that Thy revealed will be done in me as it is in heaven. We are praying for a spirit of obedience to His revealed will.. We are praying as A. W. Pink phrased it, O Father, let Thy will be revealed to me, let it be wrought in me, and let it be performed by me. This is something we need to pray each day, because each day is a spiritual battle with only doing our will, not God s will for us. HOW IS GOD S WILL TO BE DONE ON EARTH The second part of this prayer is how the will of God should be done on earth. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. We are to do it as it is done in heaven. Who is in heaven? Angels and the spirits of just men made perfect according to Hebrews 12. Heb 12:22-24 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, (23) to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, (24) to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant How do they obey God s will? They do it immediately. They do it fully. They do it joyfully. This is the way God wants us to approach and carry out His will on earth. He wants our immediate obedience. Someone has said, Delayed obedience is disobedience. When I was a boy my dad would call my brothers and me to get up and get ready to go to work on the farm, if we delayed he would come upstairs with his belt. He considered delayed obedience disobedience. When we understand what God wants us to do, we are to do it without hesitation. He wants us to have full or complete obedience. We are to accept all the will of God for us, not just the parts we like. We need to accept all the commands February 19, 2017 Corntassel CP Church Page 3

4 of God as His will, not just the commands we like or agree with. We are not to pick and choose which commandments to obey. We are to obey all of them. We can also say that partial obedience is disobedience. He wants us to have joyful obedience. We have this idea that somehow God s will will be burdensome or displeasing. But this is not how the Psalmist felt. Thee Psalmist expresses his love for God s commands and his joy in obeying them. Psalms 119:47-48 NIV for I delight in your commands because I love them. (48) I reach out for your commands, which I love, that I may meditate on your decrees. Jesus is the great example of his joy in obeying the Father s will. After He had his conversation with the woman at the well and the disciples were surprised that he wasn t hungry, he then said to them: John 4:32-34 NIV But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about. "My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. We are to treat the will of God as we would a delicious meal made up of your favorite foods and desserts! Jesus loved to do the will of God. That was his highest joy in life. Doing God s will is a joyful experience. There is joy in serving Jesus we sing. When we pray, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven we are praying that we may carry out God s will immediately, completely, and joyfully. HELPS FOR DOING GOD S WILL? Now it is one thing to know God s will; it is another to do it. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak, Jesus reminds us. How can we do God s will when we see that our natural tendency is to drag our feet in doing God s will, if not to be in open rebellion against it. Do we have any help in doing God s will? To begin with it helps to pray as David prayed when considering doing God s will. David prayed first for understanding of God s will: Psa 119:34 Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law and obey it with all my heart. Then he prayed that God would turn his heart towards his will: Psa 119:35-36 Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. (36) Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. February 19, 2017 Corntassel CP Church Page 4

5 We need to pray daily to understand which of God s command are most relevant for us for that day or for our situation. And we need to pray that God would turn our heart toward His will to want to do it. It is also helpful to keep in mind the right motivation. That motivation is the mercy and love of God shown to us in Jesus and what He did for us on the Cross. I love the passage in II Corinthians that clearly states this: 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 NIV (14) For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. (15) And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. Jesus was willing to go to the cross that we might be freed from our sins so that we can live for Him. It was because Jesus was willing to do the Father s will, even though, it meant that He would have to deny himself that we have the freedom to do God s will. He prayed, Not my will, but Thine be done. When we come to see Jesus as the One who did the Father s will of willingly going to the Cross in our behalf, then we will be free to do God s will, will our motivation be right. Finally, we can do God s will when we walk in the Spirit. God has given us the Spirit of His Son to enable us to do his will. When we pray the Lord s Prayer, Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven we are praying for God s will to be done in me as it is in heaven through the power of the Spirit of His Son, who died for me that I may be freed from myself to do God s will. CONCLUSION God s will is the most blessed path to walk on earth. God s will is the most comforting path on earth. As Romans 12 says, God s will is good, pleasing, and perfect. Someone has expressed it this way. The will of God will never take you, Where the Grace of God cannot keep you, Where the Arms of God cannot support you, Where the Riches of God cannot supply your needs, Where the Power of God cannot endow you. The will of God will never take you, Where the Spirit of God cannot work through you, Where the Wisdom of God cannot teach you, Where the Army of God cannot protect you, February 19, 2017 Corntassel CP Church Page 5

6 Where the Hands of God cannot mold you. The will of God will never take you, Where the Love of God cannot enfold you, Where the Mercies of God cannot uphold you, Where the Peace of God cannot calm your fears, Where the Authority of God cannot overrule you. The will of God will never take you Where the Comfort of God cannot dry your tears, Where the Word of God cannot feed you, Where the Miracles of God cannot be done for you, Where the Omnipresence of God cannot find you. Everything happens for a purpose. We may not see the wisdom of it all Now but trust and believe in The Lord that everything is for the best. (author unknown) Let us pray each day, Thy will be done, on earth (in me) as it is in heaven. Amen? Amen! February 19, 2017 Corntassel CP Church Page 6