I have been coming across this thought a lot lately. The thought that has us asking for God to give us what we desire. The hope is that he will take away pain, pay off our financial debts, have all the correct answers to a final exam (this one was a frequent prayer in my college days).
But I struggle to find the verses that tell us to treat God like a spiritual vending machine. In fact, I haven’t found anything that might confirm God will meet our deepest desires if we just pray harder. Look at Matthew 26:36–39:
“Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, ‘Sit here, while I go over there and pray.’ And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, ‘My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.’ And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.’”
Even Jesus, God incarnate, asked the Father to “let this cup pass” yet we all know what happened next. I’m sure Jesus didn’t exactly want to be tortured and executed. But it was part of God’s will. It was all part of the “Kingdom Come” concept.
We are told to pray “Kingdom come, YOUR will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” We proclaim that we want God’s will to be done, but when the hard times come, how often does that phrase pass through your lips when praying? I know I struggle to ask for His will to be done.
I have prayed time and time again for God’s grace, his help, relief from struggle, answers to a question, etc. Though when I really think I am out of answers, I don’t typically mean it when I say something like, “…help me, but your will be done…” Because what I’m really saying is, “God please, please, PLEASE change your will if it means it’s going to be hard.” Which in reality isn’t asking for his will to be done at all, is it?
What this ends up looking like is OUR will be done.
Do I really want that? I mean let’s be real here; do you want my will to play out in your life? Imagine a world where each of our own individual wills determined life as we know it. Well I guess we don’t have to think that hard. Just take a look at history when man essentially forced their will.
Terrorist attacks, enslavement, genocide, murder, rape… this is what happens when the will of mankind is played out. Because we are finite. We have an end date. And let’s face it, most of us want the outcome of life’s challenges to be solved before our expiration date.
So in order to prevent you and others from dealing with the outcome of my will, my position is to keep praying for God’s will be done.
His will. His plan. His Kingdom come.
“Pray then like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.’”
Matthew 6:9–13
