Is it possible to know and do the will of God on
earth?
Obviously, Jesus thought so. But some today seem to have their
doubts.
In our last study we saw that while a portion of God’s
will remains hidden to human beings, a great deal has been
revealed to us (Deut. 29:29). We also saw the flaws in
claiming that because we cannot know everything about God’s
nature or his will, therefore we can know nothing about what
God is like or how he wants us to live.
Having seen that God’s will can be known and done, in
this study we will consider how we are enabled to know and do
God’s will and why we pray that it be done on earth.
Jesus’
teaching and example
“Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” is
the third of the six petitions of the Lord’s Prayer. Like
the first two, “hallowed be thy name” and “thy
kingdom come,” this one again orients us toward God. In
giving us this pattern for prayer Jesus shows that once we
have addressed God as Father and considered God’s
holiness, kingdom and will, we are properly positioned to pray
for our own food, forgiveness and deliverance.
In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus put his own teaching into
practice. There, knowing that only hours remained until his
crucifixion, Jesus “began to be deeply distressed and
troubled. ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the
point of death,’” he told his disciples. Then “he
fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might
pass from him. ‘Abba, Father,’ he said, ‘everything
is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I
will, but what you will’” (Mark 14:33-36).
At the most trying moment of his life, Jesus poured out his
feelings to his Father in heaven. He did not try to disguise
or deny his distress. But neither did he let intense emotions
override his mind or his will. Instead, in the midst of his
distress he turned his mind toward God and recommitted himself
to following God’s will, even death on a cross.
That Jesus, who taught his followers to pray “Thy will
be done,” himself prayed that prayer in a time of great
distress, assures us that these words are not vain repetitions
or a magic formula. Rather, they are the cry of the heart,
mind and will to the God who created, redeems and sustains us.
Tones of voice
Of course, as William Barclay notes, “Thy will be done
on earth” can be prayed with at least three different
tones of voice: resentment, resignation or trust.
First, Barclay observes, “It can be the statement of one
who knows that there is no escape and that there is no other
way … There are many people who know quite well that they
must accept the will of God, but who spend their life in
bitter resentment that it should be so.”
A bitter and resentful Christian ought to be a
contradiction in terms, but experience shows that is not so.
There are Christians who go through life praying the Lord’s
Prayer every Sunday, all the while bitterly resenting the fact
that God’s will did not align with their will in one or
more particulars. The death of a spouse or child, the collapse
of a business, an unfulfilled vision, all these and more can
allow a seed of resentment to take root in one’s soul.
Nurtured and nourished for a lifetime, that seed will grow
until bitterness overflows even into the prayer “thy will
be done.” Second, this prayer may be prayed without overt
resentment but with wearied resignation. “This is indeed
acceptance of the will of God,” Barclay writes, “but
it is completely joyless; it is tired and weary and defeated
and resigned, not content, still less glad … There are
many who live in a grey acceptance that things are as they
are.”
“The Lord is my light and my salvation” proclaims
David in Psalm 27:1. And at the end of Revelation, John’s
vision of the heavenly city reveals that “the city does
not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of
God gives it light” (Rev. 21:23). Jesus declared “I
am the light of the world” (John 8:12) And yet, despite
the inseparable Biblical connection of God and light, far too
many Christians live lives aptly characterized as “grey
acceptance” instead of enjoying the illumination of a
life lived in gratitude for God’s willing our salvation
and provision.
Finally, Barclay writes, this prayer “can be spoken in a
tone of serene and trustful love and joy and peace. It can be
spoken in the tone of one who is quite sure that ‘a
father’s hand will never cause his child a needless tear.’
… Here is neither resentment, nor defeatedness, nor even
acceptance; here there is the determination never to doubt the
will of God.”
Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane was spoken in the tone of
trustful love. His sorrow and distress was real. So was his
confidence in his Father’s care and his desire to fulfill
his Father’s will.
Transformation
Is it possible for us to pray “Thy will be done on earth”
with such an attitude of trust and confidence? Yes, but
reaching such a state will require nothing less on our part
than obeying Paul’s command, “Do not conform any
longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and
approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and
perfect will” (Rom. 12:2).
To the extent that we allow ourselves to continue to be
conformed to the society around us, we will have difficulty
knowing, let alone doing, the will of God. But as we resist
the world’s pressures, as we cooperate with God’s
Holy Spirit working within us to renew our minds, God’s
will becomes increasingly clear. We find ourselves able to
break with the world’s schemes in order to follow Jesus’
teachings.
We find ourselves able to pray in a tone of serene joy and
peace “Thy will be done on earth.”
Thy will be done
on earth
As intended by Jesus, “Thy will be done on earth”
expresses neither resentment nor resignation, but confidence
and trust in God’s will for all the circumstances of our
lives, even situations and events that may not result in the
levels of physical and emotional comfort we may desire.
A “Covenant Prayer” of John Wesley, cited by Brian
Dodd, provides a concrete example of what it means to pray
this prayer in this way:
“Lord God, Holy Father … I am no longer my own, but
yours. Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will;
put me to doing, put me to suffering; let me be employed for
you or laid aside for you, exalted for you or brought low for
you; let me be full, let me be empty, let me have all these
things, let me have nothing; I freely and wholeheartedly yield
all things to your pleasure and disposal. And now, glorious
and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, you are mine
and I am yours. So be it. And the covenant now made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.”
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Additional Resources
William Barclay, The Lord’s Prayer
(Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1998 [orig.
1964]); Brian J. Dodd, Praying Jesus’ Way (
Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1997).
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