Thy Will Be Done

(#1009, Imperial, 1963)

Read Matthew 6:9-13.

We come once again to this prayer Christ taught His disciples. May we remind you that what comes first in prayer should come first in our thoughts and lives, namely, the hallowing of His Name. Requests for ourselves should be subordinate to this.

This prayer is not only prophetic of the future (Thy Kingdom come); it is practical in relation to the child of God today.

ƒ      Our Father in Heaven governs every relationship of our lives.

ƒ      Hallowed by Thy Name weighs every thought, word & deed.

ƒ      Thy Kingdom come sets up in our lives the undisputed sway of the Holy Spirit.

ƒ      Thy will be done brings submission in every detail of our lives to the good and perfect and acceptable will of God.

The tragedy of our day - Rebellion.

"Earth" speaks of that which is outward.  It does not take much discernment to realize that God's will is not being done on earth. Man has chosen his own will; he lives in rebellion.

But this rebellion is the result of our own personal choices.  We are restless, frustrated, unhappy, powerless because we have not submitted to the will of god.  Professing Christian men and women have refused to bend before the Lord.  We may pray "Thy will be done"; yet the big "I" in our hearts has never been broken.

The standard: "as it is in heaven."

If we were to draw back the veil of heaven what would we see? We would see the created universe moving swiftly through space in their place assigned by God.  We would see angels doing God's will.  

Someday God's will will be done on earth.  But what of today?

The cost of doing His Will.

Christ came to do God's will.

My meat is to do the will of Him Who sent me and to finish His work. ... Not my will but Thine be done.

We see Christ, in the form of God, equal with God, taking upon Him the form of a servant, willing to have no rights of His own, no home of His own, no possessions of His own, willing to be reviled of men.  The will of God is not done without this brokenness and yieldedness to the Spirit.

We must be conquered and captured by God!