December
16
Praying
God’s Will to be Done on Earth
After this manner therefore
pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom
come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:9, 10; see also Luke 11:2)
There are a number of views
concerning this passage. One view teaches that whatever happens on earth is
God’s sovereign will (be it sickness, tragedy, etc.). Those who advocate this
view tell us that Jesus was teaching us to pray in submission to His will.
Another view is the eschatological
view in which we are to praying for the millennial reign of Christ to come on
the earth. I believe that both views are a distorted understanding of the
Lord’s teaching here.
While we long for Christ’s
millennial reign, this could not be the primary purpose of this prayer. Nor
could Jesus have been teaching the “whatever will be
will be” attitude when He taught us to pray “thy will be done” because such
resignation actually defeats the purpose of prayer. The purpose of prayer is to
request God's aid and intervention in bringing a change to negative
circumstances. Prayer is inviting God to do that which He otherwise
would not have done had we not prayed. In a sermon titled, “A Plain Account of
Christian Perfection,” Wesley said:
God does nothing but in answer to prayer; and
even they who have been converted to God without praying for it themselves,
(which is exceeding rare,) were not without the prayers of others. Every new
victory which a soul gains is the effect of a new prayer. (emphasis are mine)[1]
Therefore
the “passive submission” view promotes doubt and confusion concerning God's
will. Quite often it is the foundation for many putting a doubtful “if” in
their prayers and praying with a lack of assurance. There is no indication that Jesus was teaching a lack
of assurance concerning the will of God when he taught us this manner of
praying. On the contrary, this statement is a statement of faith.
Negative
circumstances are usually not the will of
God for the obedient child of God. Therefore we pray in order to invite God to
prevail upon the situation and cause it to line up with His perfect will as
revealed in His Word and by His Spirit.
[1]
Wesley, John A Plain Account of Christian Perfection, from The Works
of the Rev. John Wesley Vol. XI (London: Thomas Cordeux, 1812), p. 241
http://www.vindicatinggod.org
No comments:
Post a Comment