Friday, February 19, 2018

 

Patients don’t visit their doctor to treat their doctor. An entrepreneur doesn’t look for a business consultant to tell them how to run their consulting firm. A man doesn’t go to the barbershop to cut the barber’s hair and a lady doesn’t go to the salon to style the stylist’s hair. Under normal circumstances, children should not have to discipline their parents, the community should not have to police the police, and students should not have to teach their teachers. In each of these cases, we don’t seek to help, lead, or change the other person. Instead, we seek them to help, lead, or change us. Crazy as this may sound however, as believers, when we pray, we are usually trying to help, lead, or change God.

 

Praying for many believers has become the art of trying to change, lead, or help God to understand our point of view so that he will grant us our petitions. The problem with this approach is that it assumes that we know what is best for us. If we trust our doctors then we shouldn’t tell them how to treat our condition and if we trust our advisors then we shouldn’t try and persuade them to give us advice we want to hear but rather advice we need to hear. Therefore, if we trust our Heavenly Father, instead of attempting to persuade him we should allow him to change us. More than likely, if you were to carefully listen to your prayers, you will discover that you are trying to convince God to do what you want instead of allowing God to influence you to do what he wants.

 

“This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. – Matthew 6:9-10 NIV

 

It is truly amazing that God, the creator of heaven and of earth would allow us free and unlimited access into his presence. It is amazing that the all-powerful and the all-knowing God invites us to come before him just as we are and also allows us to bring our petitions before him. When exiting his presence however, the end result should not be that you were able to persuade God or change him. Instead it should be that God was able to persuade and change you. The end result should not be that you imposed your will upon him but that you willingly surrendered to his perfect will. The end result should be that you exited his presence a changed person saying, thy will be done.

 

Questions:

 

• In Jesus’ teaching on prayer, what do you think he meant when he said, “your kingdom come, your will be done”?
• How should the phrase, “your kingdom come, your will be done”, change the way you pray?
• What should your goal be when you pray?
• When you pray, should the goal be your petition or that God would lead and change you?
• Would your prayers look different if all of them were presented to God with the caveat, “your will be done” and how?

 

Prayer

 

Dear God, while I come to you boldly and confidently, you know me better than I know myself. You search the heart and your plans for my life are good and perfect. Therefore, I pray that your will be done and not mine and that your kingdom and Jesus your precious son be glorified in my life. Amen