Sunday February 16
“Your Will Be Done on Earth…”
Luke 11:1-4
1 Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples." 2 So He said to them, "When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. 3 Give us day by day our daily bread. 4 And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one."
We are looking at the passage here in Luke 11:1-13 where the Lord is teaching His disciples to pray. They had just heard the Lord praying and they were prompted to ask Him to teach them to pray. I believe one of the places you will be encouraged to pray is in a prayer meeting when you hear someone else really pray. Many people say prayers but ever now and then you get in the presence of someone who prays. Their prayer takes you into the throne room in heaven and you smell the fragrance and sense the presence of the Father. That should be our desire, like the disciples, to pray like that! To pray God’s kingdom and will down from heaven to earth!
The second petition in the prayer concerns just that! “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. From the Scriptures we can believe that God the Father’s will is completely and perfectly fulfilled in heaven. There is no bad in heaven only good. There is no sin in heaven. Every attribute of God, His grace, goodness, mercy, justice, kindness, holiness, righteousness and love is there! Heaven is a perfectly wonderful place!
We have the opportunity to get a taste of that kingdom in heaven here on earth when we are walking in surrender and submission to the will of God. And we have the privilege and responsibility to bring the fulfillment of that kingdom to earth when we pray for God’s will to be done on earth. Just like we pray, “Your kingdom come”, we also pray, “Your will be done”. We desire for God’s will to be fulfilled and complete here on earth just as it is in heaven.
What is the will of God? Now the Scriptures talk much about the will of God. We don’t have to guess and speculate what the will of God is! We know it is God’s will for people to be saved! 1 Timothy 2:3-4 makes this very clear: “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”. Peter also reminds us of this truth about God’s will in 2 Peter 3:9: “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”
You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure this out! God’s will is for you to be saved. God’s will is for your family and friends to be saved. God’s will is for everyone on the earth to hear of His great salvation through His Son Jesus Christ. Psalm 96:2-3: “Sing to the LORD, bless His name; Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples.”
The “will of God” is the mind, heart, desire and passion of God. He has predetermined and planned that His purpose for mankind is for them, by faith experience His great salvation through the redemptive blood and cross of His dear Son. It is God’s will and plan for us to also participate in sharing His glory with everyone. Ephesians 2:8-10 puts this together beautifully! “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
God’s will is, not only that we are saved, but that we, as a beautiful masterpiece of His art, display through “good works” His love, grace, mercy, kindness, joy, peace and holiness to the world around us! We become like the “Good Neighbor” that Jesus talked about in Luke 10. In Ephesians 5:15-20 we read this admonition: “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”.
It is the will of God that we are set apart for His holy purposes (1 Thessalonians 4:3). When this takes place in our heart and lives, you don’t have to figure out the will of God is for your life, “you are the will of God” on earth as if already in heaven!
God bless!
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