“Your Will Be Done” Matthew 6:10b July 25, 2010

INTRO: You know new mothers, first-time mothers, can be a little tightly-wound.

When our first child was born, Allison was particularly concerned about

baby nap time, she didn’t want anything to wake up the baby.

We were living in an apartment then, and often during nap time

the yard service crew would show up and start mowing and trimming.

And then, when they were finished, they would crank up the gas-powered blowers,

and go roaring up and down the sidewalk right in front of the apartment,

blowing off leaves and grass.

I was home for lunch once when they were doing this and I noticed

Allison was standing at the window glaring at them.

Then she turned to me and said: If I were queen, those guys would be dead.

I said: But your majesty, they’re just doing their job.

They have babies of their own they’re trying to feed.

And she just said: They’d be dead.

I said: Wouldn’t you give them a warning?

She said: They should know better.

So that became one of our sayings: If I were queen . . .

If we’re in a parking lot and see an empty space and circle around to get it,

and just before we get there, someone pulls in, we say, If I were queen . . .

If we’re walking around the neighborhood and someone with a dog on a leash

lets it come up and put its nose on us, we say, under our breath, If I were queen. . .

If anyone messes up our plans or makes us have to wait or be uncomfortable,

if they cross our will then we say, If I were queen . . .

It’s a joke. Sort of.

Deep down we do want our will to be done in all things—

and we’re bothered when it’s not.

And if we dug deep enough into all of our negative emotions—

whether rage or disappointment or worry or discontent—

we would find that our wills have been crossed, our plans for our lives

or for the moment have been crossed, and we’re not happy about it.

This petition of the Lord’s Prayer is radical prayer.

Jesus gets down to the roots of our souls and teaches us to pray

for something that truly goes against the grain—that God’s will be done.

So the purpose of this prayer is not that we bend God’s will to ours,

but that we soften our will and bend it to his.

A piece of metal has to be heated in the furnace before it can be bent—

if it’s not warmed and softened, then it’s likely to break,

but in the heat it can be softened and shaped.

That’s what Christ wants for us, for our hearts and wills, to be warmed

and softened and shaped to the will of our Father in heaven.

Thomas Watson, an English Puritan, said this petition is a request for two things:

That we will be able to do diligently all that God commands, and

That we will be able to submit patiently to all he inflicts.

That’s putting it bluntly, isn’t it?!

To do diligently all he commands and submit patiently to all he inflicts.

John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist church, put it more poetically:

I am no longer my own, but Thine. Put me to what Thou wilt, rank me with whom Thou wilt;

put me to doing, put me to suffering; let me be employed for Thee or laid aside for Thee; let

me be full, let me be empty; let me have all things, let me have nothing; I freely and heartily

yield all things to Thy pleasure and disposal.

That’s much more beautifully stated, but it’s still radical, isn’t it?

Rank me with whom Thou wilt. Put me to suffering.

Let me be full, let me be empty; let me have all things, let me have nothing.

Can you pray that?

And add—I freely and heartily yield all things to Thy pleasure and disposal?

That sounds like a nightmare prayer for most people. Because the natural impulse

of the human heart is that the good life is the life I control and plan.

It’s working things out according to my pleasure and my will.

It’s setting my sights on what I think will make me happy, and going for it.

It’s me being queen or king, captain of my destiny.

Jesus Christ says, No. If you ever want to be able to pray and get anywhere

spiritually, and have a hope of really knowing God, must learn to pray this way.

So let’s look at this under three points:

When to pray this way. Why to pray this way. How to pray this way.

MP#1 When to pray this way

Let’s consider first, when to pray this way, when to pray—Your will be done.

When you pray the Lord’s Prayer, you say, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in

heaven.” Then you take a breath and say: “Give us this day our daily bread.”

And it seems like two different ideas.

But they are really linked. They stand and fall together.

What’s daily bread? It’s the things you really need.

Daily bread is not the trivial things, not the optional things, things that would be

nice to have. It’s the things you feel you must have to go on.

Things on which your life and wellbeing depend.

Things that are physically, emotionally, relationally, and spiritually essential.

So it’s when you’re hurting for those things, that you must pray, your will be done.

It’s when the daily bread is not coming through, when things are not going right,

that you must pray for God’s will to be done in your life.

Thomas Watson said (remember) this petition is a prayer

that we will be able to do diligently all that God commands,

and submit patiently to all he inflicts.

There are those times when God seems to be inflicting things on you.

The circumstances in your life are beating you down,

they are hemming you in, taking you places you don’t want to go,

threatening your daily bread.

You might be able to identify many different causes,

but you know that this is ultimately the Lord’s doing.

And there are those times when the Lord commands you to do something

that feels the same way.

You know from the Bible and from your conscience that this is God’s command.

And if circumstances in your life were different, it would be very easy to keep.

You would say, Yes, it’s easy for me to do God’s will in this matter.

But when it seems that your obedience to God’s command will threaten your daily

bread, or go against the plans you’ve laid to get your daily bread, then it’s hard.

That’s when you must especially pray—Your will be done.

When God’s providence and God’s commands seem to be the very things

that are threatening your happiness and well-being.

The main character in Alan Paton’s novel Cry, The Beloved Country is a black,

South African pastor named Stephen Kumalo. There was a movie made a few

years ago and James Earl Jones played Stephen Kumalo.

So you can imagine a man with his voice and dignity.

The story is set in South Africa before the end of apartheid.

Stephen Kumalo’s son Absalom leaves the village where his father’s church is

located, and moves to Johannesburg. While he is there he forgets his Christian

upbringing, and gets involved with a bad crowd.

During a burglary, he is surprised by the home-owner and kills him.

The home-owner Absalom kills is a white man, a white South African,

who happens to be well-known for his work to overcome racial injustice.

He is someone Stephen Kumalo knew of and admired greatly.

Absalom is caught, tried, and sentenced to be hanged.

So there are all of these griefs for Rev. Kumalo—this terrible thing his son had

done, his own questions about how he had failed as a father and a minister,

and the date of his son’s execution.

I’m not doing the book justice—it’s very moving. But I tell you that to set up

one of the last scenes. Absalom is to be executed at sunrise. The day before

Rev. Kumalo says to his wife . . .

“I am going up into the mountain.” And she said, “I understand you.” For twice before he had done it, once when the small boy Absalom was sick unto death, and once when he had thought of giving up the ministry to run a store for a white man named Baxter, for more money than the church could ever pay. And there was a third time, but without her knowledge, for she was away, and he had been sorely tempted to commit adultery with one of the teachers in the village who was weak and lonely. “Would you come with me,” he said, “for I do not like to leave you alone.” She was touched and she said, “I cannot come, but you must certainly go.” She made him a bottle of tea and she wrapped up a few heavy cakes of maize. He took his coat and his stick and walked up the path.

Four times in his life when he really needed to pray: Your will be done.

Times when particular commands of God were in conflict with what his emotions

and desires where crying out for him to do. So he had to go up into the mountain,

be alone with God and pray: Your will be done.

Lord, your will is right. Give me strength and diligence.

And times when the hard providence of God was inflicting him and he had to pray:

Your will be done. You do all things well. Give grace to submit to your hand.

I’m not saying that you will only pray, Your will be done, three or four times

in your life, at the crisis points.

What I’m saying is that most of the time God’s will and your will coincide,

and when it will be very easy to pray this prayer.

But then there are going to be those times when God’s will crosses yours.

It might be over things you know are wrong but you still want very much.

It might even be over things that are perfectly good that don’t come through

for you because God says, No. I’m not going to give you that.

It’s in those times especially, when you must pray as Jesus taught his disciples.

This comes into sharper focus when we ask the question why.

That’s the next point. Why does Christ want us to pray this way?

MP#2 Why to pray this way

Here’s the reason:

Because the Lord Jesus wants us to understand and experience our sonship.

Obedience to the will of God is a pathway to knowing him as your Father.

The Lord’s Prayer is a whole. We can break up each part for study,

but you can’t forget how every part relates to the whole.

And how does Jesus introduce this prayer? How does he tell us to address God?

“Our Father in heaven.”

And even before he teaches us that, he prepares the ground with two negative

lessons—don’t pray like the hypocrites—don’t pray for other people to see you.

What a waste that is. You have a Father in heaven.

Go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father.

And don’t pray like the pagans—don’t think God is like a computer program—

you do or say the right things, you punch in the right program, and out come

the goodies. How shallow and impersonal is that!

You have a Father. He knows exactly what you need before you ask him.

Talk to your Father. You are his beloved son or daughter.

So Jesus is teaching us to pray, Father, your will be done on earth as in heaven.

You aren’t praying to a distant God—you’re talking to your Father.

And as your Father, his job is to impose his will on yours, and sometimes you

understand why he’s doing it, but sometimes it doesn’t make sense.

Those of you who are dads, isn’t that true of your own experience?

I can think of many times when I imposed my will on my own children

and I’m sure that their childlike minds did not know why I was doing

what I was doing—and to them it seemed unnecessary and cruel.

I remember once holding down one of our children so a nurse could give her a shot.

It was like holding an eel. She was drenched with sweat, thrashing her legs,

and screaming—No, daddy, No!

No amount of explaining on my part could have gotten her to calm down

and say, Oh, I understand this is for my good.

It was my will against hers because I love her.

I remember another time taking one of the children to a store to return a toy

they had stolen. And this child was old enough to understand the humiliation

of saying to a strange grown-up, “I’m sorry I stole this from your store.”

And they begged and pleaded, Just spank me. Just spank me!

They could not understand what I was trying to accomplish in their little heart—

and to them it seemed to be unnecessary.

When you are a child, if everything your father did to you made sense to you,

that wouldn’t make sense. He wouldn’t be doing what a father does.

He wouldn’t have your best interests in mind.

He wouldn’t be pushing you beyond yourself.

He wouldn’t be loving you.

And it’s the same way with your heavenly Father.

Jesus wants you to pray this way, because he wants you to learn and to experience

your sonship. The commands of God and the providence of God are not the will

of a distant, impersonal being, who doesn’t care about your happiness

—it’s the will of your Father.

And as you pray this way, and acknowledge God’s will, you know you are a son.

Lord, I don’t understand why you are doing this.

It hurts me. It confuses me. But you’re my Father.

Lord, I know you’ve made it very clear in your Word what you want me to do,

but there is such a struggle in my emotions. But you’re my Father.

This is not shrugging your shoulders and saying—that’s life.

This is not doing the right thing just because.

This is when your heart is warmed by the love of God so that your will

is bent and shaped to God’s will. So that you say: What you have done is best.

I love to say yes to my children. I love it when they ask me for something they

really want and I can say yes. I love the pleasure it gives them and love hearing

them say, Thank you, dad.

But you know what I love even more? It’s when I have to say no to my children

about something they really want. And they are disappointed.

And maybe there are even some tears and some initial frustration.

But later they hug me and say, That’s ok, dad, I understand.

Because that speaks volumes about their love and respect for me,

and about the impression my fatherly love has made on their hearts.

Jesus Christ wants you to know your heavenly Father’s perfect love.

One of the big ways you learn it is by praying: Father, you know what I want,

but help me to submit and obey what you want.

That brings us to the third point.

MP#3 How to pray this way

How do you pray this way? How do you pray it, mean it, act on it when some of

the strongest voices in you rise up and say: But I don’t want what God wants!?

Only through Jesus Christ.

The Lord not only teaches us to pray this way, he practiced what he preached.

Do you remember when he prayed this way? In the Garden of Gethsemane.

It was night, he was in great distress, and he prayed:

“Father, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me.”

Martin Luther called this the most astonishing words in the Bible.

Why? Because they seem so out of character for Christ.

For three years he had made clear that the Son of Man came not to be served but

to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. And especially through the last

year of his ministry, this purpose had been the chief point of conversations with

his disciples. And he had purposely gone to Jerusalem to die.

And that very night, as he celebrated the Passover with his disciples, just across

the valley from Gethsemane, he had told his disciples again what would happen—

his betrayal and execution and resurrection.

And so for him to ask out of his calling, to request to be released from the very

purpose for which he had come seems very strange. Why was he afraid of death?

There have been many people in history who have faced horrible deaths bravely.

Like Anne Askew, a young woman in her 20s, who was arrested in England in 1546

for holding Bible studies and prayer meetings in her home. She was tortured so

badly that she couldn’t stand and had to be tied to the stake. Just before the fire

was lit she was offered the king’s pardon if she would recant and deny her faith.

She said: “I have not come this far to deny my Lord and Master.”

Yet here we have Jesus Christ himself saying: “Let this cup pass from me.”

Why was he so afraid to die? You know the answer.

It wasn’t the physical pain of the cross that Jesus feared.

It wasn’t the nails and the thirst.

It was the wrath of God. He knew that on the cross, in the darkness, the wrath

of God for the sins of the world would be poured into his soul.

We have no idea what that meant for him as the perfect, sinless man to die

for us—the absolute horror and pain of it. So terrible that he wanted out.

We could just close here and go right to the Table—but our interest is in the next

sentence of Jesus’ prayer. “Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

Here is Jesus Christ asking for one thing—asking to be spared the painful and

shameful death of the cross, and then subjecting that request to the will of God.

What is most striking is that this is something so very important—

it’s a matter of personal desperation.

It’s one thing to pray Your will be done if it’s not something you’re personally

wrapped up with. “Lord, please help missionary so and so get the financial

support he needs to go to Timbuktu, if it be your will.” That’s easy.

But it is another thing completely to subject your will to God concerning

something you are desperate for him to give you. That is exactly what Christ did. There never was a more desperate prayer prayed from a more pure heart.

And yet even Jesus prayed: Your will be done. He’s your great example.

Now, let me ask you a personal question:

Where are you struggling with the will of God?

Maybe in your relationships. That’s one of the most difficult.

Wives, you know God’s will is that you honor and respect your husbands as unto

the Lord. And yet you can think of a dozen reasons why you don’t respect him,

and he doesn’t deserve your respect—but that’s not what the Lord says.

He doesn’t say—When it seems right to you.

You need to look at Christ in the Garden, pray that you would do God’s will.

Husbands, you know God’s will is that you love your wife as Christ loves church.

And yet you don’t find her lovely, and you don’t want to love her.

You need to look at Christ sweating blood in the Garden,

submitting to the will of his Father, not only because he loved his Father.

But also because he loved his church. He loved you. Wanted you to have heaven

and not hell. Let that soften you and pray that you will follow him.

Children, young people, you know God’s will is for you to honor and obey parents

in the Lord for this is right. How many times this week did you challenge them?

How many times did you think their parenting unreasonable.

You need to pray: Lord, I want to do your will.

Think about how Jesus did what his Father wanted him to do,

even though it was the last thing in the world he wanted to do.

Are you struggling to pray for God’s will and the strength to do it?

Maybe it’s in the area of your money, or your plans, or some temptation.

Look at Jesus Christ in the Gethsemane. Aren’t you glad he prayed that way?

If he hadn’t you would be suffering that death and going to hell.

Not saying there won’t be conflicting feelings. There will be.

And unlike Jesus, our conflicting feelings aren’t always pure.

There is almost always the intrusion of sinful responses as well—

stubbornness, distrust, anger and resentment—which makes things harder.

There will be a sense in which you don’t want God’s will, a part of you will resist.

But a deeper part, the true part, the Spirit of your sonship, will cry to your Father.

And you will know, and deep down that you must submit to his will.

There’s one thing a true Christian can’t do, and that’s go against the will

of his heavenly Father. You might for a time, but you won’t be able to bear it.

Sooner or later will have to say: Father, I’ve got to give this to you.

Help me to do diligently all that you command,

and submit patiently to all that you inflict.

Is this hard? Yes, it is. But it’s not harder than fighting against your Father.

And it won’t be forever. Because there is heaven.

On earth as it is in heaven. There will be a day when you wake up,

and your mind and desires will be completely purified.

You will see things clearly for the first time.

Because your will and God’s will be one.

That’s heaven. That’s where the souls of the righteous even now are at peace.

And that’s the great resurrection world Christ is preparing even now.

While still here, this very brief life. Let’s get ready for that eternal life.

Bend our wills to our Father who loves us

by following his Son who taught us and showed us how to pray—

Thy will be done.