October 21 I Wednesday

Isaiah 62-64

1 Timothy 1

“Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

—Matthew 6:10

Suppose God was to never answer our prayers—should we still pray to Him? We should pray simply because the Christian life is a relationship and prayer is the speaking part of the relationship. Relationships grow, thrive and deepen in relation to the communication that exists within the relationship. One aspect of prayer is bringing God into circumstances and situations, enabling Him to work in these situations. This does not mean, of course, that God is subject to us in any sense at all. God is sovereign.

One time, I went with some friends to visit a lady that I knew in the hospital. We stood around her bed and prayed for her illness. On our way out of the hospital, a person from the group said to me, “Your prayer today was not a prayer of faith.” And I responded, “What do you mean?” The person answered, “You prayed that God would heal Diana if it is His will.” I confirmed, “Yes, that is what I prayed.” Then the person retorted, “That is not a prayer of faith!” I inquired, “What do you mean?” The person asserted, “Because if she is not healed, you will simply say, ‘Well, it was not the will of God.’” And I replied, “That is exactly what I would say.” But the person contended, “But it could also be because you do not have the faith to believe that God is going to heal her.” I simply said, “Well, I do not know if God is going to heal her.” The person maintained, “No, you should believe that God is, so instead of saying, ‘If it is Your will,’ which is a cop out and a lack of faith, you should say, ‘God, heal her!’”

While I appreciated the person’s concern for our dear friend, I reject that understanding of prayer completely. Because praying, “Your will be done,” is praying in faith. It is praying with the recognition that there are things about this situation only God knows. There are things God is going to accomplish in this situation, that I know nothing about, which is why I pray, “Lord, in this situation, what seems to me to be the best thing to do, I subject it all into Your hands and ask for Your will be done.”

The Lord’s Prayer is concerned with the worship, the work and the will of God. The logic follows, if we are praying for the kingdom of God and our worship of God is one that involves surrendering everything to Him, then inevitably, our prayer is going to include the will of God being implemented, however different that may be from our own will.

Prayer: Dear God, in whatever situation I may be facing right now, I ask for Your will to be done as You see best fit. Thank You, God.