What is the significance of praying ‘GOD’s will be done’?
What is Prayer
I have been asking Yehovah GOD about prayer. And I’ve been praying GOD’s will be done. Less and less I’ve felt churned internally and more and more I’ve simply surrendered to His wisdom and His will.
There are some who say prayer is making declarations; being specific is important. Others say it is making requests and supplications, pleading for the LORD to intervene in our situations. Some others think there is a limit to how much we should ask for; I don’t.
I wonder: Does this question about prayer have an available answer? Or is it a question that is unanswerable on earth?
Before anyone quickly jumps to answer, hold fire and read on…
When my husband was ill, he said the LORD was downloading a lot of information to him about prayer, something Alan (a modest but confident teacher of the word of GOD for several decades) humbly admitted he never “really understood”. Well, before he died, I think Alan learned a lot. Unfortunately, he never had the strength to share more than to say, prayer “isn’t at all what we think it is.”
I thought about what Alan said during his illness and I still think about it. I wonder, “What is it that we are missing, that the LORD revealed to Alan as he lay desperately ill?”
One thing I’ve learned is we cannot put our demands upon the LORD. We can ask, we can intercede; in fact we are called to do so and we must! And yet, that doesn’t mean the LORD will do our bidding.
“Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” I think these are most profound words and yet, they are loaded with far more than we can possibly understand.
What does GOD want?
We know from GOD’s word that He wants none to perish (2 Peter 3:9). We know we are asked to intercede (James 5:16). Jesus in Gethsemane surrendered His will to the Father’s.
There are different occasions for prayer, different types of prayer. Prayer is sharing to the One True GOD our heart and our needs, our fears and our concerns, and for many, it is simply petitioning GOD to hear the prayers and needs of others. Who here has never been part of a prayer chain or prayer group? I think most of us will have been at one time or another. And in fact, there is never more need for prayer than right now, as our society hangs in the balance, sits on the brink of poverty, disease, despair and war… Surely we are in the End Times.
And yet, there isn’t a magic button or a key word to pray that will give us what we ask. No, some receive their requests just as they’re made; others do not. Why is that?
Faith
Some over simplify and insult one another by saying, “You didn’t have enough faith.” That’s just plain ignorant, playing judge and making GOD out to be ungenerous, given that faith comes from GOD — one of his gifts, one of the fruits of the Spirit.
Personal relationship
Of course too, there is the intimate relationship we have the the LORD. He speaks to us and if we will listen, we learn much from Him. In my journey, there have been times when He’s asked me to refrain from certain foods or to wear a prayer shawl. I think this is individual and timely… in other words, I think He may ask certain things of us that He doesn’t expect all of His children to do. And so, I continue to hone my listening skills and to follow. He prefers obedience over sacrifice, remember.
Prayer School
I attended a wonderful prayer school over a period of years. Julie Anderson is a friend, a god parent to my son, and the leader of a prayer school in Central London. She taught me so much about prayer. And yet, still I know so little.
But isn’t that what our journey with Jesus is all about? We start off knowing a little, perhaps little more than simply that He is our wonderful Saviour. We end up learning, discovering, growing, and yet, His will is still what we yield to.
Flesh v Spirit
I have come to the conclusion at this point in my journey, to believe that prayer — for me — is a process of simply sitting with the LORD and waiting, of being still before Him. As I wait, I allow my will to give way to the life within me, the Spirit of GOD. I watch, I wait, I listen, I read the Word of GOD, I pray in tongues, but throughout I am surrendering, asking, seeking: LORD, what do you want to show me? LORD, what do you want me to discover? LORD, what do you want me to pray?
And as I let go of my flesh, as I stop fussing or pushing, fearing or even hoping, as I surrender my will to His, I begin to hear from Him. Sometimes it’s a word. Sometimes it’s a subject, a person, a concern, a situation in the world. But always I receive direction and I pray into it. I have no opinion and I have no personal desire. I just pray.
Then I believe, I am praying His prayer, on earth, as He would pray in heaven. That, I believe, is prayer…. asking for His will to be done on earth, as He would have such matters resolved in heaven.
Final thought for these Last Days
Moses encountered GOD and stood in the gap for the Hebrews, so GOD did not destroy them (Deuteronomy 9). But holding back GOD’s will and His wrath delayed an inevitable consequence: the passing of a generation and the ultimate separation of GOD’s people from their homeland (Deuteronomy 11:26). All this was the result of unrighteousness. Prayer changed GOD’s mind but destruction came inevitably.
If we pray for Righteousness to pour down today, perhaps mankind can change and we can hold back Satan and the Rapture for a time; then more will be saved. But holding back also gives room for more evil, only delaying the inevitable fall of Satan and those he takes with him.
So we pray GOD’s will…. we must! He sees, He knows, Jesus intercedes, and all is right with GOD.
Moses prayed GOD would hold back His wrath. He did, although more evil came. If holding back wrath delays inevitable consequences, and makes room for more evil to come, then how shall we pray?
Can we pray Maranatha: Come Lord Jesus!? Come quickly!
Shall we pray for rescue, heal, defend, protect?
Shall we pray GOD’s will and Maranatha…. and leave the results in GOD’s hands….