Whose Will?

Whose Will?

Read: Matthew 6:9-13

“This, then, is how you should pray: . . . ‘your will be done.’”

“Ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.”

Matthew 6:9-10

John 15:7

“A man’s heart is right when he wills what God wills.”

—Thomas Aquinas

IN WORD In our prayers, we often feel a tension between two teachings. Jesus tells us to pray for the Father’s will (Matthew 6:10). He also tells us to pray for our will (Mark 11:24; John 14:13; 15:7). Which does He want us to do?

On the side of asking for His will, consider this: If God’s will is perfect; if He loves us even more than we love ourselves; if He knows everything about us and everything about our future; if He crafted us Himself; if He is powerful, able to do beyond what we can even ask or think (Ephesians 3:20); if He desires to bless us with the best (Psalm 84:11; Matthew 7:11); if His desires for us are infinitely better than our requests for ourselves; why—for any reason—would we ever ask anything other than His will?

On the other hand, Jesus is quite specific: If we remain in Him and His words remain in us, we are to ask whatever we will, and it will be given (John 15:7). Why the difference? Why would Jesus tell us to ask what we wish when He knows it will be inferior to what God wishes?

IN DEED When we break down the question this way, we are focusing on the object of our prayer—the answers we expect to receive. But prayer is a relationship. Jesus has more in mind for us than the cause and effect of requesting. He wants to bring us into union with the Father in the arena of our wills. Yes, He wants us to ask for God’s will. He also wants us to ask for our will to be done. He wants those two wills to be one and the same.

Are they? Are we finding that our hearts burn more and more with a passion to see God’s kingdom come, His will to be done? If not, this should be our first request—that God would conform our hearts, drawing us up to the level of His will and His ways.