Thy Will Be Done

When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He taught them to ask for God's will in Matthew 6:10, and the New Testament is simply filled with instances and examples of the occasions upon which Christ prayed. More numerous than the miracles are Christ's prayers. And in the Garden, shortly before He was betrayed, He prayed to the Father, "may your will be done." in Matthew 26:39. Even Christ, with His high standing as the only Son of God, did not attempt to superimpose His will over that of the Father, but rather accepted the will of His Father over what He would will. And let us recall Paul's strong teaching to the church at Thessalonica: "Pray continually." in 1 Thessalonians 5:17.

So if the Son of God recognizes the Father's Will as the only right will, who are we to pray or rationalize otherwise? As we attempt to please Father God and follow His will, the devil loves to suggest sneaky little detours, but if we keep our focus upon God and get on our knees and in His Word and seek His will, our prayers will defeat the devil and his minions.

Beloved, prayer is the most powerful thing we can do as Christians and it is simultaneously the easiest and most difficult thing we do. Frankly, there is absolutely no substitute for it. Show me a Christian who doesn't pray, and I'll show you instead a heathen whose initial salvation may well be a sham.

So when we pray, let's seek only His will and pray accordingly. We probably won't be able to pray without ceasing until we are in His presence, but that standard should remain as our standard, just as Jesus' life should remain our standard.