Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Have you ever been afraid to pray that God’s will would be done in a situation? I know I have. There have been times that I so desperately wanted an outcome that I was afraid that God’s will might not align to my own. I was afraid that if I prayed for His will to be done, then the outcome would taste like the bitter flavor of disappointment.
I’ve prayed for loved ones who have died to live, and they didn’t. I have prayed for the dead to raise, and they haven’t. I have prayed for rain to stop, and it came anyway. I prayed for doors to open, and they slammed shut.
I cannot always understand or explain God’s will to the extent of why He does what He does, or why He doesn’t. This I know: despite my lack of perspective, He is good.
Sometimes praying that God’s will would be done feels risky. It requires that we lay down our will in the process. It requires that we lay down what we think would be best. It requires that we trust Him. It requires that we allow His Kingdom to come.
The idea of God’s Kingdom coming involves God moving to bring His Kingdom to fruition for us. This opposes the idea of us working to bring the Kingdom about for Him.* Too often ministries are built and careers are formed around a kingdom of our own that we label His. For His Kingdom to come, He has to move, and we must move with Him.
Today, take a step.
Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to surrender your will to His. Perhaps today God is asking you to risk trusting Him even if you don’t understand. Maybe God wants you to stop attempting to build His Kingdom with your own efforts. Perhaps He wants you to ask Him what He is doing to build His Kingdom and ask Him how you can be a part.
Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.
Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a step today… just one is fine.
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*Leon, Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew. Pillar New Testament Commentary (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1992), 145-146, and Keener, C. S., Matthew (Vol. 1, Mt 6:9-13) (InterVarsity Press, 1997).