(This message may be used as an individual sermon or as part of the series.)
Matthew 6:10 – THY WILL BE DONE
#4 of 8 in a series on The Lord’s Prayer
I want to remind you that God has a perfect plan for your life.
I want to remind you that God has a perfect plan for your family and friends.
I want to remind you that God’s will is “good, acceptable and perfect”, according to Romans 12:2.
We return to our study of the model prayer, the Lord’s Prayer. We said that the Lord’s Prayer is a skeleton for prayer, and that we need to put meat on that skeleton by elaborating on these requests as we pray.
Prayer has much to do the will of God.
If we are praying for the glory of God, we will want God’s will to be done.
If we are praying to accomplish God’s purposes, we will want God’s will to be done.
Because all of us are human and tend to be selfish, we have a tendency towards wanting our will to be done instead of God’s.
This little phrase in the Lord’s Prayer is a reminder, that our prayers are to centered around God’s plan and not ours!
This morning we want to consider 3 things about praying thy will be done. The first letter of each word in our outline spells the word, “ask.”
A – ASK ACCORDING TO GOD’S WILL – 1 John 5:14-15
1 John 5:14-15 – “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.”
God wants us to be confident when we pray.
God wants us to expect positive answers when we pray.
God wants us to pray in faith. Mark 11:24
God wants us to be confident when we pray. We are confident that God will answer our prayers when we know that are what we are asking is God’s will. if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
So how do we know that what we are asking for is according to the will of God? We need to know what the will of God is, in order to ask for the right things. And the place we discover the will of God is in the Word of God.
We are such weak, unbelieving prayers, because we are weak, unbelieving, or should I say non-participating readers of God’s Word. You want to know what you can pray, knowing that God will answer? Read the Word of God!
Do you ever pray for the church services here? I got to thinking, as an example of believing prayer, what can we pray for the church services here, knowing that what we pray is the will of God.
- Pray that Christians will come to church. Hebrews 10:25
- Praythatnon-Christians will come and hear the Word of God. 2 Peter 3:9
- Pray that the Pastor will preach the way God wants him to preach. 2 Timothy 4:2
- Pray that the unsaved will trust Christ as Savior. John 3:36
- Pray that the saved will obey the teaching of God’s Word. James 1:22
S – SEEK GOD’S WILL – James 1:5-8
There are times when we do not know how to pray.
We are not sure what to ask for.
Sometimes we have decisions to make, and we don’t know what to do. That’s when we come to God and pray the way James tells us to pray.
Vs. 5 – When we don’t know God’s will, especially during times of trial, we are ask our loving heavenly Father, who gives guidance liberally. And notice when God gives guidance, you don’t get a lecture with it! He doesn’t upbraid or rebuke you.
As you pray, God will give you guidance! He will show you His will.
K – KNEEL IN SUBMISSION TO GOD’S WILL – Luke 22:42
Matthew 6:10 – “Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”
Now when I say we are to kneel in submission to God’s will, I do not necessarily mean literally. In our hearts our ultimate goal should be to ask for, and to do the will of God!
If we are truly sold out to God as Christians, we will only want to ask for things that are truly His will. Therefore we must be willing for God to answer us with the word “no”.
When will God say “no” to your requests?
He will say “no” when you are asking for selfish reasons. James 4:4
God will say “no”, if you asking contrary to His revealed Word. Many a Christian gal has asked for guidance about marrying a non-Christian guy. Every time God is saying no, because that’s what the Bible says, not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers. 2 Corinthians 6:14
God will also say “no” to your requests, when His will is different than yours. You remember hearing of our Lord Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. He knew what misery, humiliation, pain, and suffering lay ahead for Him at the cross. So he prayed.
Luke 22:41-42
Jesus wanted a way out, but realized that there was no other way. He was willing to accept God’s perfect will, which for Him was the cross.
How willing are you to accept God’s will?
We are taught to pray, “Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”
Do you know how God’s will is done in Heaven?
God’s will is done immediately and completely!
As a Christian is that your desire?
The most important thing is that God’s will be done.
Your will be done, Lord, in my church.
Your will be done, Lord, in my family.
Your will be done, Lord, in my country.
Your will be done, Lord, on my job.
Your will be done, Lord, in my life.
Your will be done, Lord, in my personal relationships.
The Apostle Paul was a great man of prayer and a great servant of God, actually had a prayer that received a “no” answer. He wanted relief from a physical problem, and God said, “no”. 2 Corinthians 12:7-9
Many of you are parents.
Have you said “yes” to every request that your children have requested of you? Of course not, because you know what’s best for your children. And what they ask for is not always best.
So it is with our loving Heavenly Father.
He does not always answer yes, because what we are asking for is not best.
My friend, God has given you a great privilege if you are a born again Christian. The privilege is to pray according to the will of God.
A – ASK ACCORDING TO GOD’S WILL
S – SEEK GOD’S WILL
K – KNEEL IN SUBMISSION TO GOD’S WILL