Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Thy will be done... or not

"If it be thy will." Most people use that phrase as a disclaimer at the end of a tentative prayer.

Jesus didn't use it that way, and he didn't use it often; just the one time, if I remember correctly. He normally anchored his prayers in the solid geology of his Father's will before he ever prayed them.

He even prayed at Lazarus' coming-out party, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me..."


Then his prayer morphed into a command - "Lazarus, come out!" (John 11:41-43 NIV.) Talk about bold praying...

And what about Moses? He prayed for fallen Israel to be spared, even after Jehovah had said his will was to destroy them!

Moses said, "O, LORD, why should your anger burn against your people... Why should the Egyptians say, 'It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains...'? Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self..." (Exodus 32:11-14 NIV.)

What bold praying! And it's amazing how many of those bold prayers you find in Scripture. So why do we hear so many tentative, timid prayers that use Jesus' courageous "Thy will be done" as a disclaimer?

Because we were taught to do so. And because we don't understand the difference between a prayer of consecration to God's purposes ("Thy will be done") and a bold prayer of faith ("whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have already received it") as found in Mark 11:24.

You don't use a knife to drive a nail, nor a hammer to cut meat. So, you don't use one prayer tool to get results in an area it wasn't designed for.

But, you might ask, "Then how do I know God's will before I ask?"

Search it out. He wrote it all down for you.

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