Drawing Nigh to God....series

Drawing Nigh to God

 

by

Minnie E. Dauphinee

 

After This Manner Pray... "Thy Will Be Done"

What joy it must bring to our Father to hear us express a heartfelt desire to do His will as perfectly as it is done by the angels in heaven! Surely He delights to answer such a prayer.

 

When Jesus lived on earth He said of Himself, "I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me" (John 5:30). He was so absorbed in doing His Father's will that sometimes He seemed to forget His own physical needs. The day He stopped at Jacob's well to rest, He was hungry and thirsty. The disciples brought Him food, but He was so intent on giving the woman of Samaria the water of life that He did not stop to eat. Later when the disciples reminded Him of His need, He said, "My meat is to do the will of him that sent me."

 

Do we sense fully what is involved when we pray that God's will be done in earth -in us- "as it is in heaven"? It involves the bearing of a cross, for Jesus says, "If any man will come after me, let him...take up his cross daily" (Luke 9:23). What is this cross? A well-known religious writer says: "It is never difficult to do what we love to do, but to take a course directly against our inclinations is lifting a cross." "The path of duty should be followed, not the path of inclination and choice." Our inclinations may often be directly opposed to God's will.

 

Jesus had to deny inclination. He was human. The thought of dying on the cross was disquieting to Him. But when He knew that the cross was His Father's will, in complete submission He prayed, "Not as I will, but as thou wilt." He was determined to do God's will at any cost to Himself.

 

Sometimes our cherished plans must fail before we are willing to do God's will. Difficulties, disappointments, sorrows, temptations_ these are included in the will of an all-wise, all-loving heavenly Father to prepare us for His kingdom. (pg. 80-81)