Thy Will Be Done Series

SERIES: The Greatest Prayer Ever Prayed #5

TITLE: Thy Will Be Done

TEXT: Matthew 6:1-10

INTRO: Once upon a time there was a man who went hunting. He was hunting bears. As he trudged through the forest looking for bears, he came upon a large and steep hill. He climbed the hill and, just as he was pulling himself up over the last outcropping of rocks, a huge bear met him nose to nose.

The bear roared fiercely. The man was so scared that he lost his balance and fell down the hill with the bear not far behind. On the trip down the hill the man lost his gun. When he finally stopped trembling, he found that he had a broken leg. Escape was impossible and so the man, who had never been particularly religious, prayed: “God, if you will make this bear a Christian I will be happy with whatever lot you give me for the rest of my life.”

The bear was no more than three feet away from the man when it stopped dead in its tracks, looked up to the heavens quizzically, and then fell to its knees and prayed in a loud voice: “Lord bless that of which I am about to partake. Amen.”

[Scripture Reading & Prayer: Mat. 6:1-10]

Someone has described The Lord’s Prayer as:

the words of a child to his Father,

a worshipper to his God, a citizen to his King,

a servant to his Master,

a beggar to his Benefactor,

a sinner to his Savior, and

a follower to his Guide.

Do we really want to Know and Do God’s Will?

# "I would like to buy $3.00 worth of God, please. Not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I don't want enough of Him to make me love a black man or pick beets with a migrant. I want ecstasy, not transformation; I want the warmth of the womb, not a new birth. I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack. I would like to buy $3.00 worth of God, please."

I. THE PLAN

God Has a Plan for My Life

1. God’s will encompasses His desires for my life.

2. But I also have a will that encompasses my desires for my life.

3. Those two wills will often (not always) be in conflict.

4. When there is conflict, either God’s will or my will must prevail.

5. When I pray “Your will be done,” I am asking that God’s will prevail over my will.

Notice you are not asking God to change His will or to bless your will, you are asking Him to help you find and do His will in your life.

II. THE PRAYER

A Saint Prays...

Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

"Do you really mean that?"

"Sure, why not?"

"What are you doing about it?"

"Doing? Nothing, I guess! I just think it would be kind of neat if you got control of everything down here like you have up there."

"Have I got control of you?"

"Well ... I go to church."

"That isn't what I asked you. What about your bad temper? You've really got a problem there, you know. And then there's the way you spend your money ... all on yourself. And what about the kind of books you read?"

"Stop picking on me! I'm just as good as some of the rest of those people at the church."

Excuse me. I thought you were praying for my will to be done. If that is to happen, it will have to start with the ones who are praying for it ... like you, for example."

"Oh, all right. I guess I do have some hang-ups. Now that you mention it, I could probably name some others."

"So could I."

"I haven't thought about it very much until now, but I really would like to cut out some of those things. I would like to ... you know ... be really free."

"Good ... now we're getting somewhere! We'll work together, you and I. Some victories can truly be won. I'm proud of you."

A. Praying “Your will be done” Means at Least Four things:

1. Giving up control of your own life.

2. Trusting God to do whatever he thinks is best.

3. Accepting that personal pain and suffering may be part of God’s will.

4. Refusing to accept the status quo.

B. How to Know God's Will

1. Is what I am concerned about in agreement with what is

expressed in His word?

2. Have you faced a similar situation before? If so what did

God reveal to you at that time?