PRAYER AND THE WILL OF GOD (5 OF 10)
by Roger Thomas
Scripture: MATTHEW 6:10
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Prayer and the Will of God (5 of 10)
The Lord's Prayer
Roger Thomas
Matthew 6:10; Romans 12:1-2; 1 John 5:14-15
September 2, 2001
The second petition of the Lord's Prayer (Thy Kingdom, Thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven) solves three big problems that many of us face in prayer. First, many folk are afraid to pray. "What if I ask for the wrong thing? What if I do something stupid like in the legend of King Midas who asked that everything he touched turn to gold. Then he hugged his child and regretted his request." Haven't you heard someone say, "Be careful what you pray for; you might get it?" Many approach prayer as Aladdin's lamp and the genie in the bottle. We get three wishes and three wishes only so we must save up our praying privilege until we really need it.
While some fear praying, others grow frustrated. We have been taught to believe in prayer. We have always been told that God answers our prayers. So we pray and when nothing happens immediately we are quick to conclude that somebody over promised us. Frustration sets in despite the fact that Jesus taught his disciples to "pray and not give up." I personally believe that is the intent of the phrase from Paul about "pray without ceasing." "Pray without ceasing" has less to do with praying all of the time than with never giving up on prayer.
The biggest problem with most people when it comes to prayer is neither fear nor frustration, but the simple failure to pray. We don't pray because we don't get it! It has not sunk into our thick skulls that God has actually made much of what he intends to do in this world dependent on our praying. He didn't have to. He could have organized this universe in any way he saw fit, but He chose to order it around prayer—our seeking him and asking him to act. He has made prayer one of the great weapons in the arsenal of spiritual warfare. Consequently, the Enemy will work harder to keep us from praying than he will on any othe ...
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