13. Promoted to Praying in God’s Will
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Promoted to Praying in God’s Will
High School Level: “We Must Pray in God’s Will” (Luke 11:2–4) “When you pray” (Luke 11:2) implies that Jesus expected His disciples to pray; otherwise, He would have said, “If you pray.” We may use His sample prayer, commonly called the Lord’s Prayer, as a part of our personal or corporate worship—the early church used it in their regular services, and we can also use it as a model for our own prayers, which will help us to pray in God’s will.
Most of us are probably more familiar with the version of Jesus’s prayer that is given in Matthew 6:9–13: Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
Relationships
Jesus’s prayer opens with relationships—“Our Father” (6:9). The word our refers to all the people of God, because this is a family prayer for all of God’s children to use. You will note that the personal pronouns referring to those praying are all plural: “Our Father,” “Give us,” “Forgive us,” “We have forgiven,” “Lead us,” and “Deliver us.” This fact carries with it some important implications.
The first implication is to remember that whenever we pray, even in solitude, we are part of a worldwide family that is praying to the Father with us. The focus of our prayers must be global, much wider than ourselves, our needs, and our circle of friends and relatives. The apostle John saw the elders with “the prayers of God's people,” not the prayers of one saint (Rev. 5:8). We have every right to pray for our needs and the needs of those we love, but our prayers must not stop there.
Furthermore, these plural pronouns remind us that we must not ask the Lord to do anything for us that would hurt or exclude others. I once asked a pastor if he ever prayed publicly for any other church in his city. “No,” he replied, and then he added with a smile, “My people think ours is the only church in the city.” But then he began to pray systematically in the Sunday services for other pastors and churches in the city, as well as for ministries in other countries, and the prayer vision of the church expanded. By including these other ministries in his prayers, his church actually benefited by seeing its members develop an open spirit.
Finally, these plural pronouns remind us that we can’t be out of fellowship with our brothers and sisters and expect God to hear and answer our prayers. Jesus made it clear that reconciliation with an offended brother or sister is more important than bringing our offerings to the Lord (Matt. 5:21–26) and that we can’t receive God’s forgiveness until we forgive others (6:14–15).
The word Father, of course, reminds us of the other part of the relationship equation—our relationship to our heavenly Father, who delights in answering our prayers to the glory of His Son. Unless I have put my faith in Jesus Christ and been born into His family, I have no right to call God “Father” and bring my petitions to Him. Effective prayer demands a right relationship with God and a right relationship with others. “If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened” (Ps. 66:18 NLT).
Responsibilities
From relationships, our model moves into responsibilities (Matt. 6:9–10): honoring God’s name, promoting God’s kingdom, obeying God’s will.
Too many of us pray like the Prodigal Son, “Father, give me!” A. W. Tozer wrote, “Prayer among evangelical Christians is always in danger of degenerating into a glorified gold rush.” 1 God answers prayer so that His name might be glorified, which means that His reputation “looks good” in a world that pays little attention to Him. Before we bring our requests to the Father, we must examine them in the light of our responsibilities to the Father and ask, “If God granted me these requests, would the answers glorify His name, extend His kingdom, and accomplish His will on earth? Or am I just asking selfishly?”
People who live by faith and depend on prayer become a mystery to the unsaved. A few answers to prayer might be called coincidences, but when there is one answer after another, people have to take notice. This is how God is glorified.
When we pray that God’s name be glorified, it helps to take the selfishness out of our prayers. When we ask that His kingdom come and His will be done, we become servants ready to do His will and not masters telling the Lord what to do. We’re surrendered to Him, we want His will to be done at any cost, and we’re praying as Jesus prayed, “Yet not as I will, but as you will” (Matt. 26:39). Nothing can shorten a religious “gimme list” like taking these three responsibilities seriously.
Requests
The three requests found in Jesus’s prayer relate to our present needs (Matt. 6:11), our past failures (v. 12), and our future decisions (v. 13). “Daily bread” includes much more than food (although that’s a basic need, to be sure); it covers whatever we need to be able to serve God each day. Someone has said that most people are being crucified between two thieves—the regrets of yesterday and the worries about tomorrow—so they’re unable to enjoy the blessings of today. For His own children, the Lord forgives past sins, provides for present needs (not greeds), and guides us in future decisions and circumstances. So, why worry (Matt. 6:25–34)?