Third Petition
What does this mean? The good and gracious will of God is done even without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may be done among us also.
How is God’s will done? God’s will is done when He breaks and hinders every evil plan and purpose of the devil, the world, and our sinful nature, which do not want us to hallow God’s name or let His kingdom come; and when He strengthens and keeps us firm in His Word and faith until we die.
This is His good and gracious will.
We all want to know what God’s will is. People pray to know God’s will when they face major life decisions like getting married, accepting a new job, or starting a family. Yet, perhaps we are overly mysticizing what might just be much more simple than we expect.
In the Gospel of John, the evangelist records these words of Jesus “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” Jesus had just been explaining how He was the bread of life and how those who feed on Him, feed on the Word of God, would never hunger. This is foundational teaching. Jesus is promising that in Him we will be sustained just like bread sustains our energy in our daily life.
Rather than looking for God’s will in the decisions that we make, perhaps it would do us better to look for God’s will at the much more foundational level of His desire for our salvation and sustenance in the faith. This is the element of God’s will that our attention should most be turned to. It is not that God does not care about what kind of job we have or who we marry, but rather that all things related to His will begin with His desire for us to be in relationship with Him. That is to be restored from the brokenness of sin so that we may once again walk with Him as God once did in the garden with Adam and Eve. All of the rest of God’s will for us flows from this reality.
Thoughts for Reflection
How can centering our understanding of God’s will on His desire for our salvation impact how we live out our daily lives?