Couple questions here. Is this scripture saying that God's will be done in us? Does God's will override our will? Or is it saying that, born again Christians desire to obey God because our will is His Will and His Will is our will. Just wondering.
Brother Bill
The context is Jesus teaching His disciples how to pray. So I believe our desire and our approach should be, "Lord, I surrender and submit to You so that Your will be done on me to the same degree that Your will its done in heaven." God desires that we surrender our lives totally to Him. His kingdom is His rulership and authority in our life. So we say, "Lord, establish Your kingdom, and authority on me and have Your way in my life."
As a side note, God will not violate our will where our lives are concerned. He desires that we surrender or will to Him. If we do, blessing follows. If we don't, we suffer the natural repercussions of having things or way and, in conjunction to this, surrendering ourselves to the enemy to steal, kill, and destroy.
twayneb
As a side note, God will not violate our will where our lives are concerned.
I feel a lot of Christians believe this, or have been taught this, but what do these scriptures say to you?
Whatever the Lord pleases, He does, in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps” (Psalm 135:6).
For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, ‘My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure’ ” (Is. 46:9”“10)
All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, but He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth; and no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’ ” (Dan. 4:35).
I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2).
One thing that distinguishes our God from the ones the world makes up for themselves is His trinity. He is a loving God, because He has always been in relationship with His Son, and He cannot do anything that violates the sacred bonds there. He knew what love was before anything was created, and the creation in a myriad of ways declares His character of love.
Likewise, He cannot impose a law on His creatures that He Himself does not honor. There are a lot of things God cannot do, the poetry of the Psalmist is not addressing Theological realities.
For example, He could not save men by a whim in His heart, but needed a legal sacrifice in a fully righteous man's substitutionary death.
But to the point, Jesus is teaching the disciples how to pray, and does so be instructing them in the will of God for the world and the generations of men. He is making a prophetic declaration of what the Father wants and will have, inviting the disciples- and us, to pray it into being.
God's will is not being done in the earth at this time, but He has declared it will, and it will. What an awesome thing to join with Jesus in this prayer for God's eventual glory in the earth!
Bro. Bill.
I think sidewalks point is good concerning the passage from psalms. I think it would be good to study the context of the other passages as well. For example, one of them is the perspective of a pagan king.
I think we are often tempted to try to interpret scripture from the perspective of an a priori commitment to a particular doctrinal position. It is much like looking at the world through colored glasses. everything then appears to be tinted that same color. I noticed by your question in the original post that you seemed to me to be seeing the issue through the belief that God ultimately controls even our own choices. If I saw that incorrectly, please let me know. But those lenses will color that verse in a way that will make it hard to understand.
At the very foundation of this world, God allowed man the ability to choose obedience or disobedience. Adam chose to disobey. If there were ever a time to override the will of man, that should have been it. Good has lately dealt with me about His will in an area. He made it clear to me that He would accomplish what He desires through me, or if I chose to disobey through someone else. His purpose was going to be accomplished. His will would come to pass. However I chose whether it would happen through me, or another person if I did not obey.
If I do not have the ability to exert my will over God's will where my own life is concerned, then the concepts of obedience and disobedience cease to have any meaning where my relationship with God is concerned.
So, Jesus teaches us to pray,"Your kingdom come, Your well be done..." It is the expression of surrender to the Lordship of God over every aspect of my life. Not because I have no choice, but because I choose to submit to Him. In fact, His very a admonition to submit ourselves to God implies that we could just as well choose not to submit.
How that makes what I was saying more clear.
... [May] Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven... (Matthew 6:10).
We obey the police and civil magistrates. Children obey parents. Church elders receive honor in the church. Masters in the workplace receive honor from those who serve as employees and contractors. Almighty God is also worthy of honor and obedience.
"May Thy Kingdom Come" is a prayer in alignment with "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness" (Matthew 6:33). God's will being done is in alignment with righteousness being done.
"May Thy Kingdom Come" is a prayer for fulfillment of the Great Commission (Go into all the earth and make disciples...teach them to obey all that Jesus commanded) (Matthew 28:19-20).
Currently, there are many earthly kings and kingdoms being served ahead of God's kingdom being served. God's Word is ignored and transgressed. Unbelief abounds. Sin continues with its lack of love towards God and neighbor. With sin comes dishonor towards God and suffering among mankind. Pray that sin will cease and that justice and righteousness will abound.
Commitment to God is expressed at the end of the Lord's Prayer: Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. (Matthew 6:13). Satan and his devils sought their own kingdom and power and glory. May the people of the Kingdom of God remain devoted to God's kingdom and power and glory forever.
Let the redeemed vessels of God's mercy (Romans 9) respond to God in praise and petition and all prayer.
Mr. Bill,
I believe that this scripture in which Jesus is teaching us how to pray does include that God's will would be done in us, but also that the will of God would be done on the earth.
We know that because of fallen man that the will of God is not being done in the earth except for those that have been born again and are true disciples of Jesus Christ, having submitted their total being to Him.
The Word of God says that "It is God that works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure." (Phi. 2:13).
Satan is the god of this world, and we know from scripture that Jesus Christ is coming back and that He will establish His Kingdom reign right here on the earth. In the meantime, the Church is to pray that Thy Kingdom would come on earth as it is in heaven. The Kingdom is the rule and reign of Jesus Christ. The Kingdom of God is within all those that have fully submitted themselves to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
As long as the enemy is occupying this earth, we are to pray that the Kingdom of God would come, that the enemy would be evicted, and that the creation would come into the glorious liberty of the sons of God.
Mike
Thanks for all your responses, and please remember with your responses, I am not trying to interpret any scripture here, this is why I posted my questions. I don't how to interpret this and that's why I asked for your input.
The Bible says that everyone is born dead in sin (Eph. 2:1), are by nature alienated from God and under His wrath (Eph. 2:3), lives in a natural state of rebellion against God such that no one seeks Him on their own (Rom. 3:11), views the gospel as foolish (1 Cor. 1:18, 2:14), and is morally incapable of accepting God’s saving ways (Rom. 8:6-7). Scripture also declares that all humanity is enslaved to sin (Rom. 6:20), hostile towards God (Col. 1:21), and unable to come to Christ unless the Father draws them (John 6:44, 65).
In other words, Scripture declares that everyone is in a state where, unless God changes the will of a person, they remain in a position where they are unable to perceive God’s saving grace and will never receive Christ as Savior.
God Bless!
"The Bible says that everyone is born dead in sin (Eph. 2:1), are by nature alienated from God and under His wrath (Eph. 2:3), lives in a natural state of rebellion against God such that no one seeks Him on their own (Rom. 3:11), views the gospel as foolish (1 Cor. 1:18, 2:14), and is morally incapable of accepting God’s saving ways (Rom. 8:6-7). Scripture also declares that all humanity is enslaved to sin (Rom. 6:20), hostile towards God (Col. 1:21), and unable to come to Christ unless the Father draws them (John 6:44, 65)."
As I read this, I realized that despite your saying that you were not trying to interpret Scripture, all of the above are interpretations of the Scripture, not the actual texts.
If you are of a mind that all men are completely lost in sin by nature and unable to have a will of their own to seek God, no amount of counsel or explanation will enlighten you to the treasures in the original passage.
Consider carefully the wisdom from Twayneb who understands the trap of trying to interpret Scripture through glasses already colored with doctrine.
And as one who learned that rather late in life, I must confess wasting a lot of time wearing those same colored glasses. Mine were dark colors indeed! The one thing that did the most to removing the colored glasses for me was to take full responsibility for my sin.
Amazing how that changes your life!
I did not read all the responses, so if anyone else said the same thing, that is ok but if not, here is another perspective one can consider.
"Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.." This concept is powerful when it becomes my way of viewing the world, my world, my life, my surroundings. Do I view life from the perspective that God is in control? Do I allow Him to be in control in that I will submit to it when it does not please me?
I will use an example of something that recently happened - I do not know the people but heard of it on fb...a young man was shot by robbers, he lingered for several weeks before he died. Early on the prognosis of recovering to normal was grim, if he would have recovered there would likely have been brain damage to deal with. But God took him - how does one look at this event? Was it God's will he be shot? Was this fellow's lifework done that God allow his life to come to this end? Was God using this time of suffering to prepare the pregnant widow for what lies ahead? Was God involved? Can one say, "God your will be done and accept it when He does as He pleases regardless of methods used?" I think this is the meaning of this prayer.
Let God be God on earth as it is in heaven.
Blessings.
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