Most of us will say that we want the will of God to be carried out in our lives. We probably mean it too. We commit to Him in the morning, asking Him to lead us. But when the rubber meets the road, how often do we subvert God’s will and insert our own? What is our true end goal? To be inside the will of God, or to approach Him as though He is a magic genie who can grant all our wishes?
We can say with confidence that the Bible is full of instances where God makes it abundantly clear that He hears our prayers and delights to answer them. The Psalms alone are bursting with such promises such as:
- “Blessed be the Lord, because He has heard the voice of my supplications! The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him. The Lord is their strength, and He is the saving refuge of His anointed” (Psalm 28:6-8).
- “He shall regard the prayer of the destitute, and shall not despise their prayer” (Psalm 102:17).
- “I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered my from all my fears” (Psalm 34:4).
The above are just three examples of the many places in scripture where we can find assurance in God’s faithfulness to hear us. What is very important to note is that never far from these promises, we find conditions to these promises. Conditions?! Yes, conditions. I’ll give you some examples:
- “The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them” (Psalm 34:7).
- “Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:3-4).
- “Thus says the Lord: Keep justice and do righteousness, for My salvation is about to come, and My righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who lays hold on it; who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and keeps his hand from doing any evil” (Isaiah 56:1-2).
The act of surrendering our will to God is much easier said than done. Psalm chapter 1 and verse 3 tells us that those who follow the law of God will prosper “in all that he does.” To prosper in all that we do certainly sounds appealing, doesn’t it? There isn’t a person living who would say that they do not hope to prosper in all of their endeavors. The burning question here is, what are our endeavors? It is easy to quickly and dismissively say that we want the will of God to be carried out, but how often do we stop and reflect on what that really means? It means that we will not always get the answer from God that we hope for. It means that God will allow difficulty and trials to beset us because, in them, we have a lesson to learn which will refine the character, however unpleasant it may be in the moment. Ultimately, it means that, in everything, we can give thanks because “the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way” (Psalm 37:23).
This concept makes us think of the saints mentioned in Revelation 12:11. It says, “…and they did not love their lives to the death.” Countless have given their lives for Jesus. And yet, their martyrdom did not begin the moment their physical life slipped away. It began the very first morning that they truly surrendered to God. And it continued every morning in their prayer time when they said, “not my will but Thine be done.” Their physical death was the culmination of a life of total surrender to the plan of God.
The most dramatic example of this can be found in Matthew 26:39. Jesus is pouring His heart out in prayer to the Father. He’s only 33 years old. In His humanity, He draws back at the thought of the suffering and death that is looming before Him. As the weight of your sins and my sins begins to close in He cries, “Oh My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will but as You will.” It has never been, nor will it ever be, harder to pray that prayer than in that moment when Jesus Himself drank up the bitter cup before Him. Yet, He desired that the Father’s will be done more so than His own.
Call to Action
So often we come to God begging and pleading for specific things that we are sure we need. Or we beg and plead for situations to unfold just how we think they should. While there isn’t necessarily anything wrong with doing this, we must approach God knowing that He knows our needs and that He always makes provision for us and those we pray for.
Let us approach the throne of Grace with a spirit of true surrender. Let us seek to align our will with His so that we may prosper in all that we do in His Name and for His Kingdom. Let us guard against chasing worldly gain or attention and redirect to Him all the praise or credit we ourselves receive. Let us hold onto Him when we face challenging or painful circumstances, knowing that He who paid a high price for us is faithful. When we do this, we will find that self vanishes away.
All that remains is Christ living in us. It is this kind of soul who will be filled with the Holy Spirit and complete the last great work of spreading the gospel. It is this kind of soul who will stand for Christ through the final crisis of earth’s history. “As the will of man co-operates with the will of God, it becomes omnipotent. Whatever is to be done at His command may be accomplished in His strength. All His biddings are enablings.”1
All scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
- Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons (Battle Creek, Michigan: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1900), 333.
