In John 6:38 Jesus says, "I came down from heaven not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me". Jesus is the only person who has successfully lived this out for His only ambition was to do the will of the Father in heaven here on earth as it is done in heaven. Our lives tell a different story. In our best moments we desire to do the will of God joyfully, cheerfully, and eagerly, even as the angels of heaven do. But we carry with us the old nature which constantly wants to switch places with our new nature so he can control the steering wheel of our lives. The old nature is a lousy driver though and if he is control, he usually puts us into the ditch before too much time passes!

So how might the disciple of Jesus pray in this regard?

First, this is a prayer of subversion.   The current world order and system is a kingdom of darkness established specifically for the purpose of leading men in rebellion and complacency toward their Creator to the end that they will be destroyed in eternal damnation.

There exists within man a folly that believes God's will is too hard, arbitrary, demanding, unfair, and unnatural. Therefore, he must come up with a better way and this way is a fool's errand. We live in a world filled with danger, disease, death, failure, corruption, broken homes, broken promises, broken dreams and broken lives because "there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death"(Prov. 14:12). This is not an expression of God's will but the will of man whose heart is evil.

God allows human (and satanic) evil to coexist while He brings about His plan of redemption, and He often uses the instrumentality of this evil to cause us to repent and turn to Him. God's will and purposes are never thwarted on earth for He is the Sovereign ruler, but we must understand it is often through great pain and human misery that God brings good from evil. God's will is always done, but this is the hard way.

Thus, praying this way could be as simple as saying, "No God! Don't allow this to continue. Make it be done Your way like it is in heaven!" or, "Lord, turn the illusions this world lives by into disillusionment that we might seek Your way in repentance."

Secondly, this is a prayer of transformation. Romans 12:2 says, " Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." We are born conformed to this world, but are born-again to be transformed. The instrumentality of this transformation is a renewal of our minds which is a new way of thinking, believing and feeling. This is why our most well-intentioned efforts at moral reform fail; we try to change our behavior instead of transforming our minds. Transformed thinking will always transform behavior.

How do we transform our thinking? We place ourselves under the discipline and tutelage of the Word of God, the teaching ministry of the church, and the guidance and discernment of the indwelling Holy Spirit. These are not only God-ordained but Divinely provided resources designed to accomplish the Lord's transformation of our mind. This new way of thinking will come to bear in all that life presents us. We will choose and discern God's path and learn His way is always good, acceptable and perfect.

This is a bit of a dangerous prayer though because it invites change, and as most of us know, change is spelled d-i-f-f-i-c-u-l-t.

How might we pray in this manner? "Lord, help me to see where my thinking is conformed and worldly, but also help me to choose the better path which is Your will. By Your Spirit, rewire and retrain my thinking that I will be truly transformed from the inside out."

  

See you Sunday,

Pastor Chris