God's Will, or Ours?

The topic in today's Women's Study book (The Prayer of the Lord by R.C. Sproul) was 'Your Will Be Done.' As you might imagine, the concept of God's will is not easy for any of us to wrap our minds around. Sproul did a good job, though, of explaining several of the different facets of the word 'will.' We had a lively discussion.

After everyone returned home, I received an email from one of the participants who noticed that Andree Seu had a very related subject (praying with faith) as her focus in today's blog, which you can read here.

And then I reread a devotional that another friend had brought to our attention at the end of our class today. It is so good that I want to share some of the insights on God's will written by a Puritan author named Thomas Manton:

"We may judge how we respect God's name and kingdom by our obedience to His will. This request in the Lord's prayer seeks a soft and pliable heart that we might be ruled by Him. Christ is not our King when we do our own will... As we pray 'Your will be done,' we are not only to obey actively, but to love the commandments of God, and to have our hearts carried out in greater desire for them, and to prefer them before liberty itself. We pray for His will over ours. Our will is the proudest enemy Christ has on this side of hell, and the cause of all the mischief that befalls us. The great contest between God and us is whose will shall stand: God's will, or ours? When we so pray (Thy will be done), we are begging for a willing heart to do His will (Psalm 143:10) and for skill to carry it out: 'Now may the God of peace...equip you with everything good that you may do His will (Heb. 13:20-21). God will give us a heart to do His will, and the skill and strength. He will draw us off from other things - pleasures, honors, and profits - and draw us to Himself."

As always, we ask for a 'soft and pliable heart' and God graciously provides. He enables us to do His will, and in return we are granted His greatest gift: God Himself. What a deal!