In today’s Gospel (Matthew 6:7-15), Jesus teaches us how to pray. The Lord’s Prayer beautifully reflects God’s wishes when Jesus says, “When praying, do not babble.” In other words, quantity doesn’t necessarily mean quality in your prayer life. That’s why I love the Lord’s Prayer because it sums up what we need from God (and what He wants from us) so succinctly. But today, I want to focus on one short phrase of this prayer: “Thy will be done.” So what does this really mean?
We are praying that God would use us to do his will. We are making ourselves available to do the will of our heavenly Father, to fulfill his purpose. This was the prayer of Mary after the angel Gabriel had revealed to her the will of God in bearing his son Jesus. “I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Mary became the bearer of the Messiah because she prayed that God’s will might be done in her life. Her life, and the life of the world, was transformed because she lived that prayer.
Praying for the will of God to be done in and through our lives means that we are willing to go through whatever might prevent that purpose from being accomplished. Our prayer is that we want to be so aligned with the will and purpose of God that we ask God to empower us in order to accomplish it.
In his agony in Gethsemane Jesus prayed for a way around his suffering: “Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Often when I pray this part of the Lord’s Prayer I am seeking discernment, guidance in the circumstances in my life. When I don’t know what the best way forward is or the best solution to the problem that I am facing, I pray for God’s will to be done.
I am placing in God’s hands what I am struggling with at the time. It may be a financial decision, or a relationship that is troubling me, or a responsibility that I have. I don’t know what the best thing to do is, so I commit it into the Lord’s hands. It’s not a prayer of resignation, or giving in, but it is a prayer of realization, a prayer of reliance, a prayer of triumph – as described in this poem by Frederick Mann:
My God, my Father, make me strong,
When tasks of life seem hard and long,
To greet them with this triumph song,
Thy will be done.
Draw from my timid eyes the veil,
To show, where earthly forces fail,
Thy power and love must still prevail,
Thy will be done.
Things deemed impossible I dare,
Thine is the call and thine the care,
Thy wisdom shall the way prepare,
Thy will be done.
Heaven’s music chimes the glad days in,
Hope soars beyond death, pain, and sin,
Faith shouts in triumph, Love must win,
Thy will be done.
