GOD'S WILL

Trevor S. Ferguson

February 20, 2011

Psalms 143:10 (KJV)

Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.

Matthew 6:9-10 (KJV)

9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

What is God’s Will?

Most of us are familiar with a will that people make that govern how their estate (money, property etc.) is dealt with after they die. This will expresses the specific desires as to what the person wants to happen to his possession. A properly done will is legally binding and will ensure that the will / desire of the person is carried out.

When we speak of God’s will therefore we are speaking about the desires of God as it regards a specific situation.

Will is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as ‘a deliberate or fixed desire or intention’ or ‘the faculty by which a person decides or is regarded as deciding on and initiating action’.

Note that this faculty to make decisions has been given to man, therefore man has a will and God has a will. There is always a struggle between God’s will and man’s will. Left alone man would always do his own will, but we were created to do God’s will.

One way in which we can express what God’s will means is therefore to say: If God was the one making the decision, what decision would He make? This then is to be the focus of our prayer when we are seeking God's will. The decisions we make as a church – If God was making the decision what decision would he make? The decisions we make in our personal life – If God was making the decision what decision would he make?

It is scripturally correct to pray for God’s will to be done!!

 
 In the Lord’s Prayer (Matt 6: 9-13) after our expression of adoration and praise to God, the second thing we are asked to pray for is that God’s will be done. 

Psalm 143:10 tells us “Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness”

In the garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed three times for God’s will to be done (see Matt 26: 37- 44). Note that it was not that Jesus did not know what God’s will was but there was a struggle in His flesh – hence he prayed ‘Thy will be done!’

How do we know what God’s will is?

Firstly we go to the scriptures. The bible is God’s declared or expressed will.

We note the bible is divided into the Old Testament and the New Testament. 'Testament' is another name for will. So we could therefore speak of the Bible being divided into the Old Will and the New Will.

All that is written in the bible is God’s revealed will. The first thing we need to do as we seek God’s will is to live by his Word. Whatever is written in the word we must do.

Not every thing that we desire to know from God is in the bible. For these decisions we need to seek God’s direction – we have to ask that he reveals to us what is His will concerning these specific situations. For example Daniel having understood that the 70 years in Babylon were soon to be accomplished, desired to know what God’s plan for Israel in the exile was (see Daniel 9). He therefore set out to seek God with payer and fasting for his will to be accomplished. As a result he received the vision of the seventy weeks. God’s will was revealed.

When we face decisions where there are no specific guidelines in scripture we must pray for God’s will to be revealed.

Let us therefore pray that God’s will be done in His church and in our individual lives.