Thy Will Be Done

This call is twofold. First, we pray for the universal obedience that will come at the end of history. In the final kingdom there will be no necessity for guidelines about divorce, retaliation, hate, lust, or hypocrisy. God's will will prevail everywhere. "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" focuses on this final inevitable event and fills us with hope in this rebellious world.

Secondly, this prayer calls for God's will to be done right now in present history. To those who question just how this is possible, Jesus answers with His life. Early in His ministry Jesus told His disciples, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me" [John 4:34]. If we were to pray this petition rightly, our food, what we really live for -- is not an extra slice of pepperoni pizza or bowl of ice cream, but doing God's will. Later Jesus again said, "I seek not to please myself but Him who sent Me" [John 5:30]. And just a chapter later, "I have come down from heaven not to do My will but to do the will of Him who sent Me" [John 6:38]. And since we are called to emulate our Lord's example it must therefore be possible for us, despite our glaring imperfections, to experience a similar working out of God's will in our lives.

But we also must be aware that when we pray "Your will be done in me, on earth as it is in heaven, we are inviting God to conquer us, and this is precisely why this petition is so scary. When we pray this prayer, we are, in effect, asking God to do what is necessary to make His will prevail in our lives. And God then comes with gracious, kind violence to root out all impediments to our obedience. To pray this prayer may terrify us but it will also deliver us from ourselves. It can truly be said that we have not learned to pray at all until every request in our prayers is made subject to this one. "Thy will be done" is the petition that determines the authenticity of the other upward petitions, for if we do not mean it, we cannot truly pray, "hallowed by thy Name" or "your kingdom come." Truly praying "thy will be done" is fundamental to all true prayer.