The words of Jesus’ prayer – simple on the surface – are starting to get a little tougher. This line in particular is where His prayer and mine start to part ways.
When we pray these words, we are asking Him to align our priorities with His. We’re asking Him to expand His rule – the Kingdom of Mercy – and annex our individual little kingdoms for His own purposes. In other words, we’re explicitly setting aside our own plans and instead asking Him to replace them with His agenda. These are not words to be prayed lightly.
The crowds who followed Christ hoping for healing or counsel did not ask Him to teach them how to pray; nor did He give this prayer to them. It is not for those who want religion to be helpful, who seek after signs; those who expect it to solve their political problems and cure their diseases, but are not prepared to share its cost. He gave it to those whom He was going to incorporate into His rescuing system, use in His ministry; the sons of the Kingdom, self-given to the creative purposes of God… We, therefore, when we dare to use it, offer ourselves by implication as fellow workers for the Kingdom; for it supposes and requires an unconditional and filial devotion to the interests of God. Those who use the prayer must pray from the Cross.
– Evelyn Underhill, Abba
Do you really want God’s Kingdom to come and His will to be done in you? There is a cost to His will being done. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus lived out these words, saying
And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39)
It’s a scary prayer, isn’t it? If you’re like me, these words may catch a little in your throat. There are a lot of very good and noble things I’m after. David longed to build God a temple – and God said no. Are you willing to offer up the best of the plans you have for yourself, for your kids, for your finances and career and lay them on the altar, trusting that if His will is done, it is infinitely better than the alternative?
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