June 14th 2007

Tunnel Vision Praying

Read Matthew 9:9-13 and Acts 20:17-27

"For I did not shrink from declaring

the whole will of God..." (Acts 20:27)

As the prayer of Jesus moves on, it moves from a prayer of Kingdom to a prayer of will. What is the will? What does it mean to say that we often operate according to our own will? Better yet, how are we to know and follow the will of God? I once heard it defined that the will is "that inner capacity which governs our choices and determines our actions." So in essence, how I live and behave in this world is directly related to the orientation of my will. If my will is goverened by selfishness and preoccupation with me, then the choices I make and the actions I take will evidence that orientation. In contrast, if my will is surrendered to God, then I will not live to gratify myself but to abide in God's nature which determines his actions in this world.

In His prayer, Jesus says, pray "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." That by its very act is a moment of surrender. We are saying, don't let my world operate according to my will. Intercede God, and may all that happens here on earth be goverened by the same will that holds all things together in heaven. But beyond surrender, we must seek to understand how liberating this prayer becomes for us.

Many of us live trapped by paralysis hoping that we don't miss the will of God for our lives. We pray very selfish prayers hoping that God's will lines up with ours. What does it mean to say we miss the will of God? Does it mean we didn't choose the right job, spouse, house, or car? Is that what it means? Is that what we pray when we pray the Lord's prayer? Or is something more involved?

Praying for God's will to be done on earth as it is in heaven is to live in constant recognition and obedience to what moves the heart of God. According to Paul in his speech to the Ephesians in Acts 20, by preaching the message of Jesus and embodying the holiness of God he didn't fail to make known the whole will of God. So for us to pray the Lord's prayer, we are moving out of a selfish tunnel vision that keeps us from doing anything because we fear we will miss the will of God, to the liberated responsibility of proclaiming and embodying God's recreating, saving, redeeming, restoring, reconciling power in Jesus Christ. We are liberated to understand that as we live surrendered to the will of the One that saves us and our entire lives are pointed in the way of glorifying him in all things, honoring Him by all things, loving Him and others above all things, then we are right smack dab in the center of God's will.

Yes, God might have an assignment for you here or there. But if you are truly surrendered to his will and living out this liberated responsibility, you don't have to walk around fearing that you will miss it. And if you happen to, continue to live out the will of God and he will be gracious and bless you where you are.