"This, then, is how you should pray:
'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.'" ~ Jesus, from Matthew 6:9, NIV
A few minutes ago, I came upon this video on K-LOVE radio's website, by Tenth Avenue North's lead singer, Mike Donehey, speaking on....The Lord's Prayer. Coincidence? I think not.
My will....or God's will be done, here on earth as in heaven? Sometimes, God has to pry open the hands of His beloved, yet strong-willed child to remove whatever we are holding onto so tightly. Whatever is keeping us from doing His will. Because whatever He has to give us; whatever He has for us to do, wherever He has for us to go is so much better, although we might not see it that way at the time.
How many times in my life, this past month -- okay, let me be completely real here --this past WEEK!!! -- have my fists been closed tightly around something or other (or someone) that I deemed as MINE, refusing to surrender to my Father? How many times have I rebelled against God, wanting to do my own thing? How many times have I refused to walk down the path created for me by Him, choosing instead to run in the opposite direction, because it wasn't where I wanted to go? What a struggle it has been for me to let go, to surrender, to obey. To choose HIS will, and not mine.
As Mike reminds us here in this video, even Jesus struggled with surrendering to the will of His Father. Right there, on a dark night, in the garden of Gethsemane:
"Going a little farther, He fell with His face to the ground and prayed, 'My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.'
He went away a second time and prayed, 'My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may Your will be done.' " ~ Jesus, from Matthew 26:39; 42, NIV
This world truly holds NOTHING for us. God HAS everything. God IS everything. As the Father loves His Son, so also does He love us with an
unfailing
unconditional
unchanging
unfathomable
LOVE
What are you struggling to hold onto today that you need to surrender to our Father? Please don't wait until He has to pry it out of your hand(s). Let go and let God's will be done in your life.
