Several years ago I heard a message by Andy Stanley on how Jesus taught his disciples to pray. What Jesus instructed is what we know as The Lord’s Prayer, found in Matthew 6:9-13. After listening to Andy break down this prayer, in the way he does so well, I became aware of the difference between the way I have prayed and the way Jesus taught his disciples to pray. My prayers often consist of my asking God to do my will, not His. 

It is easy to mindlessly follow along with a congregation reciting the Lord’s Prayer and just blow through the phrase “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” But this one sentence takes us to the very core of what our relationship with God should be: “Your will be done.”

For us to say to God, “Your will be done,” we must first be willing to say, “Not my will, but yours.” This means that we must be willing to surrender our own desires, our own dreams, our own needs, and desire that God’s will be done. We must be willing to see the things of this world as temporary, and the needs of others as more important than our own. We especially must be willing to acknowledge that when God calls something we desire sin, it is sin, no matter how we may rationalize it. 

Matthew 6:33 tells us to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” In God's kingdom, He is the one on the throne. He is the absolute authority over all who dwell in His kingdom. There is no place in His kingdom for those who are unwilling to submit to His authority. Yet we often struggle to, or simply are unwilling to completely surrender to Him. We cling to our selfish desires, searching for love, satisfaction, and fulfillment in places where they cannot be found. We enjoy our selfish desires. We want to be free to decide on our own what’s right and what’s wrong. We want to pursue our dreams and be successful in the eyes of our peers. 

But the riches that we find in Jesus, in the will of God, will eclipse all of our own desires beyond anything we can imagine. God's will is perfect. In Him we find rest. In Him we find hope, love, joy and peace.  But we can only find that when we’re willing to say, “Not my will. Your will be done, on earth, just as it is in heaven.”