By Pastor Kyle Smith
Columnist
There would be significantly less confusion among Christians as we go about our daily lives if the Third Petition of the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” was better understood. Is it good for us to desire to do what God would have us do? Certainly! But too often as Christians, we become so concerned with whether or not we are following God’s will that we become too paralyzed to make a decision. So as we look at the Third Petition, let’s consider what the will of God is and how His will is done.
The Bible has quite a bit to say about God’s will, specifically, that He desires that all people be saved and be more like His Son, Jesus. We see in Ezekiel 18:23, “Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?” In John 6:40 we read, “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” I Timothy 2:4 says, “[God] desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Last but not least, I Thessalonians 4:3, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification.”
As we see from Scripture, God’s will for our lives is quite simple and there’s no reason to overcomplicate it. God desires for all people to be saved from their sins, every person. And when someone who hasn’t received the gift of faith moves from this life to the next and is punished for their sins, God takes no pleasure in their death or their punishment. God would rather they be saved and raised to life on the last day. And while we are still on this side of eternity, God’s will for us is not only to receive the gift of faith, but also our sanctification, for us to become more and more like Jesus over time through the help of the Holy Spirit.
So now that we know what God’s will is, what exactly are we praying for when we pray, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven?” How is God’s will done? We are praying that, in keeping with God’s will, He would never allow Satan, the world, or our sinful flesh to take our faith from us. We see the danger of the devil in I Peter 5:8, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” We also see the danger of our sinful flesh in Romans 7:18, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.”
The devil seeks someone to devour, and in our flesh, we don’t have the ability to carry out good and pleasing things of God. This means we need help! To refuse to admit our need for help is to pridefully say, “I can do this on my own.” But can we stand against the devil on our own? Certainly not, for we can’t even stand against our own flesh! But there is hope.
God promises to guard us through His power in I Peter 1:5, “By God’s power [you] are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” God also guards us against the devil, as we see in II Thessalonians 3:3, “The Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.” And when we battle against our fleshly desires, God tells us in II Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.”
When we come to a crossroads in life, we ask, “What is God’s will for my life?” We can be confident in a few things: 1) God wants us to become His child and remain faithful through faith in Jesus; 2) God wants us to live as adopted children according to His Word; 3) to resist the devil and our flesh.
When it comes to our daily lives, God gives us the 10 commandments to live by, but God also leaves many decisions, such as where to go to school, where to work, and so on, up to us. And that’s okay! When it comes to these daily decisions, God invites us to pray for wisdom according to His Word, and we don’t need to worry if it was the best decision, but we leave our worry with the Lord, knowing that we are under His care.
And so what exactly are we praying for in the Third Petition of the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven?” Oftentimes we focus on the first part of the petition, “Thy will be done,” and it leads us to think we must be praying regarding everyday decisions we are to make. While the Lord certainly invites us to pray for wisdom regarding everyday decisions, we must recognize the context and include, “on earth as it is in heaven.” Taken in its entirety, when we pray for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, we are praying that God would continue to break the plans of the devil and our flesh and that He would continue to strengthen our faith in Jesus through His Word until we die and are with Jesus, or until Jesus returns, whichever comes first.