Thy Will or I Will
I was deeply compelled to share this with our ONE COMMUNITY IN CHRIST members after our weekly Bible study.
References and author: Barry Lavers.
During the time Christ was on the earth He instructed his disciples, and by extension, us, in many things, one of the things He provided us with was instruction on just how
we should, and how we should not pray. What He gave us was a framework we should use when we pray to our Father in heaven.
Unfortunately, what we find today is that mankind has taken this framework and now uses it as a ‘mantra’. A thoughtless chant recited by people around the Christian world. Those who do this give no thought to the meaning of the words being recited. This is exactly what Jesus instructs us NOT to do. He tells us we are not to us vain repetitions, but this is what people do when they mindlessly recite what is known as The Lord’s prayer. Let’s just remind ourselves of what Matthew 6 says.
Matt 6:9 – ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name’. Barnes Notes on the Bible has this to say in respect to this instruction: ‘The word “hallowed” means to render or pronounce holy. God’s name is essentially holy; and the meaning of this petition is, “Let thy name be celebrated, venerated and esteemed as holy everywhere, and receive from all people proper honour.” This is what we hear people mindlessly reciting and yet many of those same people go out and use God’s name as a swearword!
[10] continues, ‘Thy kingdom come . . .’ Then we come to the real challenging bit in this prayer – Thy will be done . . . . !
This is really challenging because, our human nature will not allow us to ‘give up’ our will and do what someone else wants us to do.
What I want us to look at this evening is this part of our prayer – ‘Thy will be done’, and I want to do it by studying the journey we find ourselves on, once we answer God’s wonderful and blessed calling. I want emphasise how important it is that we focus and work to move from our worldly starting point of wanting to do things our way, to becoming a humble and spiritually mature child of God. A child who embraces their Father’s will.
Before God calls us out of this world, we have a desire to do things our way. In 1969, Frank Sinatra had a famous hit single with the song ‘I Did It My Way’. This song sums up exactly what mankind has desired to do since Satan caused him to reject his Creator – Do things his way! As I said, we have a huge aversion to being told what to do. We have a desire to be in charge of our own destiny, even though we often do things wrong. Thy will be done is a real challenging part of this prayer, even for us as God’s people because we still have this inbuilt desire to do our own will. This is why so much goes wrong in our lives. We find ourselves in a battle of wills. We are happy to seek God’s will, as long He does things our way! Unfortunately, as soon as we find God has a different way, we struggle. We may have had times where we have been looking for ways to influence God to do things our way.
If we turn to Genesis 3, we can read how we came to have this human desire to direct our own paths.
Gen 3:1-6 – Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden”?
We see here Satan’s deceptive ways. He did not immediately contradict God, but he put a negative slant on what God did say. Rather than getting Eve to focus on the countless fruits God had put in the garden for them to eat and enjoy, he focused her onto the one fruit they were not to eat. So immediately, he was suggesting God is holding back, not being fair, they cannot have everything! When Eve says they are not to eat of the one fruit lest they die. Satan switches from God not being fair, to God lying when he says; ‘You will not surely die. [5] For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.
This was again another of Satan’s lies, they didn’t become like God – ‘knowing good and evil’ they were already like God, having been made in His image! Satan, got Eve to sin by getting her to see the fruit as something she needed. The lust of the eye ensured her focus became ‘I will’ rather than ‘Thy will’!
But this battle of wills in the Garden of Eden wasn’t the greatest battle of wills to take place. To see this, we need to go to Isaiah. Here we read the real beginning of this battle and how it has led to the state we are in today!
Isaiah 14 speaks of a time long before our earth was created, a time before even mankind was created. Here, we read the thoughts and desires of Lucifer’s heart. We see his only desire is for ‘I will’ not ‘Thy Will’ be done!
Isa 14:13-14 (ESV) - (Here we find God talking of Satan) – You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to the heavens; above the stars (angels) of God – I will set my throne on high – I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north [14] – I will ascend above the heights of the clouds – I will make myself like the Most High.’
Here we read the real roots and beginning of this battle of wills. We see clearly here where the ‘I will’ rather than the ‘Thy will’ attitude has come from – It came from the god of this world – our enemy and adversary, Satan the devil. As the god of this world, he constantly broadcasts this attitude to all mankind. This is why we have this continual desire or battle to do our own will, rather than to embrace God’s will being done in our lives as we should do! Who knows best what we need? God, or us? Who brings the future to pass? Once we stop battling and embrace God’s will in our lives, things will immediately improve for us!
I am going to look at this journey we are on, this journey of the Battle of Wills by looking at 3 Biblical characters. The first one I want us to look at, we can say is someone who has heard of God, but has a completely worldly attitude. This was perhaps like us when we first began to understand that God was real, but before we had made the decision to commit to Him.
In Num 22, we meet our first Biblical character. This first character is Balaam, but before we look at him, we will read about one of the very strong personalities he was linked to. This strong personality is Balak, king of the Moabites, whose name means ‘Empty.’
Balak was the character that called upon the services of Balaam. Balaam was a soothsayer (Josh 13:22) from Bethor, a city on the Euphrates in Mesopotamia. His name means ‘Destroyer of the People’, and Balak hires him in an attempt to destroy the Israelites. Israel’s armies had not confronted Moab as of yet, but Balak was aware of what had happened to his enemy Sihon, and was terrified that he and his kingdom were next.
The irony of all that follows is that Israel had no fight with Moab, they only wanted passage to the Promised Land. In fact, God had told the Israelites NOT to attack Moab. So he, (Balak), consulted with the “elders of Midian” with whom he may have had alliances. It seems Balak probably realized that a military campaign alone was not going to stop the Israelites and the supernatural power behind them, so he decided he needed to employ spiritual warfare, and so he called for Balaam.
The Nelson Study Bible explains: "The Moabites believed that blessings and cursings from the gods could be manipulated by skilled agents, who presumed to be able to traffic with the gods. At the time, the most famous of these agents was Balaam of Mesopotamia. In 1967, a discovery was made in Jordan of an eighth- century B.C. inscription of prophecies of Balaam. This discovery in what was ancient Moab is stunning evidence of the renown of this prophet even hundreds of years after his death.
It was thought that such prophets could in some mysterious manner influence the gods by various rites.
Balaam, was a prophet who specialized in animal divination. He would inspect the liver of a ritually slain animal to ascertain from its shape and markings the will of the gods.
If Balaam could influence the 'God' of Israel (as Balak supposed), then he might reverse their blessing, bring them under a curse, and destroy them.... In Num 22:8, Balaam speaks of the Lord as though he were intimate with him. Because he was an internationally known soothsayer, he would have taken a real interest in what God did for the Israelites. He would have heard enough about Israel from emissaries of Moab and Midian to have learned the name of the God of Israel. Indeed, the story of God's deliverance of Israel from Egypt would have been widely known throughout the Middle East
When Balaam comes to Balak, he explains that he can only say what God will allow, though with all his heart he would love to get around God and curse Israel. Here we see first-hand this Battle of wills. Balaam said he would seek God’s will in the matter Balak brought to him, but he already knew the outcome he wanted and that was to curse Israel because his heart was set on the money Balak would give him for doing so. Here, Balaam is like us when we start to come out of the world and begin to looking to God.
When the Moabite and Midianite leaders arrive with payment for Balaam to put a curse on Israel. Num 22:7-14. Here we read God informs Balaam, in a night vision, that the Israelites are protected and that he is not to go with the men from Balak. It is not that Balaam doesn't want to go beyond what God says. God caused Balaam to utter words of blessings upon Israel.
So again, we see here the battle of ‘I will / Thy will’ going on in Balaam. In this instance he does ‘choose’ ‘Thy will’ because he knows God is greater. He knows this because he is unable to curse Israel. Every time he tries to curse them he speaks words of blessing for them.
However, when a larger entourage appears with a "blank check" from Balak, Balaam reverts back to the ‘Worldly way’ of ‘I will’. Motivated by his greed. Rather than accepting the pronouncement God has already made, he seeks to try to achieve his will by again telling the princes to wait while he goes to get a "new" word from God. Have we ever done this? Wanted God to give us a different answer?
This time God does give Balaam permission to go the men, with the instruction that he waits to be called upon by the princes and that he does only what God says. Yet Balaam, because of his lust for money, doesn't wait on the princes, but heads out on his own to join them, contrary to God's specific instructions, thus angering God. Then we have the colourful reversal of roles in Balaam's arguing with the dumb donkey and the donkey using logic with him! (Num 22-31).
The dumb donkey could see the Angel with the drawn sword, who was God because the word Angel is capitalized, while Balaam could not see God. This was all rather ironic. Balaam was supposed to have been a ‘seer’ who was able to communicate with the gods through animals. However, in this situation, the 'seer' was blind to the presence of the true God. It was the animal, the dumb donkey, who was ‘the seer’, perceiving the true will of God in the Angel that blocked the path (Num 22:22-30). Balaam's insincere conversation with the Angel shows the desires of his heart are not to do ‘Thy will’ but to do what ‘I will’. Remember Satan’s I will ascend above the stars, and ‘I will’ become like the Most High which we read in Isaiah 14! Again, have we ever done this, tried to get around God to achieve our will?
This is what you and I are like when we start on this journey, we say the words – ‘Thy will be done’ easy enough, but it is often as insincere a conversation with God as Balaam’s because the desire of our heart is not to please God. Rather, we look to see how we can influence God to do things our way!
When God calls us out of this world, it takes a lifetime for us to get the world out of our lives. And we can only succeed in getting the world out of our lives
when we allow God to correct our distorted human spirit – our human nature, which is Satan’s nature, which He does through the power of His Holy Spirit.
This is where I was when I was transitioning from the police to the church. For nearly 40 years I had been ‘programmed’ to think only in terms of ‘I will’. As a result, it took a period of time, with the power of God’s spirit working in me, to ‘reprogramme’ my thoughts and look for the ‘Thy will’ option in my planning processes.
We have looked at this journey from the example of Balaam, someone who had heard of God, but was not committed to Him. We have seen Balaam’s worldly desire to find a way to get around God’s will.
So, let’s now take the next step on this journey of the battle of wills. This is where we all find ourselves today on this journey of moving from ‘I will’ to ‘Thy will’ be done. We have come to know God. We have committed to Him and He is now transforming us by His Power. A big part of that transformation is us moving from ‘Thy will’ be done – being just words we say, to us actively seeking ‘Thy Will’ be done in every aspect of our lives.
God does NOT take us out of this world to transform us. He will be glorified for all eternity because people will be able to see His great goodness in His dealing with us. They will see how He has transformed us through His great love, His kindness, through His mercy and through His incredible patience with us. This will encourage those in the kingdom, because they will see his success in transforming us whilst we were still in this evil world, and know their journey will be easier because Satan will have been chained up and so will not be broadcasting his lies.
We are in an intense spiritual battle for which we must put on God’s spiritual armour every day. We also need to give daily thanks to Him for the enormous blessing and gift, amongst many others, of His Holy Spirit, which God gives us to help us complete this transformational journey successfully. As I said, without the Spirit of God, we would never successfully make the transition from ‘I will’ to ‘Thy will’!
To look at this next aspect of our ‘journey’, I want us to take a look at Lot.
In Genesis 18 we read of the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah, and God’s plan to destroy the cities. In [22] we read of Abraham’s intercession on behalf of any righteous of Sodom. Abraham knew his nephew, Lot and his family lived in Sodom. From [24] we find Abraham asking God if he would spare the city if 50 righteous were found there. God agrees to this request. Then, between [28] and [32] Abraham continues to intercede on behalf of the people of Sodom. Finally, he asks God to spare the city if only 10 righteous were found there and God agrees to spare the city for the sake of 10 righteous.
As we know, only the man Lot was found to be righteous in the city, and as a result of his righteousness, he, his wife and his two daughters were taken out of the city before it was destroyed.
I want us to look at this story from the Battle of wills, aspect and consider where Lot was on this journey. Don’t forget, Lot was considered by God as righteous and therefore he and his family were found worthy to be saved from this wicked city.
Let’s start reading in Gen 19:12-13]. Then the men – the two angels – said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city – take them out of his place! [13] For we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the LORD, and the LORD has sent us to destroy it.”
The angels clearly state they were there to do the Will of the LORD, and that it was God’s will to destroy the city. [14] we read that Lot tried to get his sons-in-law to leave Sodom, but they didn’t believe he was serious. [15] When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, ‘Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest are consumed in the punishment of the city.’ [16] And while he (Lot) lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his
two daughters, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city.
Here, we read that having been told the Will of God, the righteous man Lot lingered and had to be dragged out of the city by the angels. So, he hadn’t completed that transition from ‘I will’ to ‘Thy will’! He was still somewhere on that journey, just as we all are.
But why did Lot linger? And why did his wife look back? We are not explicitly told, but let’s look at the facts.
Lot was a wealthy man who had enough livestock and servants to cause a problem while he lived with Abraham (Genesis 13:5-7). He and his wife may have had a palatial house with many fine furnishings, servants to do her bidding, fine clothes, sumptuous food, and frequent entertainment. Also, Lot had achieved prominence among the citizens of Sodom beyond his wealth. [1] shows him sitting in the gate of the city, a place usually reserved for the elders and judges. Lot’s wife may have been reconsidering her decision to forsake the privileges of her high social status, or she may have been thinking of the daughters and maybe grandchildren she was leaving behind. Whatever the reason, it cost her, her life and she lost out on spending the rest of her life with her husband and the two daughters fleeing with her.
Perhaps this is why Christ reminds us, in Luke 17 to "remember Lot's wife." The day is coming when we may well have to heed God's warnings to flee and we will need to ensure we do His will at that time without any hesitation. If we do not heed the words of Christ in Matt 10, we could also lose our lives. Matt 10:37 – He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loved son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
When God commands His elect to flee to a place of safety, many of us will be required to entrust family members to God's mercy. Without doubt, this will be one of the greatest tests of our spiritual lives. We will know that before us lie life and hope and behind us death and destruction, just as Lot and his family experienced in fleeing Sodom.
Luke 17:31-32 – "In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. [32] Remember Lot’s wife.”
We must, at this time of preparation, really focus on getting to grips with this battle of ‘I will’ or ‘Thy will’ brethren because one day it could well be a matter of life or death – our live or death!
We have looked at Balaam who was worldly. We’ve looked at Lot who was righteous. The last person I want to look is J.C. to learn how and why we are to embrace God’s will. By emulating our Saviour we will successfully complete the transformation from desiring the ‘I will’ to embracing the ‘Thy Will’ we should always be seeking.
As the Son of God, Christ said in John 5:30 – I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgement is righteous, because I do NOT seek My own will, but the will of the Father who sent Me.
When we seek our own will, we usually get the exact opposite of what we wanted to achieve. Jesus Christ was able to judge righteously because He did NOT seek His own will, but ‘The will of the Father’. Throughout the NT we see Christ always embraced the Father’s will rather than striving against it.
Turning back a chapter to John 4, we find the disciples were concerned their Lord was famished because He hadn’t eaten anything. But what did He say: John 4:32&34 – He said to them, “I have food which you do not know.” [34] My food is to do the will of Him who set Me, and to finish His work.
So, for JC, praying ‘Thy will be done’ was not some dreaded statement of obligation, rather it became something that energised Him to the point that He described it as food that would empower Him forward to finish His work. Have we ever thought of embracing our Father’s will in these terms?
John 7, Christ was teaching at the FoT - :15 – The Jews marvelled, saying, “How does this Man know letters, never having studied?” [16] He answered them, “My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me. [17] If anyone wills to do His (The Father’s) will he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority. [18] He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; (I will ascend into heaven; I will be like the Most High, Satan sought his own glorification) but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him.
JC and the Father, are described earlier in the book of John as having been together ‘before the beginning’, and yet He always attributes His source as the Father. JC embraced the will of the Father to the point it empowered Him as we read. This is how we should seek God’s will in our lives. We need trust God, not battle against His will. After all, He knows what’s best for us. He creates the future, we don’t!
We are beginning to see the reasons we need to and should want to embrace the Father’s will for our life? Matt 12 gives us more reasons why we need to stop battling against and instead learn to embrace the Father’s will. Matt 12:46–50 – While He was still talking to the multitudes, his mother and brothers stood outside seeking to speak with Him. Someone told Him but he said, [48] ‘Who is My mother and who are My brothers?’ [49] He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! He was making a point here [50] For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and mother.” Brethren, if we want Christ as out brother, we must learn to Trust our Father in heaven. He wants us to become His children and if we want to get into His kingdom, we need to start trusting Him completely. As I said, He knows what is best for us and we need to trust Him completely. We need to learn to fully embrace His will in our lives as J.C. did. Failing to so will prevent us getting into His kingdom. Matt 7:21 – Not everyone who says to Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the KoG, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
J.C. became a ‘life-giving’ spirit and as the Son of God you would think He would have been justified in saying ‘I will’, but instead He said ‘I have come down from heaven, NOT to do My own will.
John 6:39-40 – “And this is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. [40] And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
J.C. is tasked by the God of the Universe that He does not lose one person, but raises them up at the last day. By speaking here in the First person – ‘I will’ raise him up, Jesus Christ shows how committed He is to doing the Fathers will. So, let’s follow the example of our Saviour. Let’s start to fully commit to and embrace God’s will for our lives, AND let’s start to put our complete trust in Him because He is faithful and He will never forsake us!
God bless you!