The Will!

Requests. Petitions. Pleadings. Sometimes they come with great intensity. Parents plead with their children to settle down and behave. Children plead with their parents for things they want. Neighbors plead with neighbors to be respectful of property lines or control neighborhood noise. Sometimes that pleading is met with reluctance while at other times it is met with wisdom. Perhaps it is not always easy to tell the difference between those two, but what is our perspective when it comes to our PRAYING TO GOD? Someone has said, “Prayer is not conquering God’s reluctance, but taking hold of God’s willingness.” [original source unknown]

When Jesus told the parable of the persistent widow pleading with the unjust judge, this judge’s willingness to grant her request was only because her persistence was wearing him out. ( Luke 18:4-5) However, Jesus did not say that was the case with the Heavenly Father.

We read…
“(7) And WILL NOT GOD GIVE JUSTICE TO HIS ELECT, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? (8) I tell you, HE WILL GIVE justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes will he find faith on earth?” ( Luke 18:7-8 ESV)

PRAYER is an exercise of faith! Do we have it? How much do we trust God? When Jesus exhorted against being anxious He noted the Father’s awareness of our needs ( Matthew 6:32) and His WILLINGNESS to provide. ( Matthew 6:30) Still, Jesus gave us the example of including such cares in our PRAYERS. ( Matthew 6:11) Our Heavenly Father’s Willingness, rather than reluctance, should greatly encourage us.

When it came to Jesus’ own PRAYER, what perspective did He exemplify?

“And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, BUT AS YOU WILL.’” ( Matthew 26:39 ESV)

Three times Jesus prayed that prayer ( Matthew 26:39,42, and 44), but He did so reaching for THE WILL of the Father to be done. Though He was not spared, the Hebrew writer tells us Jesus was heard, not for the intensity of His pleading, but “because of his reverence.” ( Hebrews 5:7 ESV)

When things don’t go our way how quick are we to cry, “Why me?” when we should be just as ready to ask “Why me?” when we are blessed? God gives to us, not because we deserve it, but because He loves us and is WILLING to give. May we reach toward His WILLINGNESS as we PRAY with our own WILLINGNESS to accept what He in His wisdom WILLS to do.

Have a great day ENJOYING PRAYER AS A MEANS TO GOD’S ENDS!
Carl

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