About a year ago, I spent some time studying the manner of prayer of the Lord. The posting on “Our Father in Heaven,’’ also proceeded from those researches. This is what I found:
I know the insistence I have to always come back to the will of God can become tedious for some, but I can’t help it: in my opinion, there is nothing more important than that. It helps us to discern what is good, pleasing and perfect (Romans 12:2). Paul was constantly praying that the Colossians be filled with the knowledge of the will of God, because he knew it was a token of spiritual wisdom and intelligence (Colossians 1:9).
Jesus used to say: “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work… I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me… For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.” Indeed, ‘‘…Coming into the world, He (Christ) says, "Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but You prepared a body for Me. You did not delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices concerning sins." "Then I said, Lo, I come, in the heading of the Book it was written concerning Me, to do Your will, O God."” (John 4:34, 5:30 & 6:38; Hebrews 10:5-7)
“As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just …’’ In other words, ‘as I hear My Father communicate His will to Me, I speak and I cannot be wrong because I do not seek My will but His.’ His requests were systematically granted because He lived for and always prayed according to His Father’s will. In fact, ‘‘God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him… And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.” (John 9:31 & 1John 5:14-15)
He only needed to know God wanted to heal X, to tell X: ‘‘I want it: be healed.” He only had to be sure His Father was indeed sending Him to set free some demon-possessed Gadarenes, to know He could not be shipwrecked on His way there and thus, confidently rebuke the tempest with coolness and nerve (Mathew 8:24-28).
It is possible to have the same assurance when we speak to our life circumstances and when we tell certain things to people, if only we could take time to know the will of God concerning those things.
2. Jesus lifted up His eyes and gave thanks.
He almost never petitioned. On one rare occasion when He asked for something, He requested that the Passion Cup be taken away from Him; but even then, He thrice concluded His query saying, He would rather have the will of God fulfilled than His own desire (Mathew 26:39,42,44). The rest of the time, He would simply lift His eyes up to the sky and give thanks.
Luke 9:16, “ And taking the five loaves and the two fish, looking up to Heaven, He blessed them...’’
Marc 6:40-41, “…So the people sat down in rows, in groups of a 100 and groups of 50. Then Jesus took the 5 loaves and the 2 fish, looked up to heaven, and gave thanks to God…”
John 11:41-43, ‘‘And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me." When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out."”
He lifted up His eyes and looked up to Heaven:
· As a sign of submission, · As a sign of dependence,
· As a sign of obedience
· And to check one last time, that He really had the go-ahead to act.
He gave thanks to God: For He knew the result in advance: “Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. ” (Mark 11:24) He could thank in advance because He had the strong assurance that what He was hoping for would soon be materialized. He gave thanks for the granting, knowing His Father could not let Him down.
He was not doing it as if He was mechanically reciting a magic formula learnt by heart: His ‘thank You’ came from the bottom of His soul. He said thanks because He was already truly in possession of what He had asked for.
We don’t give thanks with the same confidence because we are generally not certain to receive what we have asked for: we doubt. But the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, being driven by wind and being tossed; for do not let that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord (James 1:6-7). It is only the one who doesn’t doubt in his heart who will be able to see what he wishes for, fulfilled (Mark 11:23).
‘‘In everything be thankful, because this is God's will in Christ Jesus for you.’’ (1Thessalonians 5:18)
‘‘For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.’’ (Hebrews 10:36)
Being grateful, being fully conscious of one’s total dependence to God and, striving to know His will and live according to it: that is the recipe for Jesus’ prayer life.
Have a wonderblessed week and may the desires of your heart be granted.
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