PRAYING ACCORDING TO GOD'S WILL

Every couple of days I revisit an old post and find a comment. Yesterday’s post had one and the comment was “convicting”. The chapter on persistence in prayer has indeed been a convicting one for me and a solid reminder. Sittser’s quote that I included at the end of the post about Jacob really help to reinforce not giving up on God. Thanks for commenting.

This present chapter is on God’s will. God's will is often this phrase that is so common in Christian circles. Certainly, we desire to know and do God's will. Sometimes, when we know what it involves, we are not so certain. This chapter goes into God's will, dividing God's will into His revealed will and His hidden will. This will be explored later, but it is helpful to pause and take a step back. This is now the fifth chapter. We are not introduced to any new concepts to prayer. The glaring take away in these first few chapters is don't give up and that prayer is an epic journey and it is about the relationship. Powerful stories have been shared along the way including those from Sittser's own life that involve the sudden death of his wife, child, and mother. I have been encouraged to persist and wrestle with God even when it seems like the situation is not improving. Sittser opens the chapter with this quote. 

We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties.

Oswald Chambers

Our eyes must be on God in our prayer. It must not be on our difficulties. Great idea, really hard to put into practice. At present, it is Friday evening. I just had my follow-up visit to the doctor's for an X-ray on my knee. The result showed no bone damage. That was the good news. The bad news is that the doctor does not know what is causing the joint pain. I have been referred now to a Rheumatologist. The whole thing now seems incredibly frightening to me. It is like a nightmare I never thought would happen. Throughout my college years never could I imagine that I would have a chronic joint disability at age 31. All the while, I feel like I am going through this all alone. It is hard to take my eye off of the problem and back on to God. The popular line of reasoning creeps into my mind. If God is good, then this situation would never have happened. Either God is not good or God is not sovereign. This is by far the hardest time so far in my life. The pain medication I was prescribed today does not provide relief from the physical pain. The physical pain drives me into a deeper spiritual crisis. 

Sittser begins with the assumption that prayer is powerful and can change and influence the future. He lists many of the bold claims of Scripture:

"I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.''1

 "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, arid it will be done for you."2

"Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete."3

The common catch to all this is that we are praying in the name of Jesus. Sittser discusses this condition.

"But there's a condition attached to the promise, and most of us know what it is, intuitively if not consciously. We know we can't ask God for just anything. We must make reasonable requests. In short, we must pray according to God's will. If prayer were a blank check, we would need two signatures to cash it in. One would be our signature; the other would be God's signature. God himself must sign off on our requests. He must give final approval.

This sounds simple enough. But what exactly does it mean to pray "according to God's will"? On one level it seems obvious. Giving it even a moment's thought, I wouldn't have much trouble making a long list of requests that would be worthy of God's attention. At least I wouldn't have to think twice before answering them if I were God! Which sounds glib; I know. Yet who hasn't entertained the same thought when asking God for something that seems right, good, and true? How could God not will the conversion of a troubled neighbor, the deliverance of an addicted friend, or the restoration of a broken relationship? It seems like a no-brainer to me." (p. 103)

I ask myself, how often does the check have my name and not God's name on the prayer check. I think many prayers are like that. Often times I think genuinely we ask for things we think are in line with God's will. The restoration of a marriage, the salvation of a relative, and the healing of a physical condition all appear to be things God would desire and would sign off on.

Great men and women of faith have wrestled with praying according to God's will. Luther in his old age witnessed his beloved daughter face terminal illness. He prayed earnestly that God would heal her.

"When his daughter drew near to death, he fell on his knees before her bed and, weeping bitterly, prayed that God might save her, if it be his will. A little while later, she died in his arms." (p. 105)

I don't know what that would be like. I am not a father and I do not have any children who are close to me. I can imagine however the grief and anguish at witnessing the slow death of a beloved daughter. Such things just do not appear fair. It appears harsh. It would seem like God's will is that Luther's daughter would recover.

Sittser goes into discussing that God has a revealed will. It can be found in God's word.

 

"God's Word has that same kind of clarity. John Calvin believed that for us to pray with power, we must first understand who God is and what God has planned. We must therefore study Scripture and so come to know the heart of God. Only then will we be able to pray according to God's will. Otherwise, we pray out of ignorance. "It remains for us to seek in him and in prayers to ask of him, what we have learned to be in him.''7 God has not left us in the dark. He has communicated what we need to know.

Still, I wonder if it is that easy. If there's a problem, I'm not sure that it is lack of knowledge, not entirely anyway. It could be lack of courage and conviction. Do we really want to know God's will? This question makes me squirm. I probably know enough already. I know, but I don't necessary believe or do. I want life to be nice, safe, and secure. But, as C. S. Lewis put it, God does not want to make life nice for us, because he wants to make us new. That is his will. When we pray, we should keep that end in mind.8 It is enough to make me think twice about praying at all. After all, God's will concerns the coming of his kingdom, the doing of his will as he commands it in Scripture. That strikes me as exciting, but also slightly menacing." (p. 106)

Nice, safe, and secure. I think that too is how we want life to be. If we take a look at Scripture and the lives of the men and women of faith we see that life for them and life as it is meant for us is not nice, safe, and secure. So, then, God's will is dangerous, it is unpredictable, and to some of us, it is terrifying. I think that is where I find myself right now. Maybe that is why I am so hesitant to ask for God's will to be done.

God's will involves suffering. It is seen in the life of Christ and the life of Paul and so many others. Yet, for the Christian we wrestle with whether or not God delights in our pain like some sadistic satanic being. Can that really be God's nature? Sittser ponders this because of what happened to his child, wife, and mother.

"For a long time I could not imagine that the accident was or could be the will of God, on any level. The very idea was utterly repulsive to me. In one sense that is still true. I do not believe that God "caused" the accident, as if he made a random choice to extinguish the lives of three members of my family. But there might be more to the idea of "cause" than a random, heartless, purposeless divine act. God did not "cause" the accident; but he did "cause" the good that came from it. In that sense he has been in it from beginning to end. It was clearly part of the epic journey of our lives.

I have experienced the fruits of it, too. The accident itself has proved to be powerfully redemptive, which accords with how God works in the world. I have seen what God has accomplished in me, in my children, and in many others. Though the suffering was bad, the effect has been good. Though the accident contradicted God's good design for our lives (mothers and children are not supposed to be snatched from the home in that way!), it nevertheless has served to accomplish God's will, too, largely in the way God has used it to transform us--and not only us but thousands of other people as well. I know for certain that God has used the accident to change my life. I am far more patient now, especially at home. I am far more flexible with my time, generous with my resources, and calm when facing turbulence.

In short, suffering has done me good, though I would have never chosen it. Not then, and probably not even now" (p. 108).

So there are two opposing sides. There is God and there is the enemy of our souls who seeks to destroy. He is the one who causes the destruction and yet equally at work is God who causes the good to come out of destruction. God did not cause the accident. The growth and the redemption that came out of it is His work and His will. I think of the story of Joseph. How he was beaten, betrayed, and sold into slavery by his own blood brothers is tragic. How he was framed by Podifer's wife for rape was injustice. Yet out of injustice and tragedy, God was at work for the salvation of many when he became prime minister of Egypt and organized the nations food supply during the years of excess and the years of famine. What others meant for evil, God turned into His good.

A wonderful example of this conflict in praying for God's will is Jesus in the garden.

"Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me."

We hear in this prayer the knowledge and agony Jesus has in facing the cross and all that He knows that it will involve. Yet moments later He says:

"Yet not my will, but yours be done.''

This is the agony and the resolution in the same prayer in regards to a tremendously difficult situation. Jesus surrender His will to the will of the Father.

"When Jesus left the garden, he was ready for the horror that awaited him. He had surrendered his will to his Father's. In effect, he had said, "Here I am. Make me what you will. Do with me as you will. Put me to whatever test or task you will. I am yours."

This is a tension we must live in, and one that is impossible to resolve. On the one hand, we pray for what we believe to be God's will, and we do so boldly and persistently. On the other hand, we pray with humility and in submission, ready to surrender to what in fact happens that might seem, at least at the time, to run contrary to God's will. Jesus did not hesitate to pray for what he wanted, and neither should we. But in the end he surrendered to what he realized God wanted. Gethsemane. Like Jesus, we might discover God's will in the act of prayer; we might also discover his will through the natural of order of events. In either case, we must live in that tension--pray for what we believe is right, submit to what in fact happens, no matter what it is. Our submission to God is, after all, a dimension of God's will for us." (pp. 109-110).

That last part is key. Our submission to God is after all, part of God's will. Humility is something that isn't natural and happens through God's maturing work in us. To let go of our will and submit to God's will is very difficult especially if it involves a fraction of what Jesus went through.

Sittser says to know how to pray God's will we can look at the prayers of Scripture. He states that we do not find prayers for long life, good health, and success in our secular sense. Sadly, these are some of the prayers we sometimes hear in Chinese churches. Not that it is wrong to pray for these things, but they must not be the focal point. Sittser draws our attention to the prayer of Paul in Ephesians for the church:

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord's people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may b, filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Paul prays that the church would know the depths of God's love and that they would grow and mature. It sounds like a very poetic and God-centered prayer and it is. Yet, if we consider the goal, we know that the journey to know how deep God's love is, we know that the journey is a very challenging one.

Sittser then turns to the incarnation of Jesus. This is a powerful moment in time that is a mystery to us. God became a human being. The sovereign and transcendent God became a helpless child.

"Perhaps God's condescension provides a model for how we should pray. As God became lowly, weak, and vulnerable in Jesus, so we demonstrate those same qualities in prayer. Prayer calls on God to accomplish some good and godly purpose. Yet prayer also requires us to be humble, recognizing our neediness and helplessness. If anything, prayer is an act of submission to God. When we pray, we are like animals that roll over on their backs, exposing their underside. We are like Jesus hanging naked on the cross. We may be warriors, but warriors who have no weapon to fight with but prayer itself." (pp. 117-118).

Prayer makes us utterly vulnerable before our God and King. We come to Him in utter weakness and humility just as the incarnation of Jesus demonstrates humility and weakness.

Sittser concludes with the Lord's prayer and how it is a model for us:

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from the evil one,

for yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever.

Amen.23

The first thing is the priority, God is our Father and He is to be set apart. That is who we are praying to, the infinite God of the universe. We show Him reverence and respect. The second thing is that it calls for God's kingdom to be established here on earth. God's kingdom is one of justice and mercy. Third, we ask God for our basic needs. Fourth, we acknowledge our vulnerability as we pray for deliverance from the evil. Lastly, and I think most powerfully, we remind ourselves that God is in control, for His is the power, the kingdom and the glory forever.

So, there is this tension between God's total sovereignty and our finite praying.

"It is in that tension that we find the motivation for prayer. We pray because we know that God is in complete control; he is moving history forward so that, in the end, his divine plan will be perfectly accomplished. But we also pray because God will use our prayers to accomplish that plan. God is the writer, the grand and glorious storyteller; we are the characters. We are real characters, too, not mere fabrications of God's imagination The role we play contributes to the unfolding of the plot; the prayers we say influence the mind of the author.

This is how God has set things up. This is why he commands us to pray. It is the wonderful burden we must bear. In a flourish of brilliance, P. T. Forsyth concludes:

Asking is a polar cooperation .... We do not ask as beggars but as children. Petition is not mere receptivity, nor is it mere pressure; it is filial reciprocity. Love loves to be told what it knows already. Every lover knows that. It wants to be asked for what it longs to give." (p. 119)

Prayer:

Father, this has been a marvelous exploration on prayer. We have journey through the tension of praying for Your will to be done when it is so agonizing for us. Our focus in and through must be You and not our present difficulty. The prayer Jesus taught us is so simple and yet so powerful. We acknowledge Your sovereign reign and provision. We ask on behalf of ourselves and our community for our basic physical and spiritual needs. We acknowledge our total dependence on You and come to You in utter humility as the incarnation demonstrates. Yet, in this final thought, we see Your heart, the heart of a Beloved. You desire to bless and provide for the joy of Your people as a Father rejoices over his children. May I see Your Father heart in these moments of struggle and difficulty. My joint situation right now does not look good. My job situation does not look good. Everything seems totally bleak and I feel like I am going through these moments alone. Nevertheless, in this prayer journey, I ask that I would know Your love, Your heart, and Your will.