OUR CULTURE TEACHES US to be focused on ourselves. It is easy to think about what I want, what would make me happy, and what I think should be done in any given situation. I tend to carry that way of thinking into my relationship with God and into my prayer life. I can easily think God exists to help me accomplish my goals. I know I’m thinking like that when I feel disappointed or frustrated about something. Disappointment reveals expectations that haven’t been met. I stop and consider what I wanted to see happen that didn’t happen. And I begin to see that I expected God to help me write with the script I have written for my own life.
God is writing a story of redemption, and it’s a far bigger story than I understand. And when God rescued me from the dominion of darkness and brought me into the Kingdom of his Son, he put me into his story. Instead of asking God to endorse my views of what life should be all about, the Bible calls me to something much greater. It’s not my will and what I want that is most important. What God wants —his will— is what matters most. What God wants is ultimately what is best.
Jesus taught us to pray that God’s will would be done on earth in the same way it is done in heaven. I can’t imagine angels in heaven questioning God’s goodness or wisdom when he gives them a command. Only fallen people do that. What if we delighted in doing what God commanded and found joy in pursuing God’s will like the angels in heaven? What if our greatest desire would be for the advancement of God’s kingdom in our world, rather than the advancement of our little kingdoms?
How do we develop a desire for God’s will and God’s kingdom purposes in the world? The psalms give us models for prayer that will help us understand what it means to pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”