[0:00] Amen, amen. Take out your Bibles with me, please, and turn not to Luke 11 this morning, but to Matthew chapter 6.
[0:14] Matthew chapter 6. The reason we have been walking through the Gospel of Luke and we have been slowing down the last few weeks to look at the Lord's Prayer that Jesus teaches there in Luke 11 but when you compare the Lord's Prayer in Luke 11 with the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6, they're a little different.
[0:39] Matthew 6 is longer. Matthew 6 has more to it and I believe that's because Matthew's a compiler and he likes to put all of Jesus' teaching in groups and so I think he has pulled everything Jesus said about the Lord's Prayer into Matthew 6 whereas Luke is recording from some witness who has told him what Jesus had said and perhaps either Jesus didn't include that when he talked about it later or the witness didn't remember.
[1:11] He said, thy will be done as the third request. Anyway, we're going to be in Matthew because we want to walk through the Lord's Prayer and I want to include that third request, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
[1:29] So let us first read the context in which Jesus teaches it. In Matthew 6, it is part of the Sermon on the Mount. It's part of a whole teaching and so the setting is different from Luke 11.
[1:43] So let's read that. So if you're able, please stand as I read from Luke. Excuse me. We're already in the habit of Luke, isn't it, aren't we?
[1:56] Matthew 6. Matthew 6. We're going to read from verse 5 through verse 13. Jesus said, In secret, Do not be like them.
[2:49] For your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this or in this manner. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
[3:03] Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.
[3:18] And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. So it reads, let us pray. Father, guide us today, direct us. Open our eyes to see your truth.
[3:36] Fill our hearts, Father, to recognize when we pray, thy will be done. Help us to recognize how that applies to us, how we can pray that in different ways.
[3:50] This we ask in Christ's name. Amen. Please be seated. Thinking about prayer, I always like to get out a little book that I really like.
[4:02] It's called Children's Letters to God. I like the way children talk to God. Right? Kind of honest. One of the letters says, dear God, I read the Bible.
[4:17] What does begat mean? Nobody will tell me. Love, Allison. Dear God, did you mean for the giraffe to look like that?
[4:29] Or was it an accident? Norma. Lois says, dear God, I like the Lord's Prayer best of all. Did you have to write it a lot or did you get it right the first time?
[4:44] I have to write everything over and over again. Darla says, God, did you really mean to do unto others as they do unto you?
[4:57] Because if you did, then I'm going to fix my brother. Dear God, please put another holiday between Christmas and Easter.
[5:10] There's nothing good in there now. Jenny. Dear God. Here's Danny. Dear God, my brother is a rat. You should give him a tail.
[5:22] Ha ha. Dear God, please send Dennis Clark to a different camp this year. Peter. Dear God, I didn't think orange went with purple until I saw the sunset you made on Tuesday.
[5:38] That was cool. Kids. Well, we come today to a subject in prayer that a lot of people struggle with.
[5:52] The will of God. The will of God. God's will. Well, we have passages like Isaiah 46, which says, where God says to Israel, Remember the former things of old.
[6:11] For I am God. And there is no other. I am God. And there is none like me. Declaring the end from the beginning.
[6:24] And from ancient times things not yet done. Saying, my counsel shall stand. I will accomplish all my purpose.
[6:38] Calling a bird of prey from the east. The man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken. And I will bring it to pass.
[6:49] I have purposed. And I will do it. God's will. What are you going to do? I will do it. Then you have a passage like in the New Testament in Romans 9.
[7:06] Remember, Paul is talking about this very difficult subject. He's talking about, remember when Rebecca had twins?
[7:17] So, Paul recalls that. Romans 9.10. Not only so, but also when Rebecca had conceived children by one man, our father Isaac.
[7:32] Though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad. In order that God's purpose of election might continue.
[7:43] Not because of works, but because of him who calls. She was told the older will serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.
[7:59] Hard words, aren't they? So, Paul says, hard words. Paul says, what shall we say then? Is there injustice in God's part?
[8:10] If he picks one over the other? By no means. For he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy. I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.
[8:23] So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy. For the scripture says to Pharaoh, for this very purpose I have raised you up.
[8:36] That I might show my power in you. And that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. So then, God has mercy on whomever he wills.
[8:51] And he hardens whomever he wills. This is hard. Mystery. So, Paul says, what will you say after hearing that?
[9:05] What will you say? You will say to me, why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?
[9:17] That is the conclusion. If God does what he wants to do, we humans will say, well, why does he still find fault if he doesn't change me?
[9:31] Mystery, right? Hard stuff. God's will. So that's why this is a hard subject. Because there's a lot of mystery wrapped in to this whole subject of the will of God.
[9:43] What is God's will? And if God's will is set, if we cannot resist his will, if that's what we're talking about, then why bother praying this prayer?
[9:59] What's the point of praying thy will be done? He's going to do it anyway, right? Okay. So, let's first clarify something in this subject.
[10:12] When Jesus went to the cross, remember he went and he was praying the night before. Remember? He's with his disciples. He says, I'm going. He's not yet arrested.
[10:24] He's in the Garden of Gethsemane and he's praying. Remember? And he's struggling. He knows he's going to the cross, yet he's struggling.
[10:36] And you remember what he said, because these words are so well known. He said, according to Luke 22, he said, what he withdrew from them, a stone's throw.
[10:47] He knelt down and prayed, saying, Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours.
[11:02] Right? We remember that. And Matthew tells us that Jesus did that three times. He did not resolve it right away. He struggled, he struggled, he struggled.
[11:13] In his humanness, he did not want to go to the cross. Who would? And it wasn't just the physical suffering. There was something much deeper that Jesus was going to suffer that none of us would ever know.
[11:28] Right? That separation from the Father. But what I want you to know in that passage in Luke 22, when Jesus prays that, he uses two different words for will.
[11:43] Okay? Which is instructive. So the first time when he says, if you are willing, he's talking about the Father's will. He's using a word that means a determined will.
[11:56] A will with purpose. Kind of like what we're referring to back in Isaiah. What he has purposed, he will do. So he has purposed the cross, he will do it.
[12:07] And Jesus knows this. But he says, if you're willing, if you're set on this, is there a wiggle room? Is there another way?
[12:21] Can you remove this cup and accomplish this some other way? And then he says, but not my will but yours be done. And so the second word for will is a different word.
[12:34] It's a softer word. It means desire. Not what I desire, but what you desire. Not what pleases me, but what pleases you.
[12:45] So there's two different words. And the word that we're talking about is the second word. The softer word for will. So when we pray, thy will be done, we're not praying, thy determined, thy set from the beginning, the what you're going to do anyway, will.
[13:02] We're praying, what you desire be done. What pleases you, let that be done. That's what we're praying. Okay.
[13:12] So it's not it's I think that's important to understand. We're praying about what God desired, which can be resisted. So there's a will of God that like like Paul says in Romans, who can resist his will?
[13:28] He's going to do it. He's going to do it. But there is a will of God where he says, I desire for you to live like this. We can either live like that or we don't live like that.
[13:38] Right. We resist his his softer will, so to speak. I don't know if that's a good term for it. We can resist that. Okay.
[13:49] So that's what we're praying about. So what does it mean to do it? So I want to break this down a little bit. Again, we're not doing what we usually do. We're not we're not going through a whole text. We're breaking up this Lord's Prayer into the different requests.
[14:04] So what does it mean to pray thy will be done? By the way, since these weeks are these are kind of heavy.
[14:18] Are they heavy? But they're a little more intense. A lot to digest. Let's say it that way. Instead of doing a review at the end of the whole teaching on on this, I want to do a review next week.
[14:33] Where we can discuss we can talk about before we get overwhelmed with more material. I want us to take some time next week and just talk about these first three requests. Hallowed be thy name.
[14:45] Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. So we can kind of interact a little bit next week and talk about what does that does that look like? What are you struggling with? What? How does that how does that hit you? Because you often see it and get an insight that are you often get an insight I don't get.
[15:00] So. So. So here we come. Thy will be done. What does that mean? How do we pray that? So what is the father's desire?
[15:13] Father, thy desire. Be done. What pleases you do that. And again, it is a request. It's not a statement.
[15:25] It's a request. But we're asking him to do his pleasure in regard to us. Okay. So we're in we're in we're investing in it.
[15:36] We're engaging in it. We're not just resigning it. We're embracing it. We're saying I want to do your will. Do your will in me through me around me. So how does that apply? So three ways.
[15:47] I think this is a prayer can be a prayer of surrender, like Jesus said, not my will, but thine be done, a prayer of surrender. It can also be a prayer for direction.
[15:58] So we're praying, thy will be done. In other words, what? Lord, what is your will? Show me your will. Give me some clarity about what to do. I have choices to make, right?
[16:08] So we can relate to that. We don't always know what to do. And then thirdly, there's a third way it applies. It's a prayer for wisdom to do the will we know is his will.
[16:25] We know he calls us to do his will. How do I do it? How do I do it in this particular perspective or in this situation? Okay, so let's look at that.
[16:37] If you have notes, we're going to be walking through some different verses. They're all on the outline. If you have that, that'll make it easier. So first application is it's a prayer of surrender.
[16:51] Like Jesus, thy will be done, not mine. So here, let me quote for Matthew, Matthew's version. We see Jesus praying this right before his crucifixion. Matthew says in Matthew 26, Going a little further, he fell on his face and prayed, saying, My father, if it be possible, let this cup pass for me.
[17:13] Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, My father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, your will be done.
[17:25] And then later, Matthew records it. He did that a third time. So what that tells us. So Jesus is praying about the father's will.
[17:38] He's struggling with doing the father's will. And if he's struggling with doing the father's will, How do you think that comes to us? Doesn't that tell you it's okay to struggle with it?
[17:52] I mean, Jesus, if anybody, Here, Jesus is struggling with it. One, that shows us his humanity. Right?
[18:03] He is still in the flesh. He's struggling. And I'm convinced it's not about, It's not really about the physical part of the suffering. It's going to be about the spiritual part.
[18:15] That he's struggling with. So it's a prayer of his wonder. He's working it out before the father. The very fact that he had to do, He prayed it, right?
[18:27] He resolved it. Not my will, but thine be done. He's good. Right? He goes back to the disciples. They're sleeping, remember? Right? Can't you pray with me? And then he goes back. He prays it again.
[18:38] So between that first time and the second time, It's struggling again. It's not fully resolved. He prays it again. Goes back. Disciples are sleeping again.
[18:49] Right? So he'll go back. And then Matthew tells us he does it a third time. So that tells us, Resolve it. Surrendering to the will of God is not an easy thing.
[19:04] And sometimes when God has a path for us that we can see, It's going to be a hard path. Or at least it has been a hard path for a while. And I'm not, Can we change the path, Lord?
[19:16] Can we? And that process of surrendering to the Lord is a process. I think that's really good to know.
[19:28] And I think we should not beat ourselves up when, Oh, I prayed about it, but I'm still struggling. Don't beat yourself up.
[19:39] That's normal. That's okay. Jesus did it. Takes him three times. Probably take us maybe a few more times than that. You know, a few more weeks than that.
[19:52] Right? So don't feel, don't beat yourself up. That's normal. That's part of the human process. And it's a good thing. That's part of the process.
[20:05] So, Thy will be done. That can be applied in a very personal way about where am I going.
[20:16] And I'm struggling with the path that I'm on. Or I'm struggling with the situation I'm in. Wishing God would change it. And it's okay to pray to change it.
[20:27] But this prayer becomes then an examination of my heart, doesn't it? It becomes a time to purify my motives. Not my agenda.
[20:39] Not what I want. But what you want. I want the easy road, Lord. Could we do the easy road for one day? Or for a week?
[20:49] Or could we have a good time? You know. It's okay to pray that. Remember the last request that Jesus is going to teach us to pray in the Lord's Prayer? I didn't pray about His name, His kingdom, His will, bread, forgiveness in relationships.
[21:06] And then what? Lead us not into temptation. Or the word could be testing. It's the same word. And yet Scripture says God will lead us into testing.
[21:19] So are we praying for something that God's going to... Praying God not to do what He's going to... See, it's another one. It's like, why did He tell us to pray that? Unless... Unless... There may be days that we can pray that.
[21:32] And it's... He doesn't lead us into that test. As James says, If you ask not, You receive not.
[21:44] Doesn't hurt to ask. Especially if Jesus teaches us to ask. So... So, it's a prayer for wonder. Secondly, it's a prayer for direction.
[21:55] Prayer for direction and understanding. Thy will be done. Show me... I want to do Your will, but show me what Your will is. Give us clarity in what Your will is, Lord.
[22:08] We're praying that as a church right now. We've... A number of us gather early. It's at 9.51-ish. And we just take a minute or two.
[22:23] And together, we're asking the Lord to give us direction. What's the next step in our church? God's obviously doing something. We're not totally clear what specifically that looks like.
[22:36] And so, we're asking. Help us to see what You're doing. And help us to know what are the steps we take. We want to be faithful. We want to do what You do, not what we want to do.
[22:46] All right? So, what are you... So, that's what we're asking for. That kind of direction. Give us clarity. Well, Paul prayed that. Do you know that? Here's how Paul prayed this particular prayer.
[23:00] You see it in Colossians 1. There's several prayers Paul records in his letters. This one is about the will of God. Watch how he prays.
[23:10] So, he's praying for the Colossians. Colossians 1, beginning of verse 9. He says, we have not ceased to pray for you. Asking. Okay, what does he ask? Asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will.
[23:25] There you go. Not just that you would know His will, but that you'd be filled with the knowledge of His will. I love that. That you just be...
[23:38] That you really know. And then watch where he goes. That you'd be filled with the knowledge of His will. How? In all spiritual...
[23:49] What? Wisdom. What's wisdom? That's not just knowing what to do. It's knowing what? How to do it.
[24:01] How to do it. Wisdom's how to apply. So, it's one thing to know what God's will is. It's another thing to know, how do I do that? How do we do that? That's what we're asking as a church.
[24:13] Here. Fill us with the knowledge of Your will in all spiritual wisdom. Application. And... And understanding. Or insight.
[24:24] Discernment. I love that. And then he says, here's why. What is the will of God? Well, it's so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.
[24:38] Fully pleasing. There we go. Pleasing to Him. His will is His pleasure. Pleasing Him. Walking a manner worthy of Him. What does that look like?
[24:49] Well, it means bearing fruit in every good work. It means increasing in the knowledge of God. Knowing God personally. It means being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might.
[25:01] For all endurance and long suffering with joy. Giving thanks to the Father. That's all part of that prayer. That's all part of that prayer.
[25:12] And when I pray, Thy will be done. I often pray, I add Paul's prayer. To personalize it for me, for us. That's kind of one of the ways.
[25:25] Like I said, that one application is, not my will, but Thine be done. And I'm dealing with, I got an agenda. I want to do these things. But maybe my things aren't God things, right? So, okay, Lord, not my will, but Yours be done.
[25:38] So make that clear for me. And then fill us with the knowledge. Help us recognize. Clarify. What does Your will look like for us? We know in general it's walking in a manner worthy, right?
[25:50] We know that. We know we're to bear fruit. We know, right? We're to draw our strength from Him, not from ourselves. We know we're to joyously give thanks to the Father.
[26:01] But what does it look like today? What will it look like for us as a church next month?
[26:12] Or whenever. Right? It's always better to wait on Him, isn't it?
[26:25] But it's not always easier to wait on Him. We're going to like that. But that's part of what this is. So, we can pray.
[26:42] Lord, Thy will be done. Or another way to pray. Since it is we are asking God to do something. Lord, let Your will be done in us. Or we could pray.
[26:53] Cause Your will to be done. I like that. Cause Your will to be done. Which, again, that whole mystery thing He's going to do.
[27:05] But we're saying, I want to be there when you do it. Cause it to be done. In our lives. Not just let it be done, but cause it to be.
[27:17] Make that happen. Alright, here's the third way. And by the way, let me... John, in 1 John 5, says this.
[27:29] He says, this is the confidence we have toward God. That if we pray anything according to His will. What?
[27:42] We know He hears us. We know, absolutely know He hears us. And we know He will do it. If we pray according to His will.
[27:53] Okay. Talk about, how do I pray confidently? Well, what's His will? Well, we just said, well, in some ways, we don't know what it is.
[28:07] Right? But in other ways, we know with absolute clarity what His will is. Because He's told us. So, here's a third way that we can apply this prayer.
[28:23] It's a prayer. In fact, I would say it's a confident prayer. For wisdom. In doing what pleases Him. For wisdom.
[28:34] The practical wisdom. In doing what we know He calls us to do. And in your outlines, you have seven clear statements.
[28:45] From the New Testament. As, that says, this is His will. And Dan gave us one of them this morning. From 1 Thessalonians 5.
[29:01] Seven clear statements from Scripture. Of what God's will is. And guess what? You'll never give. They all start with S. Which means they're spiritual.
[29:15] To be honest, I must confess. They are stolen from John MacArthur. I heard John MacArthur teach this years ago.
[29:26] And I still think it's just spot on. I had to correct one thing for him. Not a correction. Just teasing. He had S's except for one of them.
[29:40] And I have seven S's. So now you know it's really good. So what are the confident prayers? What has God said, this is my will.
[29:50] That we can pray in regard to doing that. Okay? So John 6. Here's Jesus. Here's Jesus in John 6 saying, this is the will of Him who sent me.
[30:01] Okay. Here's the will. Here it is. That I should lose nothing of all that He has given me. But raise it up on the last day. Okay. That's God's will. For Jesus.
[30:12] That all that God has given to Jesus, He will raise them up. Okay? Well, here's the next part. For this is the will of my Father. Okay. Another statement. This is the will of my Father.
[30:22] That. What? Everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life. And I will raise them up on the last day.
[30:35] That's what pleases the Father. So, what's the first S word? Salvation. Yeah. There you go. Salvation of sinners through faith in Christ.
[30:46] Because He's saying, everyone, here's the will of God. Here's the will of the Father. That everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life. Right? So, it's eternal life through faith in Christ.
[31:02] That pleases God. We can pray for the salvation of others. Confidently. Because we know the Father desires that. He desires that.
[31:15] It pleases Him. Thank you. So, we can pray specifically, Lord, cause so-and-so, whoever's on your hit list, cause so-and-so to look on Jesus.
[31:27] Help them to see Jesus. And then become convinced and believe in Him. Because we know that's how eternal life is received.
[31:37] And secondly, Romans 12. Romans 12, 1 and 2. Romans 12 says, you know, I beseech you, or I appeal to you, by the mercy of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
[31:58] Do not be conformed to God. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God.
[32:12] What is good and acceptable and perfect. So, what he's describing in Romans 12, 1 and 2 is another desire that God has for us.
[32:25] That we, so that's a mouthful. You know, living sacrifice, present our bodies as a living sacrifice, so we don't be conformed to the world, but we're transformed by the renewing of our mind.
[32:37] Right? That we might more clearly discern and understand what the will of God is, what pleases Him. So, God desires what? What shall we call that one?
[32:47] We need another S. Surrender. I like that. Let's call it sacrificial surrender. You can call it whatever you want.
[32:59] You may have a better way to summarize Romans 12, 1 and 2. Sacrificial surrender by a renewed mind. God wants us to live sacrificed lives.
[33:11] He wants us to not be conformed, but be transformed. Be transformed, right? Not transform ourselves, but be transformed by the renewal of our mind.
[33:21] So our mind is key. Not our soul. He doesn't start with our soul. Doesn't even start with our heart. Starts with our mind. Renewal of the mind.
[33:32] One of the... Some of the prayers that I like to gather from the Old Testament, from Psalm 119, talks about...
[33:47] Psalm 119, 35 says... The prayer there is... Make me walk in the path of your commandments.
[33:59] For I delight in it. Make me. Cause me. Cause me to walk. And then he says... Incline my heart.
[34:11] Lord, make my heart inclined to your testimonies and not to selfish gain. And then he says... Turn away my eyes. Lord, you turn my eyes away.
[34:23] From vanity. From emptiness. And revive me in thy ways. So those are a group of prayers I grabbed from Psalm 119 that I kind of put under this.
[34:35] For me to personalize this. Doing thy will. Cause I need help. Paul says it another way. Do...
[34:45] Do the willing and the working within me for your good pleasure. I'm asking God to do it. Cause a lot of times I'm not willing.
[34:58] Right? My stubborn... Right? My natural inclination. My lazy... Whatever. Do the... Make me... Push me more.
[35:09] I need some help. Put... Do the willing. Do the working. Cause I'm not always willing. We talked about that last week. Psalm 51.
[35:19] Right? Renew a right spirit within me. Right? Sustain me with a willing spirit. Cause my spirit's not always willing. I think that's what this is. We're praying for wisdom in doing his will.
[35:32] We're praying for help in doing his will. So third. What else? Ephesians 5. Therefore do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is.
[35:43] Well what is the will of the Lord? Do not get drunk with wine. For that is debauchery. Okay. There you go. There's the will of God. Don't get drunk. With wine.
[35:56] But... Don't be filled with wine but be filled with what? Spirit. The Spirit. The Spirit. And the passage goes on to describe what that looks like.
[36:09] It's about this worship where we're addressing one another in spiritual songs and we're encouraging one another. We're not only singing to God but we're singing to encourage one another.
[36:19] Some of our songs are we address to each other. Right? Let us go do this. Let us worship him. Right? So... As well as how we rework in our relationships.
[36:30] So what is the third one? We need an S. God desires Spirit filling. Right? For the purpose of serving one another.
[36:41] That passage is about being Spirit filled. Why? So that I might serve others. So that I might relate better to others. So God desires salvation of sinners through faith.
[36:52] God desires sacrificial surrender by a renewed mind. God desires thirdly Spirit filling for serving one another. And then fourth. This is a fun one.
[37:05] Ephesians 6. Slaves obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would for Christ. Not by the way of eye service as people pleasers, but as servants of Christ doing...
[37:20] Really? Does this have to be the will of God too? Doing the will of God from the heart. So what's the will of God? Obeying authority. Submitting to authority.
[37:32] Submitting to your earthly... And not just doing it like, okay, I gotta do it, but do it as you would for Jesus. Doing it as a servant of Christ. Fifth.
[37:49] 1 Thessalonians 4. Three. This one's very, very clear. 1 Thessalonians 4. Three. Paul says, this is the will of God. Your sanctification.
[38:01] Well, you know, you got... There's Paul with an S right there. Sanctification. What does that mean? Your sanctification. That means set apart. Right?
[38:12] You're set apart. But in what regard? He goes on and talks about... That you abstain from sexual immorality. That each of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor.
[38:24] In other words, sanctification in pure relationships. The way we relate to one another. Particularly the opposite sex. That it's sanctified.
[38:35] That there's a holiness to it. Right? There's a right conduct. And then...
[38:49] Six. This is the one that was brought up earlier by Dan. 1 Thessalonians 5. 16-18. Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in all circumstances.
[39:01] For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. This is God's will. Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In everything, give thanks.
[39:15] Wow. And Dan already talked about that. That's not natural. That's not natural. That's a fight for faith. That's a fight for our soul. That's a fight.
[39:26] Right? I need help and wisdom to do that. To rejoice always. To pray without ceasing. And to give thanks in everything.
[39:38] Everything. Right? For this is God's will for you. Well, that sounds kind of wow. This is the one where I have to help John MacArthur. Because he didn't have an S for this one.
[39:50] He had a C word for this one. Contentment. I got an S word for this. Satisfied contentment. Isn't that better? Isn't that? Sorry.
[40:03] It's my compulsion. I can't help it. I have to have these alliteration things. Then they make sense for me. But that kind of makes sense if you think about it. A satisfied contentment.
[40:15] Right? What would make me be able to rejoice always? Right? Sorry. Okay. Not my will, but thine be done.
[40:28] To give thanks in everything. Even the hard stuff. Why would I give thanks when hard stuff happens? I'm clearly not thankful that it hurts.
[40:41] That it's painful. That it's hard. But I'm thankful because I know I have a father. Right? Who is not yet done. As we just sang. This battle's not done.
[40:53] My king is on his throne. He is doing his will. It's not in my timing. And it's not the way I want it done. But I can trust him.
[41:04] Because he always does what's right. He always does what's ultimately good for me. Right? The Romans 8. Right? Everything. He will bring everything to good.
[41:17] Ultimately. Mostly for him. Which is better than for me. But it's also good for me. Because he's my father.
[41:32] And then finally. Here's the. Yeah. Okay. You can already guess what this one is. Isn't it? Can't you? The last S.
[41:43] So. God desires salvation of sinners. Through faith in Christ. God desires sacrificial surrender. By a renewed mind. He desires spirit fillings.
[41:53] For serving one another. He desires submission to authority. As servants of Christ. He desires sanctification. And pure relationships. He desires for us to have a satisfied contentment.
[42:09] In all our circumstances. Because we trust him. And then finally. Peter 4. 1 and 2. Since therefore Christ.
[42:20] Suffered in the flesh. Arm yourselves with the same way. Of thinking. For whoever has suffered in the flesh. Has ceased from sin.
[42:32] So as to live for the rest. Of the time in the flesh. No longer for human passions. But for. What? The will of God.
[42:43] And what's the will of God. According to. That Peter's talking about. There. We don't want to say it. Suffering. All right.
[42:54] Suffering in the flesh. He says it twice. Since Christ has suffered in the flesh. Arm yourselves for the same thing. Suffer in the flesh. And if you're suffering in the flesh. What does that do?
[43:04] What is the. What is the. Benefit. To suffering in the flesh. You overcome sin. Whoever has suffered in the flesh.
[43:18] Has ceased from sin. He's not talking about a suffering. That comes at us. He's talking about a suffering. That we. That we accept.
[43:29] In other words. We're. We're. Restraining ourselves. From pursuing. Fleshly things. That's how I'm suffering.
[43:41] It's a self choice. I'm delaying gratification. To trust the Lord. Because. Why do we say.
[43:51] Often. What's it. What. What is the. Root. Nature. Of. Our. Of our sin. Of any of our sins. Pride. Yeah. Pride. Absolutely.
[44:04] Pride. Desire. We do what's natural. If we. Just do what our body wants.
[44:14] And what. What our mind wants. Especially what our soul wants. What will we do. We'll do the easy thing. We'll do the thing that's. You know. Not pleasing to God. Often. Or not even helpful for us. We're just gratifying.
[44:28] And so when Peter's saying. Suffering in the flesh. He's talking about. Hold on. A little more control. And denying myself.
[44:39] Certain things. And he's talking about. Particularly about things. Where I struggle with sin. Right. So I learned to discipline myself.
[44:49] I learned to deny myself. That's what he's talking about. Suffering in the flesh. The other suffering in the flesh. That comes from outside. That's going to come too.
[45:03] But that's. The other will of God. To train us. So there you go. Is that helpful? So we pray.
[45:13] Thy will be done. It just gives you. You know. When you pray. Thy will be done. Maybe one day you pray. About surrender. Another day. You pray about. Grab. However you want to apply it.
[45:25] Grab some of this. Or grab part of it. That helps you. When you pray this. And I think there's so many different ways. To apply this. You know.
[45:37] Our prayers. Hopefully. Will always. Have a sense of. Freshness to them. I won't just be praying. The same words. All the time. Now certainly. There's certain areas.
[45:48] Where we're praying. Same things. For. For a lot. But. But here's. Some different ways. To apply it. So how's this prayer look? It's a prayer. Of surrender.
[45:59] Examination. Do I really. And honestly. If I'm. Praying this. Thy will be done. Do I really want. God's will. You know.
[46:10] What's my heart. When I go into prayer. When I go before the father. Sometimes it's not pretty. Right. Sometimes that's a hard one.
[46:21] Sometimes I don't want to pray. Thy will be done. Or not my will. But thine be done. Because I want to tell them. What mine is. Here's my agenda. I want you to fix all these things.
[46:33] You should do things my way. Yeah. I did my timing. Please. That's right. He knows that. He knows that. And I think Jesus is.
[46:44] And isn't it interesting. The structure in which Jesus gives us. And the order that he gives us this prayer. We start with God's name. And God's kingdom. And God's will. By the time I get to bread.
[46:56] And relationships. A lot of my issues have been resolved. If I'm praying. Genuinely through these. Early prayers. Because it's.
[47:06] As we say. It's all about the Lord. And this prayer is a way of helping me do that. So. Let's pray.
[47:18] Speaking of prayer. Father. We thank you for. Your word. Thank you. That your son would teach us. How to pray. And that he would teach us.
[47:28] What to pray. And. What things are important. And obviously. Father. We pray that your name. Be set apart in a way.
[47:38] That you get all. The attention from us. You get all the credit. And the glory. We pray that your kingdom would come. That your Holy Spirit would enter. Into our hearts. And change us.
[47:50] We pray for your will to be done. We pray Lord. That you'd. Mold our hearts. To be those. That. That. Can genuinely say. Not. My will. But yours be done.
[48:03] And help us to pray for direction. So that we might follow your way. Might walk in a manner worthy of you. And then finally. Father. Help us. As those who seek to follow Jesus.
[48:14] To walk in his steps. To do what's pleasing to you. Give us wisdom. And applying the things you've made clear to us. As your children.
[48:27] Lord this is what we ask. In Christ's name. Amen.