Your Will Be Done

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. - Matthew 6:10 ESV

We’re going to spend some more time on Matthew 6:10 today, focusing on “your will be done.”

I’ve often heard people say that they want to know God’s will for their lives, meaning that they want to know what God wants them to do in specific situations. While I think that making godly decisions is important, I also think that Jesus is teaching us something else here.

When we look at Scripture about God’s will for us, we find it’s more about our spiritual characteristics than how to make decisions. God’s will is that we do good (1 Peter 2:15) and that we live holy, sanctified lives by refraining from sin (1 Thessalonians 4:3-7). He wants us to be joyful, prayerful, and thankful (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). He wants us to be humble, love justice, and do mercy (Micah 6:8).

It can be hard to consistently do these things. Life gets messy and sometimes it’s very difficult to see something to be thankful for. But we have help from the Holy Spirit. When I pray “your will be done,” I’m asking Him to help me choose to live in a way that pleases Him, no matter what my circumstances are.

When we persist in choosing to live for God, it becomes easier to discern what those right choices are. And that gives us assurance and encouragement to keep going.

For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven

is my brother and sister and mother." - Matthew 12:50 ESV

Think About: How has God answered when you’ve asked “your will be done?”