WILL: Goodbook 02-05-13

Goodbook messages arrive every Tuesday and Friday with a Scripture reading and ideas for how to apply the reading in our lives. We are reading through the book of Acts. For additional Scripture reading, you can follow the Advanced Track.

Reading: Acts 18:19-21

¹⁹ They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. ²⁰ When they asked him to spend more time with them, he declined. ²¹ But as he left, he promised, “I will come back if it is God’s will.” Then he set sail from Ephesus.

Application:

One of the things I admire about Paul is that he lived completely surrendered to God’s will.  He was willing to go wherever he felt God leading him, even if it was a challenging venture.  And he was willing to surrender his agenda and his schedule to God’s timing and God’s plan.

Surrendering to God’s will was a major component of how Jesus lived and how Jesus prayed.  The most famous prayer Jesus taught us includes, “May your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”  That’s easy to say when the going is good, but how about when the going gets tough.  You may remember that Jesus prayed on the night before his crucifixion, “Father if you are willing, take this cup from me; but not my will but yours be done,” (Luke 22:42).  Here Jesus mentions God’s will twice and totally surrenders to it.

How can we pray like that?  Well, I think it starts with an understanding of our Heavenly Father.  Both of Jesus’ prayers start with “Father.”  When we know that we have a Father in heaven who loves us – a Father who is all-knowing, all-powerful, and always present – we can feel safe trusting in God’s will.  Even when times get tough and things do not work out the way we would hope, we can trust that God cares and God has a plan that is far better than our own.

This kind of prayer starts with the Father and it ends with our surrender.  A pastor once said that praying for God’s will helps you know how long to pray.  You pray until you are completely surrendered to God’s will and completely committed to living in obedience to God’s will.  Don’t consider praying for anything else or getting up off your knees until then.

That is a really great way to understand prayer.  It’s not so much about bending God to do our will, but bending ourselves towards God’s will.  It’s not so much about getting God to do what we want, but allowing God to shape us into the kind of people who desire to do what God wants.

Spend some time in prayer today:

1) Remember your heavenly Father
2) Then … seek to know God’s will, surrender to God’s will, and do God’s will

Share your comments and application ideas…