Your Will Be Done

Matthew 6:9-13  9Pray, therefore, like this: Our Father Who is in heaven, hallowed (kept holy) be Your name.   10Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.   11Give us this day our daily bread. 12And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven (left, remitted, and let go of the debts, and have given up resentment against) our debtors.  13And lead (bring) us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
We are instructed to pray- Your will be done. This is something even Jesus Himself had to do. He was praying in the Garden of Gesthemane before He was betrayed and crucified. We can read the account in Luke 22:41-43 41And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw and knelt down and prayed,   42Saying, Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but [always] Yours be done.  43And there appeared to Him an angel from heaven, strengthening Him in spirit. Jesus didn’t want to endure the suffering He knew He was getting ready to go through.  He asked His Heavenly Father if there was any other way. Yet He was still able to say Not my will, but always Yours be done. How often do we say, let your will be done Lord, but when it doesn’t happen the way we want it to we get upset. Surrendering our will is sometimes a difficult thing because it requires crucifying our flesh.  Galations 5:24 says 24And those who belong to Christ Jesus (the Messiah) have crucified the flesh (the godless human nature) with its passions and appetites and desires. We can’t claim to be in Christ without killing our flesh, letting go of what we want and allowing Him to have free reign in our lives. If we follow the example Jesus laid out for us, and surrender our will to our Heavenly Father we won’t have to do it alone. Luke 22:43 says And there appeared to Him an angel from heaven, strengthening Him in spirit. When we make the decision to lay down our lives, our wants and our plans, our spirits will be strengthened  enabling us to stand strong in our decision. 
How do we implement this in our lives? We daily make the choice to abandon our rights to our thoughts, our words and our actions. Before we speak or act we stop to ask the Lord if it would be pleasing to Him. Most importantly, we are obedient to His voice in our lives. If He says to do something, we do it, and if He says don’t, we don’t. It’s that simple. It’s one thing to pray- Thy will be done, it’s another thing to walk it out. Are you willing to relinquish your rights to your life? Are you ready to give up yourself? IF so there is great news for you. Matthew 16:24-26 says 24Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to be My disciple, let him deny himself [disregard, lose sight of, and forget himself and his own interests] and take up his cross and follow Me [cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying, also].   25For whoever is bent on saving his [temporal] life [his comfort and security here] shall lose it [eternal life]; and whoever loses his life [his comfort and security here] for My sake shall find it [life everlasting].  26For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life [his blessed life in the kingdom of God]? Or what would a man give as an exchange for his [blessed] life [in the kingdom of God]?