I think that one of the toughest lines in the Lord’s Prayer is the one that says, "Your will be done." That’s a tough prayer for me sometimes. I know that I am supposed to pray in alignment with God’s will, but it times of confusion, fear or darkness, it is hard to be obedient to his will. So, sometimes my prayers are out of alignment. How about yours?
Consider a man named Charles. Charles wanted to be a missionary. Specifically he wanted to be missionary in Africa—that was his dream, that was his passion, that was what he felt for sure God was calling him to. But as he prepared for the work to which he knew God was calling him, he began to recognize that his new, young wife, whom he had just recently married, did not have the strength, energy or health to travel to Africa. This was years ago before modern travel on airplanes—before the speed and modern conveniences to which we have become accustom. Charles came to the painful, heart—wrenching conclusion that he and his wife simply could not become missionaries in Africa. He was bitterly disappointed.
But he continued to look for the Lord to open up a pastorate here in this country, in America, because he was sure God was calling him to ministry. But all the doors kept closing on him. He prayed for God to open the doors of a church for him to pastor, but nothing happened. His disappointment began to give way to despair and even depression. He had trouble praying in alignment with God because he was out of alignment with God’s will and despair filled him.
In our text today, Jesus also has every reason to be in despair, and even much more reason to be in despair than a guy who can’t get God to answer his supposed calling. As we encounter Jesus in our text today, it is the day that we refer to as Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. But it is not really such a triumph for Jesus. The Gospel of Luke tells us that Jesus evens weeps on this day because the people do not understand or believe in his mission. Jesus has predicted his death to the disciples and to the crowd, but they don’t understand why he has to die. Moreover, the jealous and malicious religious leaders of Jesus’ day have renewed their pledge to kill him. Jesus would love not to have to go through the desertion, pain and agony of dying for such a thickheaded, sinful people.
So, as Jesus is in the last week of his life, well aware that his death fast approaches, Jesus wrestles with himself as he says; "Now my soul is troubled and what shall I say?" He doesn’t really pray here in verse 27, but he imagines what he might want to pray; namely, "Father save me from this hour." In other words, Jesus knows what it is to struggle and suffer. He can identify with those who feel that God, the Father, has let them down.
How tempting it must have been for Jesus to pray for his own will to be done, instead of the Father’s. In fact, as I already mentioned Jesus does asks the rhetorical, wrestling question, "Now my soul is troubled and what shall I say? ‘Father save me from this hour.’" But, Jesus answers his own rhetorical question by firmly saying, "No!, NO!—not save me from this hour, for it was for this very reason that I have come." In other words, Jesus says no to himself and his own desires and fears and yes to God as his will.
This is essentially the same thing he does later in the Garden of Gethsemane. There too, overwhelmed by the horror of his approaching suffering and death, he prays for the "cup" to pass from him. But he doesn’t end his prayer that way. He ends his prayer saying, "Not my will, but your will be done." Jesus would love not to have to go through the desertion, pain and death of dying for a sinful people, but he knows that this is the very purpose for which God the Father has placed him on earth. So, he says "No" to his human self and "Yes" to his divine Father.
Essentially Jesus is echoing the line from the Lord’s Prayer that he taught his disciples, "Your will be done" "Your will be done." Jesus’ prayer is in alignment with God’s will. Notice the precise words of Jesus’ prayer as they come in verse 28: "Father, glorify your Name!" Even on the day of his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, even when he could have rallied the people unto himself gaining the popular support of the people for a new earthly kingdom led by him, he does not pray for his own earthly kingdom or his own glory. Instead, much like the prayer he teaches his disciples, he prays, "Your Kingdom come, your will be done, Father, on earth as it is in heaven."
Now that is hard. It is hard for us to pray no to the self and yes to God. In fact, often we pray just the opposite way; namely, "Yes" to the self and "No" to God. We tell God what we want him to do for us, what we want his plans for us to be, and how we are willing to serve him.
This is what Charles, the man who desperately wanted to be a missionary, was doing. He was praying out of alignment with God and only in alignment with himself. Until, something changed. But let me tell you the rest of the story now. Finally, somehow, by God’s grace, Charles realized that he needed to say "No" to his dreams and "Yes" to what God had in store for him. He prayed that somehow God would be glorified through him. Once he prayed this obedient prayer in alignment with God’s will, his eyes were opened to new possibilities.
By all accounts, Charles had great business savvy. He had never thought of his business ability as something useful to God. But once he prayed in alignment with God he saw that God could use his business sense for the Kingdom. He took over the business of producing grape juice for those Christian churches which wanted to serve grape juice rather than wine during the Lord’s Supper. Charles grew his business into a huge enterprise. He saw it as a ministry to churches. Charles Welch grew the Welch grape juice business into the standard provider of grape juice for hundreds of thousands of churches. Welch grape juice is still what we use in my church today. Charles prayed a prayer of obedience, in alignment with God, even in his disappointment, and suddenly he had new purpose. But he only had purpose because he had prayed "No" to himself and "Yes" to God.
That’s praying in alignment with God: saying "No" to the self, and "Yes" to God. But, make no mistake, it is hard. I know because I have been there. The reason that Charles Welch’s story is so appealing to me is because I have been where he was. I too wanted to be a missionary. But God said, "No." When I thought a door had opened to go on a missionary internship to the Philippines with my new wife, I was delighted. My dad had served as a missionary in the Philippines. Ever since we left the Philippines, I had wanted to return. Now God was opening a door, but was suddenly the door was shut by political unrest. I was sure the Philippines had been God’s plan. But the door was suddenly shut, and I ended up in New Jersey. Not the same as the Philippines. I wish I could tell you that I had prayed some profound prayer at that point. I wish I could tell you about my own experience of praying in alignment with God’s will, but I don’t remember any such prayer. But what I did learn eventually and in time was that I had to say "No" to myself and "Yes" to God. Once I came to understand that I, like Charles Welch, needed to follow God leading rather than my own, my ministry in New Jersey was blessed. I learned to pray in alignment with God and now I look back on my Jersey days as glory days.
So what we have seen is that a large part of our problem in praying in alignment with God is that we are simply slow to say "No" to the self and "Yes" to God. But simple, stubborn confusion and fear are also problems with which we struggle. We see this in our text.
After Jesus’ powerful prayer of verse 28, the Father responds with a voice from heaven affirming Jesus’ prayer, but the people mistake it for thunder. Jesus then assures them that the voice of God is for their benefit. He reminds them of judgment, but also assures them that "when he is lifted up, …(he) will draw all people" to himself. As verse 33 makes clear, he does this to let them know that he is going to die. And, as verse 34 makes plain, the people immediately understand that Jesus is saying that the he will die, but they refuse to accept it.
Instead, we read that the people try to get into some sort of biblical and theological debate with Jesus. The objection that the people essentially make is, "No, no, no, Jesus, that’s not how it is going to happen. We know better. If, by the Son of Man, you mean the Messiah, then we don’t know what you are talking about. We know that the Messiah will remain forever." In other words, they insist that no true Savior would ever allow himself to be crucified. Instead of saying "No" to their own flawed understanding of Scripture and God’s will, they say "No" to Jesus.
Now, let us be fair to the people. It is certainly true that they are legitimately confused by Jesus. Confusion was a common response to Jesus’ unexpected, self—sacrificing approach to salvation. It is also true that the people are undoubtedly afraid that if their latest "hero" Jesus, whom they thought was the Messiah, is killed, then they will never be delivered from the oppression of the Romans. They want a new earthly Kingdom and Jesus is simply scaring them with all this talk of death. So, it is not surprising that there is confusion and fear, but what is alarming about the people’s response is that when they have the Son of God, the Messiah—the one they have just hailed as the blessed King of Israel—right in their midst, they say "No" to him. They argue with him. They say "Yes" to their own understanding and "No" to Jesus.
How do you pray in alignment with God when you find yourself theologically and emotionally confused or afraid by what you hear, experience, or see happening in your life? Just recently I had a couple stop in my study at Church asking to meet with me. They don’t understand God’s direction in their lives. It seems that doors are repeatedly closed in their faces and they suffer, but God doesn’t give them what they are looking for. Theologically they think God should be blessing them, but they don’t experience the blessing. That’s hard. The same week I talked to this couple, I met with another person who has decided that from a scientific perspective the probability that a real God exists is just too small. He just doesn’t think he believes anymore. Again, during that same week I talked with a woman who has experienced too much death in her family and just can’t stand to lose another child and yet is deathly afraid that this is what will happen. Yes, it is hard to pray in alignment with God’s will, especially when his will makes no sense to us. But it is precisely in our confusion and fear that we need to pray, "Your will be done."
But how? Sometimes, like those in our text it seems easier to just say argue with God and go our own way. I confess that in the hard times of my life, in times of fear and confusion, I have often failed to pray in alignment with God. I have simply sat and stewed in my pain and brokenness. I know from personal experience that it is much easier to pray about praying in alignment with God than to actually do it. It is easier to preach than to put it into practice. But hold on—hold on! For there is hope here. There is hope for you and me and others who have such a hard time obediently praying in alignment with God’s will.
But before Jesus gives hope, he gives even more hard news. In fact, counter to what we might expect, Jesus speaks bluntly about darkness in verses 35—36. Jesus knows that darkness is coming for him and those listening to him. He knows that darkness is coming. He knows that he will be crucified. He knows that he will spend three days in the grave. He knows of the pain of having all the sin of humanity placed upon him. He knows that his disciples and the crowds will soon be left without him. He knows that the darkness is coming. In fact, once Jesus has warned his listeners of the coming darkness, we read that he "left and hid himself from them" as if to emphasis the reality of coming darkness.
But it is here, in the midst of warning that Jesus also points to hope. He reminds the crowd that they need to walk in the light before the darkness overtakes them. He encourages them to put their trust in the light and by doing so to become children of the light. In other words, he encourages them to look to him while they can. Jesus knows that he is the only true and eternal light of the world. Satan will do his best to permanently extinguish that light—and for a time it can certainly look like he has succeeded. Many will simply give up. But to those who walk in the light, before darkness overtakes them, there is hope. For the disciples who walk in the light of Jesus, even when their own hearts are filled with the darkness of fear and confusion, Jesus promises that they will be children of the light. They will see the resurrection.
What Jesus is showing us is that to pray in alignment with God means to pray in the light—to pray in the light of Christ—rather than in the darkness of our fear and confusion. That’s grace and that’s Jesus—and, when you take the time to think about it, that is exactly what those members of my congregation are doing when they come to a pastor, or to a good Christian friend, and ask for help. They are reaching out of their own darkness and reaching into the light Jesus.
So that is what I want each of you to do today as well. Even if darkness seems to be overtaking you, even in your fear and confusion, even when you wish that God was opening the right doors for you, remember to walk in the light of Christ by looking only to him. Yes, perhaps the doors he opens won’t be the ones you expected, and, yes, perhaps confusion, fear and darkness will seem to close in on you; but when you turn to Christ and pray in alignment with God, saying; "Your will be done," then you are walking in the light.
One more note. Perhaps, like Jesus’ own original disciples of so long ago—who found themselves walking through the darkness of their own fear, failure and confusion during the crucifixion, death and burial of Jesus—you right now are so surrounded by darkness that you are in danger of losing all hope. If you find yourself in that sort of a dark spot today, then know this. In Jesus Christ, I am holding on to the hope of Christ for you. Sometimes all we have is other believers who can still see the light and hold on for us. Praying in alignment with God means turning to the light even if we can only do it through another. So, if you are in that dark spot, reach out to a fellow believer, reach out to a pastor, and have them pray for you—hold on for you, walk in the light for you—because the light of Christ is real even when we can’t see it.
Let’s end again this week with the Lord’s Prayer, putting special emphasis on the Lord’s will. To put special emphasis on God’s will in the prayer, I am going to repeat one line of the prayer in a couple of places, so today, rather than praying it in unison, simply repeat each phrase of the prayer after me:
Our Father who is in heaven …
Hallowed be your name ….
Your Kingdom come …
Your will be done …
Your WILL be done …
YOUR WILL BE DONE …
On earth as it is in heaven …
Give us this day our daily bread …
Forgives us our debts as we forgive our debtors …
Lead us not into temptation …
But deliver us from evil …
Your will be done …
Let all God’s people say, Amen!
Paul DeVries
Rev. Paul DeVries, most commonly referred to as “Pastor Paul”, is the Sr. Pastor of Brookside Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is married to Diane (nee Vanden Akker) and the father of four children. He graduated from Calvin Theological Seminary in 1989 and served for 12 years as the pastor of Unity Christian Reformed Church in Prospect Park, New Jersey. As a pastor his first love and greatest joy comes in the honor of bringing God’‘s Word to his congregation on a weekly basis through his preaching. He enjoys reading, camping with his family, watching his children’‘s sporting events, and working on home improvement projects - inside and outside his home.
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