I listened to a sermon last night about the Lord's Prayer. The speaker suggested that one of the most important aspects of prayer is praying for "thy will to be done...on earth as it is in heaven". He emphasized that we should be willing to say to God every day "God may your will be done in my life...not my will...not my agenda...but your will".
I can buy that. I think he has a great point to be made that prayer should bring us to a place where we so desire God's will for our life that we won't settle for our own agenda.
The question is....what exactly is God's will?
Is God's will an over-arching theme of love, purpose, redemption, etc.?
Is God's will some type of blueprint for our lives?
Is God's will set in stone for each of us?
What part do our choices play in God's will?
I've been struggling to reframe my faith....it has become necessary for me to reconsider all that I once so easily believed....it has been a faith-deepening journey...but there are still some key things that I don't understand. One of those key issues is the notion of "God's Will".....
Any takers? I'd love to hear your thoughts....
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
4 comments:
shelly- wow you sure zero in on some of the deeper questions here. I think a book called *Decisionmaking and the Will of God* by gary friesen would be very helpful in the questions you ask. He is very in depth but not dry in his writing. I think God has an overall will which is for all to be saved and have relationship with Him for eternity. A general will in which He wants us to be like Christ and reflect His character as to a specific will for each one of us day to day what to do in our life i think he allows freedom within the broader parameters, my 2 cents worth. Great post!!!
His will.....I don't know....but I know that I want to want it....I know that I don't always but I know that I WANT to....Larry Crabb talks about 'the point of the journey is to want what God wants more than anything.'...doesn't say how and pretty much sums up that until we're in heaven we won't...but to want that....to want that and allow that want to drive me......my surrender daily of what I want.....
I don't know what I would do in the testing....because now I wrestle with everything and it's NOT a hard life of being tested....so I'm scared of what I would do IF I was, IF I suffered loss or trial.....I watch people who are in loss and trial and I simply don't know what I would do.....but maybe I too am reframing my faith???
To understand God's perfect will we have to "be transformed by the renewing of our minds." You know that of course, but for me that is the starting point. No I'm trying to figure out what it means to be "transformed," and what it means to "renew my mind." I'm not sure I believe that God has this roadmap kind of will (or plan) for our lives, where everything is laid out and every stop and detour is known, I think there are just too many variables that effect the outcome. But I believe His will for each of us is to love Him completely, and to love others unconditionally.
B~
You wonder what I do up late at nights...here is your answer...i read and write
You raise some good questions in your post. In fact, they are so good that I've had to spend a few days thinking about how I was going to respond. Here it is....
I don't know
Shocker isn't it...
No really, I don't know what God's will is defined as. I used to think of it as more of a blueprint for our lives, and I spent most of my time trying to figure out what that was. Now, my thinking tends to fall in line with the more generalized view of God's will. A view that says that whatever God's will is for us is an over-arching thing and as long as we are striving towards that then that is the best we can do. God gives us the freedom to make choices, choices that are right or choices that are wrong. Something to ask myself is: Do those choices lead us towards God's will or away from it? I guess the answer to that depends on how you define God's will. See, there we are back at the original question.
That's my .02 cents worth.
Post a Comment