Martin Luther called the Lord’s Prayer a “fearful prayer.” When we seriously ponder the words of our Lord when He prayed, “Your kingdom come, your will be done” we begin to understand why he labeled it in this way. It is always a fearful feeling when we bow our own will to the will of another; the implications are even more fearful when we submit our will to the Creator of the universe. Why?

First, because we are saying that we are willing to follow in the footsteps of the only perfect human who ever walked the face of the earth. When Jesus submitted His will to that of His Father’s He fully knew where that would lead…to the cross. He knew the Father’s will for Him included giving His life for others. He knew it meant pain, rejection, and death. I must always ask, “If the fate of my King was pain, then what makes me think I will experience anything else?” When we pray “Your will be done” we are saying, “I bend my will to Yours, I will not argue with Your will. If it brings me joy then I will celebrate, but if it brings pain into my life, then I will trust you and suffer and continue to love You.”

This is also fearful so because we are putting the fate of our personal joy in the hands of another. Can we seriously do this? Our joy must be placed in the hands of someone we trust, and who can we trust better than God? Only God has our best interests in mind and only He can bring us a joy that will last longer than just when the good times are rolling. The good times will end and then we will be left holding onto creaturely comforts that are at best temporary and at worst illusionary.

God has put a song in my heart this week…You Are My All in All.

You are my strength when I am weak
You are the treasure that I seek
You are my all in all
Seeking You as a precious jewel
Lord, to give up I’d be a fool
You are my all in all

Grace & Peace,
Scott