We are never so bold in prayer as when we can look into the face of God and say, "My Father, I do not pray for myself in this thing and I do not want my will done. I want Thy name to be glorified. Glorify it now in my situation, in my life, and do it in such a way that all men will know it is of Thee. Amen.”
A Christian may also claim any of God's promises, for they are certainly God's will for his life and for that of all others. James 1:5 says, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him." So if you go to God as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and ask for wisdom, you can be absolutely certain that you are praying in God's will and that your prayer will be answered.
Last week, in talking about God’s kingdom, I asked the question, "What is God doing in this age?" I answered that God was taking persons of every imaginable condition, and from every part of this globe, and turning them into men and women like Jesus Christ, in other words, into men and women to whom God's kingdom comes. In the light of this week's discussion, we can see that it would also be possible to say the same thing in this way. We could say that God is taking persons with sinful and rebellious wills from every imaginable condition of life, and from every part of this globe, and then by means of the new life that He gives them freely through the Holy Spirit, bringing their wills into perfect conformity to His own.
Yesterday, we concluded by looking at the first two expressions of Satan’s will over against God. Today, we begin by addressing the other three.
Third, Satan boasted that he would “sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north.” This is not a reference to any earthly congregation of men, since man had not yet been created. This is the congregation of those angelic beings near to God of whom the Psalmist was writing when he said, "And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O LORD; thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints. For who in the heavens can be compared unto the LORD? God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all those who are about him" (Psalm 89:5-7). In other words, Satan also desired to rise above the angelic hosts that were closest to and surrounding God.
The third petition of the Lord's Prayer asks that the will of God might be done in earth, as it is in heaven. This request is an important one, for the only things we can properly pray for as Christians are things that are in God's will. No Christian can pray, “Lord, I am about to commit adultery, and I want you to keep me from getting caught so I can get away with it." No Christian can pray, “Lord, help me to cheat on my income tax and be clever enough to outwit the computer." No Christian can pray, “Lord, make me smart enough to cheat my partner on this deal." No Christian can ask the Lord to help him lie convincingly. A Christian simply cannot pray this way. A Christian must always pray, "Thy will be done in my life, as it is in heaven.”
