The Blessing of Doing God's Will

 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”  An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.                     Luke 22:42-42  NIV 

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,

Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.    

Matthew 6:9-13 NIV

    What better week to devote to praying the Lord’s prayer than the week before Resurrection Sunday?  When Jesus was facing the anguish of the cross, he prayed so earnestly for strength to fulfill the Father’s will that he sweat drops of blood.  Jesus understood that there was no better thing to do on earth than the Father’s will and he also knew we have a real enemy who tries to keep us from doing it.  It’s a battle!

     By praying The Lord’s Prayer, we can be proactive in pursuing God’s will.   In this way, we will grow in our desire to do God’s will.  We will discover that the greatest joy on earth is doing God’s will.  We will also gain strength to do God’s will in both good and difficult circumstances.  Sometimes we fail to do God’s will because we wait until we are tempted to ask for strength to do it.  Jesus teaches us to regularly seek daily bread from our Heavenly Father to do His will.  As we do, the Lord of The Lord’s Prayer transforms our hearts, minds and actions.

     This week, set aside at least two times each day to slowly and sincerely pray The Lord’s Prayer.  Ask God to give you the desire and the strength to do his will as it is done in heaven.

Seeking God's Face

My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek.                 Psalm 27:8 NIV

    We are all born with a hunger  to seek God’s face.  It’s what the early church father, St. Augustine was describing when he said, “Oh God, you have made our hearts and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.”

    Everyone feels this hunger, but not everyone understands that only God can satisfy it.  Many try to satisfy this hunger by seeking the approval of others, some form of comfort or any of a multitude of other things.  Time spent seeking satisfaction from other sources only builds up our resistance to seeking God.

   It’s important to note that God calls us to seek his FACE.  Why his face?  It’s because knowing the face of someone is a description of a personal relationship.  We often spend time seeking God’s hand, which indicates we are more interested in what God can give us more than we are interested in having a relationship with him.

   How do we seek God’s face?  God gives us instructions for this, too, and it starts with praising him.  When we praise God, and do this not just as a means to butter him up so we can get what we really want, we are focusing on his goodness, greatness and love.  This week, set aside some time to praise God without asking for anything from him.  Don’t even expect a certain feeling or experience.  Simply praise him with a sincere heart.  As you pray, contemplate the meaning of what you are praying.  What does it mean that God is faithful, patient, good or kind?  Think as you pray.  As you do, you will be satisfying your deep hunger to know God.