Thoughts on Prayer

Jesus teaches us to pray that “thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

The fact that Jesus is telling us to pray like this tells me that implies that God’s will is carried out differently in heaven than it is on earth.

We are praying that God’s will might be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Heaven is everything how God desires and everything how he wills.  And by praying that God’s will might be done on earth as it is in heaven we are praying that things on this earth would be as God desires like they are in heaven.  We are praying that things would happen here as they would in heaven.

God desires all men to come to repentance and live (Ezekiel 18:23, Ezekiel 33:11, 1 Timothy 2:4, 2 Peter 3:9).  However, we know that all men do not come to receive salvation.  So we can see that in regards to salvation, God’s desires do not always equate with what actually happens here on earth. 

WHY????

The element of human choice.  He does indeed want all men to be saved, but not all men are because he gives each man the ability to choose.  Salvation is offered to those who come to him for it.  And not everyone decides to come to him. 

So God’s desire for all men to be saved does not come to pass because not all choose to respond to his call and come to him for the salvation that he offers.  He wants us to seek him, and then he promises that we will find him.  We have to knock, and then he promises that the door will be opened.  He responds to our asking, to our seeking, to our knocking.  He doesn’t just give salvation to all because he wants all to be saved.  He only gives it to those who come to him for it; to those who choose him.

I think that this thinking can be expanded to include more than just salvation.  God has desires for the way he wants things to happen and desires for things to be a certain way, but they don’t always happen that way on earth. 

He gives men into their desires whether it is for him or anything else.  (Romans 1:24)  So he may desire for things, but if we don’t also want those things he won’t force it on us.  He wants us to come to him and ask him.

So in the same way that his desires regarding salvation for all do not come to pass because not all choose to come to him for it, I think that not all of his other desires come to pass here on this earth because we do not choose to come to him for it.  We don’t come to him in prayer and ask.  We do not seek him, desire for his kingdom to come, and ask for his kingdom to come. 

I believe that our prayers do really effect what comes to pass on this earth.  Because God is waiting for us to ask before he gives.  He wants us to choose him.  He wants us to acknowledge himself as the giver of all gifts as the one who can bring things to pass.  So it is not enough for us just to desire things.  It is not enough for us to desire revival or desire that God works in people’s heart or that God would act in certain ways.  By desiring things but not going to God with those desires we are not confessing him as the one who could fulfill those desires.  We are not acknowledging him as the LORD of all creation and the one who can bring those things to pass.

 

I believe that our prayers really do have weight.  God may not bring some of his desires to come to pass if we don’t ask him for them to come to pass.  Just as in salvation, he is waiting for us to come to him.  In coming to him for it we are expressing our faith in him and our dependence on him. 

We NEED to pray.  Don’t think that our prayers don’t matter… that God will do what he wants regardless