Trusting God’s will versus asking for anything in his name
Consider
these scriptures:
Click on book cover image on this blog's home page for information on my book Nine Steps to Well-Being: A Spiritual Guide for Disconnected Christians and Other Questioning Journeyers - first three chapters are FREE!!
Isaiah 40:31 ‘they that wait upon the
Lord shall renew [their] strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles;
they shall run, and not be weary; [and] they shall walk, and not faint’.
Mathew 26:38-39 ‘Then he said to them,
“My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” And
going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if
it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as
you will.”
John 14: 13-14 ‘And I will do whatever
you ask in my name, so the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask for
anything in my name and I will do it!’
Surely
these scriptures contradict, expressing a very basic tension between trusting
in God’s timing and will, and asking for anything in his name. We are
instructed to submit to God’s plans and purposes, while at the same time we are
also expected to pray with petitions that are acted upon by God in accordance
with our wills. The messy upshot
being that, even Jesus approaches God with his petition to have his cup of suffering
taken away, only after which he then submits to the will of God that he will not do this. How are we supposed to make
sense of all this? My answer below is in many ways far too quick, but is a
formula that has become increasingly clear to me over the years, and after so
many lessons from God!
First,
we must assume (and spiritually digest)
that whatever God does and allows in our lives is filled to the brim with his unconditional
love for us, even if/when what is happening is extremely hard and difficult,
and feels even as if we have been forsaken and abandoned by God. Second, however,
once this reality of God’s perfect love (despite
our circumstances often) settles into the centre of our being, we can properly
contemplate God’s timing – that although his timing is often experienced as
frustrating and even frightening, always provides the maximum amount of good
for you and others – that is, in the long term and including eternity! Third, when,
as a result of the first and second, we experience God’s peace which passes all
understanding (Philippians 4:7), at this point we can then confidently turn to
God and ask for anything in Jesus’ name. Not because we are confident in our
own will but because we have first submitted our will to his, after which he
will be pleased to then bless us as he
does what we ask him to do.
In
summary, by submitting to his will and timing we enter into a divine pact with
God, as he too submits to our will, for his glory, for our benefit, and for the
extension of his love-bound Kingdom.
Click on book cover image on this blog's home page for information on my book Nine Steps to Well-Being: A Spiritual Guide for Disconnected Christians and Other Questioning Journeyers - first three chapters are FREE!!
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