1. Welcome to Baptist Board, a friendly forum to discuss the Baptist Faith in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to all the features that our community has to offer.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon and God Bless!

"God's Will be Done"

Discussion in 'General Baptist Discussions' started by Gina B, Nov 8, 2009.

Top Posters
Page 1 of 2
  1. Gina B

    Gina B Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 30, 2000
    Messages:
    16,944
    Likes Received:
    1
    This is a phrase heard regularly in the prayers of saints.

    It would seem this phrase is accompanied by the sentiment that the praying person or group does not know what God's will is, but they want it to be done regardless of what that person or group wants.

    That leaves me wondering why so many people feel they do not know the will of God.

    Here's an example: a member of the church is going in for surgery. The person being operated on has had a heart attack, and it isn't known whether the damage can be repaired. The prayer asks that "the damage be repairable, OR that God's will be done."

    The assumption here is that God may not want the damage to be repairable.

    Why would anyone think something like that? Since when did it become common to believe that God WANTS His children to suffer with irreparable bodily damage, chronic illness, mental anguish, or anything that we weren't created with the intention of bearing?

    I tend to believe that if it isn't something we weren't created with the intention of having, it's not a good thing - and God doesn't want bad things for us. They happen, they're part of the results of sin and a fallen world, but they are not God's will for us.

    So why do so many seem to think they are? For those that pray in the manner I've described, please explain. I do understand that the Lord's Prayer included "Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." However, in heaven His will is done perfectly and doesn't include pain and suffering, from what we know of heaven.
     
    #1 Gina B, Nov 8, 2009
  2. Grasshopper

    Grasshopper Active Member
    Site Supporter

    Joined:
    Apr 19, 2002
    Messages:
    3,385
    Likes Received:
    23
     
    #2 Grasshopper, Nov 8, 2009
  3. Deacon

    Deacon Well-Known Member
    Site Supporter

    Joined:
    Aug 23, 2002
    Messages:
    9,490
    Likes Received:
    1,239
    Faith:
    Baptist
    There is a powerful cartoon depicting Christians in the coliseum being circled by hungry lions. The caption reads, “God has a wonderful plan for your life.”
    God’s perfect plan and our wishes don’t always coincide.

    I guess that the reason we hear that phrase, "God's will be done" so often is because it offers God an “out”
    ...or because it placates us or others if our request isn’t granted.
    I don’t see the harm but it certainly isn’t necessary.

    On the other end of the rainbow is those that offer a power prayer, they claim their prayer will be granted in the way they desired just because they prayed it.
    "Thank you Lord for healing brother John from his heart attack. AAAMEIN"

    Maybe a better way to pray would be to ask God to be with "John" during his time of trouble, to deliver him from doubt and fear, to use him and be merciful to him.

    Of course we each have our own way that we pray... it gets to be a habit.

    Rob
     
    #3 Deacon, Nov 8, 2009
  4. Amy.G

    Amy.G New Member

    Joined:
    Sep 25, 2006
    Messages:
    13,103
    Likes Received:
    4
    God's will will be done with or without our prayers because He is the Sovereign King. That is why prayer is such a mystery. But I believe the reason God wants us to pray is not to try to change His will, but to align our will to His. That is why we pray for His will.
     
    #4 Amy.G, Nov 8, 2009
  5. tinytim

    tinytim <img src =/tim2.jpg>

    Joined:
    Oct 31, 2003
    Messages:
    11,250
    Likes Received:
    0
    That's what I was going to say!.. And I guess it was God's will that you beat me to it!...

    The important thing is for us to remember that God is in control, and life will be much better if we align our will to his.. even if his will makes us uncomfortable..or even if his will allows us to go through sickness, or disease...
     
    #5 tinytim, Nov 8, 2009
  6. donnA

    donnA Active Member

    Joined:
    Aug 10, 2000
    Messages:
    23,354
    Likes Received:
    0
    :thumbsup:
     
    #6 donnA, Nov 8, 2009
  7. donnA

    donnA Active Member

    Joined:
    Aug 10, 2000
    Messages:
    23,354
    Likes Received:
    0
    God's will isn't always for a person to be healed.
     
    #7 donnA, Nov 8, 2009
  8. Tom Butler

    Tom Butler New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 20, 2005
    Messages:
    9,031
    Likes Received:
    2
    Someone may say, "well, if God's will is going to be done, why pray at all?"

    A couple of reasons, I think. One, the scriptures tell us that we are to cast our cares on Him. Jesus knew he was going to give Bartimaeus his sight, but made him ask, anyway. To pray is to be obedient.

    Jesus himself on the night before his crucifixion asked the Father for the cup to pass from him. But, knowing it wouldn't, he expressed agreement with the Father: "not my will but thine...."

    Two, it just may be that God intends to heal in response to someone's prayer. The healing will happen, but the prayer is the trigger.

    Now I know God is perfectly able to sovereignly heal, even if someone doesn't ask for it. Amy G and Tiny Tim nailed it.
     
    #8 Tom Butler, Nov 8, 2009
  9. PeterM

    PeterM Member

    Joined:
    Jul 14, 2006
    Messages:
    487
    Likes Received:
    0
    A fabulous response!!:thumbs:
     
    #9 PeterM, Nov 9, 2009
  10. Tom Butler

    Tom Butler New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 20, 2005
    Messages:
    9,031
    Likes Received:
    2
    Wow, Amy, your succinct comment has captured the essence of the discussion. You said it best.

    Prayer does not change God. It changes us.
     
    #10 Tom Butler, Nov 9, 2009
  11. annsni

    annsni Well-Known Member
    Site Supporter

    Joined:
    May 30, 2006
    Messages:
    20,914
    Likes Received:
    706
    Amen.

    Last night we had a funeral at church for a man who passed away on Thursday. George was a deacon in our church for many years and his wife helps to run the deaf ministry and does most of the interpreting in our church. They are a very dear family to all of us.

    18 years ago, George was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma and was given 5 months to live. We prayed, we cried, we laid hands on him and annointed him. We prayed that he would be healed because that's what WE wanted but we also prayed that "God's will would be done" because God knows so much more than we do and we want HIS will rather than ours since God's plan is much better than ours. George was healed.

    About 10 years ago, the cancer came back hard. George once again was given a death sentence and we did the same thing. We prayed, we fasted, and we cried out to God for healing but most of all, for His will to be done. George was once again healed.

    2 months ago, the day after we buried another dear sister from our church to AML (leukemia), George was diagnosed with the same leukemia. So this cancer was different than the others and he was given weeks to live. They still battled aggressively to win over this cancer but in the end, it was God's will to end George's life this time. It was fast, it was furious and it was so hard for everyone to see. George did not once complain but he was in constant pain, was unable to eat and became so weak that he could not speak. But he died praising God in a hospital room in Manhattan surrounded by his children and grandchildren.

    So it was God's will to allow George to live 18 years beyond what he was given. This gave George time to see his children grow up and most of them get married. It gave him time to minister to so many people, to love his wife for another 18 years and to be a testimony to God's mercy and grace.

    The funeral last night was packed. 700 were in attendance and the line to see the family was out the door. SOOOOO many were there who were unsaved - people who knew George through his auto repair shop and SOOOOO many heard the Gospel. It was God's will to bring George home this time and who knows how many lives were touched because of not only George's life but his death. In our humanness, we want George here for many more years. He was only 59 years old. But God's plan is much bigger, much better than our plan and we submit to His will in all of this. Is it our will? Not really and we will most certainly pray HARD for our will to be done, but when we pray "your will be done", we acknowledge that we might not get our way and we will accept and align ourself with what God desires.
     
    #11 annsni, Nov 9, 2009
  12. Jim1999

    Jim1999 <img src =/Jim1999.jpg>

    Joined:
    Aug 10, 2002
    Messages:
    15,460
    Likes Received:
    1
    Ultimately, prayer is bringing us into conformity with God. Even Jesus prayed, "Let this cup pass from me, nevertheless, not my will but Thine be done."

    Cheers,

    Jim
     
    #12 Jim1999, Nov 9, 2009
  13. Gina B

    Gina B Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 30, 2000
    Messages:
    16,944
    Likes Received:
    1
    Hrm. I'm not sure if I can completely agree with that.

    Prayer isn't mysterious to me. I pray with a lot of different purposes...praise, thankfulness, pleadings, etc.. If I am right with God, I cannot imagine it would be possible to pray for something that is outside of His will. We are told to pray and even told how to pray, with a specific example given to us by Jesus. Where is the mystery in that? God's will can be accomplished by many means and by using different circumstances. Why would anyone not believe our prayer can change the way God accomplishes His will? Besides, not everything that happens is the will of God, is it?
     
    #13 Gina B, Nov 9, 2009
  14. Gina B

    Gina B Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 30, 2000
    Messages:
    16,944
    Likes Received:
    1
    Ultimately, all Christians ARE healed though.

    If you think about it, it was not God's will that sickness enter into this world. Why would it not be His will for a person to be healed?

    I can't agree that anyone that is the result of a fallen world, such as pain, sickness, and death, are within God's will. It isn't what we were created for. They are allowed by God after being brought about by us, and we suffer the consequences. God in His mercy allowed the Son to take away the permanent consequences, but in the meantime, is the state our world is in, or any of the sin or results thereof that are in the world truly, honestly, God's will...or are they simply what has been allowed?
     
    #14 Gina B, Nov 9, 2009
  15. Gina B

    Gina B Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 30, 2000
    Messages:
    16,944
    Likes Received:
    1
    Do you have any proof that prayer does not change how or what God allows to happen?

    If prayer has any effect, it is because GOD is working in answer to those prayers. If prayer have no results, prayer is ineffective. That can't be, because we are told in Scripture that the prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much. That leads me to believe that the prayers of the unrighteous are of no effect. The prayers of the righteous are effective. Prayer with faith, if any of us can claim the degree of faith needed for it, will have monumental effects.
    Thus, prayer can change how God will act, won't it?
     
    #15 Gina B, Nov 9, 2009
  16. Benjamin

    Benjamin Well-Known Member
    Site Supporter

    Joined:
    Oct 6, 2004
    Messages:
    8,423
    Likes Received:
    1,160
    Faith:
    Baptist
    I"m not sure if Amy was eluding to that or not, but I certainly do not believe everything has been pre-determined. I believe God lovingly interacts with us within time, often blesses us, and this will include a change in our hearts.
     
    #16 Benjamin, Nov 9, 2009
  17. Amy.G

    Amy.G New Member

    Joined:
    Sep 25, 2006
    Messages:
    13,103
    Likes Received:
    4
    Jhn 14:13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

    There is a condition that must be met in order for our prayers to be answered with a "yes". That is, it must be requested in the name of Jesus.

    This means that He has the authority to answer it and that it will only be answered according to His will. If your prayer is aligned with His will, He will do it.

    This is also proven when Jesus asked the Father for the cup to be removed from Him, but Jesus asked for the will of His Father to be done, regardless of what He wanted. If God had granted Jesus' prayer for the cup to be removed, we would still be lost.

    If God said yes to everything we asked Him for, we'd be in big trouble because we are not smart enough to know what is best.

    Why does God say no sometimes and leave us to suffer? We may not know until we are face to Face. That is why it is called faith.

    As Job said, "the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord."
     
    #17 Amy.G, Nov 9, 2009
  18. Aaron

    Aaron Member
    Site Supporter

    Joined:
    Sep 4, 2000
    Messages:
    20,253
    Likes Received:
    1,381
    Faith:
    Baptist
    You've been watching too much TBN, but your point about citing "Thy will be done" as a mask for unbelief is a good point.
     
    #18 Aaron, Nov 9, 2009
  19. donnA

    donnA Active Member

    Joined:
    Aug 10, 2000
    Messages:
    23,354
    Likes Received:
    0
    If you've ever prayed for someone who was not healed, then you prayed outside God's will.
    Of course it's possible to pray outside God's will. We see it even in the bible warned about. Why would we be warned if it weren't possible.

    If it did, God would not be soverign, the Bible says He does not change. the will of man never over rules the will of God, if it did He would not be God.
     
    #19 donnA, Nov 9, 2009
  20. Gina B

    Gina B Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 30, 2000
    Messages:
    16,944
    Likes Received:
    1
    I rarely watch television, but I'm assuming TBN is a television station? You must be confusing me with someone else you were in a conversation with about tv or something. In fact, if you have a tv yourself, I'd urge you to get rid of it. Even the news is trashy now...yuck! Life is so much better without it.
     
    #20 Gina B, Nov 9, 2009
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)
Page 1 of 2
Loading...