In His Name Devotionals
PRAYING WITH COMMITMENT
In His Name Devotionals
PRAYING WITH COMMITMENT
“Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10)
Matthew 6:10 literally says, “Whatever you wish to have happen, let it happen immediately. As Your will is done in Heaven, so let it be done on earth.” That’s a prayer of active commitment to God’s will.
Some people don’t pray like that because they don’t understand God’s character. They think their prayers don’t matter and that God will impose His will on them no matter what they do. They tend to pray with passive resignation, indifference, or resentment.
On the subject of praying with commitment, a Bible professor said: “I remember praying such a prayer. After my freshman year in college, I was in a serious auto accident. The driver lost control of the car at about seventy-five miles per hour, and it rolled several times before coming to a stop. I was thrown clear of the vehicle and ended up sliding down the highway on my backside for about a hundred yards. I lost a lot of skin and had some third-degree burns and other injuries, but fortunately I didn’t break any bones.
“I was conscious during the entire ordeal and vividly remember thinking, ‘All right, God. If you are going to fight this way, I give up. I can’t handle this.’ You see, I had been thinking about going into ministry, and felt like God wanted me to do so, but I’d been focusing my life in another direction.
“It’s just a personal opinion, but I sometimes think God used that experience to get my attention, and my prayer of passive resignation soon turned to active commitment as He refined my heart and drew me to Himself.”
Perhaps God has dealt severely with you, too. If so, it’s only because He loves you and wants to produce in you the fruit of righteousness (Heb 12:11). Don’t despise His chastening, and don’t be fatalistic or resentful in your prayers. Godly prayers make a difference (James 5:16); so commit yourself to praying expectantly, knowing that God is gracious and wise and always responds for His glory and your highest good (Romans 8:28).
