The Lord's Prayer

Tonight I was working in the garden, doing some weeding and more planting. As I worked I listened to one of Mark Driscoll's sermons, The Lord's Prayer. It came from a sermon series entitled Pray Like Jesus. It's an awesome series (I've only made it through the first two sermons, but I know the last 3 will be just as good!) There were several great points that Pastor Mark brought out, but there was one in particular that stuck out to me.
He had spoken about how God is our Dad, just like he (Mark) is a dad to his 5 kids, and that He wants us to come to Him just like children go to their father. He went on to talk about "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" and then he said this...

So that your name, Lord God, Father, Dad, would be made much of. So that people would know who our dad is and they’d get to live a new life as members of his family, the church. And the key to the kingdom of God begins individually with you and I praying, “Your will be done.”
Now let me press this point on you. Do you ever pray that? Do you ever pray it and mean it? This prayer for some is so familiar we just roll through it like a pagan mantra. “Your will be done.” Most people go to God telling him what to do. God I want this. I want this. I want this. I want this. I want this. It’s not a sin to go respectfully to Dad, make a humble request. His answer will be yes, no or later. But prayer ultimately is not about making God do something. You need to get this. Pagan prayer is making God do something. I’m gonna pray long. I’m gonna pray hard. I’m gonna say the magic prayer. I’ll pray the prayer 27 times. I’ll say halleluiah. I’ll raise my hand. I’ll get down on my mat. I’ll face east three times a day. I’ll bounce back and forth in the airport. One way or another I’m gonna make him answer this prayer.

Prayer is not about making God do something. Prayer is about you and I aligning our will with God’s, aligning our lives with God’s. And being able to trust him enough to say, “Your will be done.” You may get cancer. You may lose your job. You may struggle. You may suffer. You may be abandoned. You may be betrayed. And when you’re in the middle of it it’s okay to say, “God, please fix it.” But you always need to end with, “Your will be done.” Meaning, “God I will receive whatever it is that you will for my life.” Had Jesus not prayed like that he would have never gone to the cross, never atoned for sins and we’d all go to hell. It’s a good thing to pray, “Your will be done. God I love ya. I trust ya. If you want something I accept that.”

Prayer is not so much about making God do something as it is changing us. Those who pray change. Some people don’t pray because they don’t want to change. Those who pray Biblically change. So prayer does move the hand of God. He does hear and answer prayer. But prayer primarily changes the person who prays. That’s a prayer of worship. “God I will obey you. I will honor you. I will accept your will for my life.” First prayer is a prayer of adoration. Thanks for who God is and what he’s done. Second is a prayer of worship. God your will be done. And that begins in my life. We can’t pray for God to fix the world if we’re unwilling for him to work on us. We can’t pray for God to bring justice and peace and equality and love to the nations if we’re unwilling to have our own lives in alignment with his will.

Am I willing to pray "Thy will be done" no matter what the cost, no matter what the price? Am I willing to completely and wholly trust God with my life? I want to...it's scary. It means that things might not go according to my well thought out plan. It means that I put my (long expired) 5 year plan of getting married and having a house full of babies in His hands believing and trusting that His ways are higher; that His plan is better. I have to admit, some days are better then others. When things seem to be going well, it's easy to say, "God I trust you and I believe that You have a plan for my life." But on the days when everything goes wrong...that's the true test. The days I hold a crying little girl in my arms because she's scared to go home, those are the days that are hard. Those are the days I want to say, "Dad just give me one, I promise to take care of her." 
I have to make a choice each and every day to submit my will to God's, and when I do, He gives me the peace and hope to make it through. We serve an AWESOME God who wants to be our Daddy and hold us close.