"That thy will be done" (Matthew 6:10).

The Bible reveals to us that God does not impose his will : he calls men to adhere freely. For this they need to say to themselves, more than to God : "I decide to do your will, that your will be done."

God shows us, through many examples in the Bible, that the great obstacle to the fulfillment of his will is man, with his egoism and pride, his prejudices and his hatreds.

God made His will known to Adam and Eve, but they disobeyed. God spoke to Cain and made known to him his will : "Dominate over sin". But Cain did not listen to this advice. How numerous are the cases in the Bible where men have not obeyed the will of God ! Knowing and accepting the will of God is a daily challenge for us who believe.

Many prayers are not and will never be answered because they are out of the will of God, as James reminds us : "You ask, and you do not receive, because you ask badly, in order to satisfy your passions" (James 4: 3). The word "passions" may be replaced by "desires". What we desire is not always what God wants. Paul prayed to be healed, but God's answer was: no ! : "Three times I prayed to the Lord ... and he said to me : "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is fulfilled in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12: 8-9).

That we desire health, healing, when we are sick is quite natural. This desire is legitimate, yet the will of God may be elsewhere than in healing. In the same way Peter heard Jesus tell him that one day he would have to go where he would not. "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Thou shalt spread out thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and lead thee whither thou wilt not." (John 21:18).

No one likes suffering. But sometimes the will of God is to lead us to go through such a path. "That thy will be done" implies in these cases, to accept suffering. Jesus Himself will claim to be exempted from a terrible cup, his prayer is legitimate, yet his prayer will focus on the will of the Father : "He said Abba, Father, all things are possible to you ; But not what I will, but what thou wilt" (Mark 14:36).

If Jesus had to face this opposition between what he wanted and what his Father wanted, how much more so we will be ourselves and will often have to repeat : "That thy will be done."

My prayer on this day :

Lord, it is with confidence that I want to advance in fulfillment, not what I want, but what you want. Amen !

Paul Calzada