Praying for the Will of God to be Done

Time for something a little different. This isn't "the homosexuality blog" after all, and I definitely don't want to see it turn into that. I also don't want every post to be a big rant against some other belief or an extended exegesis either. So, I'm going to try to do more small, off-the-top-of-my-head kinda posts. Hope you enjoy the smaller ones as much as the big ones.




"...Thy Will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven."




Such a memorable line from the Lord's prayer. Jesus shows us how we should pray, and it is a beautiful prayer that when broken down into parts, shows us things that should be included in our prayers to the Father. Praying that his "will be done" is one of those things.


It is a somewhat difficult thought. On the one hand, there is the heart of God, and on the other there is the Purpose of God. There are the things he desires because of his moral nature, and there are the things that happen because He has an overarching purpose for all creation to the end that He will be glorified. We pray that His moral desires will be done, we are faithful that His singular purpose in creation will certainly be done. There can be no greater hope than what was written by our beloved Apostle Paul in Romans 8:28:




"For all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose."




I've been finally learning Greek. That said, looking at the Greek here makes this passage so much more meaningful. I'll try to impart some knowledge. The final part of the sentence is this in the Greek:

 τοῖς       κατὰ       πρόθεσιν     κλητοῖς       οὖσιν.
to(the)  according     purpose    called(ones)      are.
                 to


In Greek, as I've been learning, word order isn't really all that important as far as translation goes. You can arrange the words into pretty much any order you want, and as long as the words are in the right case, it will still make perfect sense. The word "purpose" here is in the accusative case, so it is the direct object of the verb ousin (are), which is the dative form of the verb eimi (to be). So, in English, it would be in the predicate, at the end of the sentence (The direct object is the noun the verb acts on: I threw the ball. "Threw" acts on "the ball," which is the direct object). Why isn't it in the Greek? Well, word order does have one purpose- you can arrange the words to show where the emphasis is. The fact that the word "purpose" is before the word "called" means that Paul intended for the emphasis to be put on the Purpose of God. His purpose is of greater import than ourselves. We are here for Him, not the other way around.


Notice also, that the word "purpose" is in the singular. This isn't a smaller purpose. This is a singular purpose to which all the called conform to. That purpose is the Glory of God. We are all called to be a testament to His everlasting righteousness and His perfect Holiness. So, all things work for a higher, singular, purpose- a purpose to which we've been called. That includes all misery, sin, struggles, temptations, everything. "All things" isn't modified by some other word. In fact, if you were to translate it strictly, it wouldn't even be "all things," it is just "all." He works "all" together for our good. Not the best English, but the point is clear, that our hope in prayer is that we pray for what we think is the best according to what He has revealed to us of His Will through Scripture, but, the things that actually do happen are part of a higher purpose, and have therefore been prescribed by Him. And all this to our benefit. What a wonderful thought.

ca¿riß kai÷ eirh/nh,

Mike