Willfully Subject by Tony Cooksey
Willfully Subject by Tony Cooksey
The Lord’s Prayer: Willfully Subject
“After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which are in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” Matthew 6:9-13
Part 4: Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done.
Take care when these words are prayed. To pray Thy kingdom come is to pray that all shall submit to His will. It is to pray for balance to be restored on earth as it is in heaven, where He is worshiped by armies of angels. It is to pray that the King of kings and the Lord of lords be place on the thrown where he belongs. He is king. He is Lord. We pray that all will recognize this fact. We pray that he will be given his just praise - that the honor demanded of His name will be showered upon Him by all of His creation.
Take care when we pray: His will be done.
This is not giving permission. Not in one single breath or utterance from our mouths are we giving permission for the will of God to be done. God’s will is. Moments before this, we Hallowed the name of the Most High. The all powerful, ever present, Holy ruler of time and space and matter. Dare we think permission of anything could be granted by us? No. What God wills simply is. What he speaks, is birthed into existence. What He commands, happens. Then why pray this? Why would Jesus instruct us to do so? Because, in order for, us to be Holy, we must surrender to His will. We must relinquish control. We must enter into willful servitude. Is the thought of becoming a servant or slave even, jarring? Why? Are you not a slave currently? How free is your “free will?” Is it not heavily influenced in nearly every single way by outside forces? Think about it. Ponder your choices. Think about your thoughts. Are you always in control?
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:1-2
How many of us have not been conformed to this world? Are you not just like all the others around you? By nature of our ineptitude, we will fail. Try as you may, you will fall short. So surrender. By surrender, I do not mean to say give up, I mean to say decide to give over control and keep quiet the voice within that would lead you to your own devices. I mean to say, shackle yourself to the cross and hand over the keys. You cannot serve two masters. You cannot listen to the whispers and temptations of all that this world has to offer and also receive the life that Christ extends to us. You cannot, in one hand, grasp onto the riches and promises of earth, while in the other, cling to the hand of your savior. The two forces are diametrically opposed. Oil and water. Death and life.
A servant has nothing to think of, nothing to concern himself with, nothing to worry about or fret over, other than to do the will of his master. Is that a hard pill to swallow? Only because you do not know the master of which I speak. God is our perfect master, and more over, our father, who not only desires worlds more than we could dream, but delivers to us, infinitely more than we deserve.
Dear reader, I pray earnestly, that we will be able to renounce ownership of our lives and surrender to the all knowing- all powerful- all loving will of the Father. Be it so beneath us to surrender? To bow down? It was not beneath Christ!
“And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, ‘Father if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; never the less, not My will but Yours, be done.’ Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly.”
Luke 22:41-44.
Jesus spent His every waking moment, from his first breath at birth, to his last on the cross, submitting to the will of the Father. He spent all of His energy- all of his power- all of His life pouring Himself out for the glory and honor of God Almighty. He stands firm, planted, head bowed; resolved to follow the will of His Father with the knowledge of that which would be require of Him. Christ teaches us to pray the same way. To have the same courage to do the will of our Father in the face of future suffering and difficulty.
“For the Lord God will help Me; therefore I will not be disgraced; therefore I have set My face like a flint, and I know that I will not be ashamed.”
Isiah 50:7
Christian, rejoice in the knowledge that despite our current or future suffering we have a future hope. How else could we walk through the valley of the shadow of death and fear no evil? How could we not worry about our body or what we shall eat or drink, or about what we shall wear? Only by seeking FIRST His kingdom and His righteousness and allowing Him to add these things unto us, as He sees fit. Only by knowing who it is to which we pray, honoring Him above all else, and submitting to His rule, can we have assurance through our trials. We can know, without doubt, that after a well-run race, we will receive the prize. Because it is not earned, by grace, it is given.
We are so concerned with obtaining the answer to “what is God’s will for my life? How does God want us to spend the 70 or so years we are on this earth?” We are all too wrapped up in the present or the limited future causing our eternity and our eternal perspective to become hazy. Our eternal purpose becomes marred and distorted.
The more I study, the more I become convinced that God’s will for my life is less about what career I might have; less about what city or state I might live in; less about who it is I might marry. I have been continually confronted with the fact that God’s will for my life is that I give Him GLORY. His will is that I worship Him and hallow His name through the surrendering of my life; the surrendering of my will and desires; so that His will would be preeminent-that His will would be above all.