"Let thy will be done."
“Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”
Matthew 6:10 KJV
My prayers always take me on a trip down memory lane. I remember what it felt like as a child growing up in a very Christian family and the ceremony that accompanied our morning devotions.
You see, devotions in my house happened at 5 a.m sharp. It usually started with my parents singing loudly, clanking tambourines, and sometimes even ringing bells. It was boarding school all over again, and when it came to dozing off, I was a repeat offender.
On the mornings when I was not dozing under my large scarf, I would listen intently as my parents read out scripture and proceeded to interpret it based on their understanding. I would watch everyone fall to their knees in unison when it was time to pray, and I always noticed the conscious effort in the room to not rush through the Lord’s prayer.
It was clockwork. Every morning, I would hear the loud singing, and my dreams (or nightmares) would immediately seize, giving me the chance to join in the fellowship.
Fast-forward to being an adult living away from home, I’ve had to make my traditions where prayers and devotions are concerned. While I now choose when to pray and no longer have to wake up at 5 a.m (Hallelujah!), some things stayed with me. One of which is ending all prayers with “above all things, let thy will be done.”
It was never really something that I actively thought about because my use of the phrase was mostly born from muscle memory. I mean, I know that God always does the best thing for us, but I never really stopped to give it some more thought.
In December last year, I was randomly talking to God, telling him about the things I wanted, and as usual, I ended with “above all things, let thy will be done.” Now, you need to understand that I had just finished giving God a wishlist, and then I went ahead and finished off by asking Him to go ahead and do what He likes.
That’s when it hit me. Every time you end a prayer with “let thy will be done,” it’s kinda like the equivalent of writing a wishlist for Santa and then ripping it to shreds and saying “you know what, Santa baby? Just surprise me.”
I spent the better part of that weekend thinking about the mechanism of prayer and if it made any sense that we were busy waking up at 5 a.m, singing, clapping, and making all these petitions, only to end by telling God it was okay for Him to do whatever He wanted.
“And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us:”
1 John 5:14 KJV
Today, I finally understand it, I think. The spirit of God inspires us to pray according to God’s will. So the more scriptures we read, the more we learn about God’s will, and the more our prayers will be in line with God’s will for our lives.
“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:”
Matthew 7:7 KJV
Also, God wants to fellowship with us, and so He works in answer to our prayers. So whenever we want/need something, as long as it’s God’s will for us, all we need to do is ask.
What a privilege to be known and loved by a good, good Father. ❤️
