O Lord, grant that I may do Thy will as if it were my will, so that Thou mayest do my will as if it were Thy will.
God will never allow any action against you that is not in accord with His will for you. And His will is always directed to our good.
Trusting God, 1988, p. 71. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
Where love is the compelling power, there is no sense of strain or conflict or bondage in doing what is right: the man or woman who is compelled by Jesus’ love and empowered by His Spirit does the will of God from the heart.
Paul – Apostle of the Heart Set Free, Eerdmans, 1977, www.eerdamns.com, p. 21. Get this book!
In the first garden “Not Your will but mine” [by Adam] changed Paradise to desert and brought man from Eden to Gethsemane. Now “Not My will but Yours” [by Jesus Christ] brings anguish to the Man who prays it but transforms the desert into the kingdom and brings man from Gethsemane to the gates of glory.
Matthew, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Zondervan, 1984, p. 545, www.zondervan.com. Get this book!
To choose to suffer means that there is something wrong; to choose God’s will even if it means suffering is a very different thing. No healthy saint ever chooses suffering; he chooses God’s will, as Jesus did, whether it means suffering or not.
Open hands should characterize the soul’s attitude toward God – open to receive what He wants to give, open to give back what He wants to take. Acceptance of the will of God means relinquishment of our own. If our hands are full of our own plans, there isn’t room to receive His.
A Path through Suffering, Revell, 1990, chapter 9.
Let Him therefore send and do what He will. By His grace, if we are His, we will face it, bow to it, accept it, and give thanks for it. God’s Providence is always executed in the ‘wisest manner’ possible. We are often unable to see and understand the reasons and causes for specific events in our lives, in the lives of others, or in the history of the world. But our lack of understanding does not prevent us from believing God.
In order to discern the will of God for their lives believers cannot just depend on their conscience. Conscience is indeed very important, but it must constantly be sent back to the school of Scripture to receive instruction from the Holy Spirit. It is in this manner that believers become and remain aware of God’s will. Which will? Decretive (secret) or Preceptive (revealed)? The latter, of course… In this way the will of God will become an increasingly well-established or proven component of the consciousness and lives of God’s children. The more they live in accordance with that will and approve of it, the more also, through this experience, will they learn to know that will, and rejoice in that knowledge. They will exclaim, “Thy will is our delight.”
Romans, Baker Books, 1981, p. 406. Used by Permission.
You are to think of yourself as only existing in this world to do God’s will. To think that you are your own is as absurd as to think you are self-created. It is an obvious first principle that you belong completely to God.
Prayers are the nerves that move the muscles of omnipotence. Prayer is not an exercise in futility because God’s will, will be done in any case; prayer is the means by which God’s will is carried out.
If it were possible for me to alter any part of his plan, I could only spoil it.
The Works of John Newton, v. 5, p. 624.
How is the will of God done in heaven? Sadly? Burdensomely? Begrudgingly? No! It is done gladly! If I then pray, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” how can I not be motivated by a desire to be glad? It is a contradiction to pray for the will of God to be done in my life the way it is done in heaven, and then to say I am indifferent to whether I am glad or not. When the earth rejoices to do His will and does it perfectly, His will shall be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Desiring God, 1996, p. 140-41, Used by Permission, www.desiringGod.org. Get this book!
So is this true in your life? Is your heart wholly and unhesitatingly surrendered to the will of God, no matter what it is? Are you underestimating God’s care for you, as if He doesn’t know what is best for you? Or are you overestimating your wisdom before God, as if you know better than He does what is best for your life?
Taken from Follow Me by David Platt. Copyright © 2013 by David Platt. Used by permission. Website: Radical.net. Page 131.
Lord, I give up all my own plans and purposes, all my own desires and hopes, and accept Thy will for my life. I give myself, my life, my all utterly to Thee, to be Thine forever. Fill me and seal me with Thy Holy Spirit. Use me as Thou wilt. Send me where Thou wilt, and work out Thy whole will in my life at any cost, now and forever.
I am no longer anxious about anything, as I realize the Lord is able to carry out His will, and His will is mine. It makes no matter where He places me, or how. That is rather for Him to consider than for me; for in the easiest positions He must give me His grace, and in the most difficult, His grace is sufficient.
We judge God’s love and faithfulness by how many of our desires have been met. When our desires do not materialize, our words are telling. Angry, accusing words reveal the idols in our hearts – so do selfish prayers couched in pious and deferential language. Too often, it is not God’s will that we want, but our will made possible by God.
From Famine to Fullness, P&R Publishing, 2007, p. 29. Used by Permission.
The highest form of prayer is not, “Thy way, O God, not mine,” but “My way, O God, is Thine!” We are taught to pray, not “Thy will be changed,” but “Thy will be done."
The Kneeling Christian, circa 1930, ch. 8.
In the first place, we must not expect God to reveal His will to us unless we desire to know that will and intend to do that will. Knowledge of God’s will and the performance of that will go together. We are apt to desire to know God’s will so that we may decide whether we will obey or not. Such an attitude is disastrous. “If any man willeth to do His will, he shall know of the teaching” (John 7:17).
The Kneeling Christian, circa 1930, ch. 6.
The will of God will never take you where the grace of God will not protect you.
