The Lord’s Prayer (5) – Thy Will be Done

Now the next portion of this prayer says, “Let Your will (God’s will) be done on earth as it is in heaven.” He is very specific in this prayer. He doesn’t just pray; “Let Your will be done anywhere” because here is no problem with God’s will being done in heaven where God’s throne is. When God speaks, His will is carried out, but on the earth there is a problem.

It is very interesting. In the book of Genesis it talks about when God first created man, When God created man He wanted man to have dominion. There is a list of things there God wanted man to have dominion over: the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the creeping things, and the beasts on the earth. Then He says, “Over the whole earth”. God’s intention from the very beginning when He created man was that man would manage this earth, rule over this earth. So here Jesus is teaching us to pray this way, “Father, let Thy will be done on the earth just like it is in heaven.” In other words, we need to bring God, Who is in the heavens, to the earth. We need to bring the things of God, the feelings of God, the will of God, the desires of God, and the things God wants to do to this earth—not just let them stay up in heaven where everything is okay and there are no problems. God originally created man to rule and reign on this earth. Here, in this prayer Jesus is teaching us to pray, “Thy will be done on earth just like it is in heaven.” Now I believe this portion of this prayer, “Let Your will be done on earth” is somewhat related to following God’s will even in our lives personally. There are several places in the Bible that talk about knowing the will of God and following the will of God. For instance, you might ask the question, “How do you know what God’s will is?” In the book of Galatians it says, “Walk by the Spirit.” In other words, the Spirit reveals to us God’s will. Then it says, “And then you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. Further in this passage it says, “If you are led by the Spirit.” So we have seen, “Walking by the Spirit”, and “Being led by the Spirit”. So if you ask the question, “How do you know the will of God”, you know by the Spirit. Now in the book of Acts, chapter 16, we have Paul and someone else attempting to go to a certain place to do some ministry. It says that the Spirit of Jesus suffered them not, or prevented them from doing that. In other words, there was a feeling in his spirit from Jesus saying, “No, you are not supposed to go there, Paul.” So Paul knew the will of God by the Spirit. Also, in Acts 13 when Paul was being commissioned for his missionary journey, it says the Spirit said, “Separate me Paul for this work” or something like that. Here you have the Holy Spirit speaking. How do you know the will of God? You know the will of God by the Spirit.