Your Will

Romans 12:1 | All of the Letter to the Romans comes to bear upon this sentence: It is through God’s mercy that we respond in faith…in “reasonable”worship: being living, holy and well-pleasing sacrifices to God.

Romans 12:2 | Jesus teaches that we live in “this age” but invites us to consider “the age to come” (EG: Mark 10:27-31 and Luke 20:27-40). Here, by the Spirit, Paul is calling us to be transformed so that we are no longer “of this age”. Why? So that we can test and discern what is, in fact, God’s Will, which is what we pray for when we pray the Lord’s Prayer.

Romans 12:9-19 | Jesus said, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35). This paragraph of Scripture defines for us what this looks like: loving without hypocrisy. Remember: hypocrisy is not committing sins and then coming to church, hypocrisy is coming to church and condemning those who sin! We are to act like a family, loving and leading others out of darkness, letting our lights shine! This is God’s Will! See 1 Corinthians 13.

When we pray Your Will Be Done On Earth As It Is In Heaven: “Such prayer must be our protection and defense now to repulse and vanquish all that the devil, bishops, tyrants, and heretics can do against our gospel. Let them all rage and try their worst, let them plot and plan how to suppress and eliminate us so that their will and scheme may prevail. Against them a simple Christian or two, armed with this single petition, shall be our bulwark, against which they shall dash themselves to pieces. We have this comfort and boast: that the will and purpose of the devil and of all our enemies shall and must fail and come to naught, no matter how proud, secure, and powerful they think they are. For if their will were not broken and frustrated, the kingdom of God could not abide on earth nor his name be hallowed.”

—Martin Luther’s Large Catechism, The Lord’s Prayer, Third Petition, Paragraphs 69-70 (Kolb/Wingert p. 449).