"Thy will be done"
This phrase occurs twice in the Bible, both are in Matthew (6:10) during the sermon on the mountain He teaches us to pray. In the Garden where Jesus prayed before He was arrested (26:42) He asked that "this cup" would pass from Him, but He was not spared. However, His prayer was answered, because He prayed that God's will was done. Jesus apparently desired not to suffer and die but He chose obedience to the Father's will. This raises a question about free will, which is a topic of great debate. Has God predetermined everything? Do we choose to respond to God's will expressed in commands, or do we simply do as God would have us do, with the "appearance, but not the substance" of freedom. Pragmatically, really if God has pre-chosen and pre-directed everything and every one's destiny, really what difference does any of our discussion make? I understand that this is a sacred and central tenant of many serious Christians, who tell me that it respects God's sovereignty. I do not understand response to that is "the cross"--whatever we think power and sovereignty mean, God seems to define it differently. Being in control was sacrificed from the beginning, in order to be in relationship.
Does prayer impact God's will? Can God change?
There are countless examples of God becoming angry with His people, or at others for how they treat His people. The wrath of God would seem to be reactive/responsive behavior. We also know God is pleased with His faithful servants. Another example of responsiveness. There is a large volume of interactive narratives. In addition, the writings of the prophets have much relational material. I always hasten to add, that the Bible speaks of the economia the God of the economy of salvation--transactions in space and time, interactions with the world and with nature. Human language is appropriate in this sphere because God has emptied Himself to enter this sphere. Anthropomorphic language is metaphoric, symbolic and inexact.
The Hebrew word naham (naw kham) and comes from the root to breath heavily or sigh, to pant. It means to feel pity or console (one self or another), it can also mean to be sorry or regret, lament or grieve, to repent and it can even mean to avenge.
The first occurrence (Gen 5:29) is connected to the naming of baby Noah, who will comfort the people. The next two (Gen 6:6&7) are stunning. The Lord saw the sin and corruption of humans "and the Lord was sorry (naham) that he had made man on the earth and it grieved [asab=hurt, pain, grieve, displease, vex] Him to His heart. The next verse, God declares, "I will blot out man...for I am sorry that I have made them."
For our purposes, Exodus 32 addresses the issue of intercession with God. In 32:12 Moses is trying to convince God that the Egyptians will say that He had drawn Israel out for ill intent (mischief) and wanted to wipe them out. Moses exhorts YHWH to "turnfrom/repent (sub) from thy fierce anger and repent (naham) of this evil against Thy people."
The Lord does 'repent' (v14). Paradoxically, the next time the word occurs is Numbers 23:19 where He says, "God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should repent. Hs He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken and will He not fulfill it? [The apparent contradiction can be explained, but not without some tension remaining!]
Judges 2:8 God is moved to "pity" by the groaning of the people. 1 Samuel 15 God greatly regrets making Saul king. Followed by 15:29 "The Strength of Israel will not lie or relent. For He is not a man that He should relent. But six verses later "God regretted that He made saul king over Israel."
1 Chronicles 21:15 God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem, but as it was going on God regretted so He told the angel to still his hand.
Jeremiah 15:6 God acts in judgement declaring "I am weary of relenting" Jeremiah has many verses on conditional relenting, based on the behavior of the people 18:8, 10; 26:3, 13, 19. Joel 2:13-14 speaks of God relenting in response to repentance and Amos 7:3, 6 provide two examples of God relenting, as He changes His mind on punishing His people.
One last illustration of the anthropomorphic "emptying" of God. We often overlook this clash of "theology" and "message" when reading Scripture. Jeremiah is in our daily readings currently. In chapter 2 God "remembers" the early ideal of covenant love with Israel. In chapter 3 he returns to this theme, accusing Israel "of playing the whore with many lovers." Jeremiah 3:7 And I (God) thought, "After she has done all this she will return to Me, but she did not return to Me." What can it mean that God 'thinks' something 'might' happen in the future? Obviously, we do not want to push too hard, God is communicating to humans and through a human, after all. There are also many verses which point to God's promise and declaration of a better future for His people (best seen as a pattern rather than a prediciton; a prophecy to be filled up in the return from exile, the ministry of Jesus, the ministry of the church, and most perfectly at the consumation of all things "On That Day."
Will of God in Jewish Scriptures
The story of Israel is centered on grace creating//saving a people with the offer of a permanent relationship founded on love, trust and fidelity. God's unconditional love leads Him to offer Himself as Father/King/Husband to the covenant people. The constraints of the covenant are expressed in the instruction (Torah) which God asks His people to (shamar) keep. This is the same Hebrew word used to describe the role of 'adam in the garden. Now the whole people are to be "keepers." The motivation is this worldly--where God reigns among His people through the presence of His Name among them.
Keep the commandments "so it will go well with you" (Jeremiah 7:24; 42:6); a recurring theme in Deuteronomy [4:40 "keep His statutes and commandments, which I am commanding you today for your own well-being and that of your descendants after yo, so that you may long remain in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for all time." We find it again in Deuteronomy 5:16; 5:29, 5:33; 6:3; 6:18; 12:25; 12:28; 22:7. Clearly the purpose of the Law/Instruction is for the well being of His people. It is no accident the numerical value (in Hebrew each letter is also a numeral) of the Hebrew letters in Torah is 611. The Talmud says there are 611 commandments plus the first two of the ten commandments which God spoke to Moses. The number 613 is most accepted (though with much debate and discussion among rabbis). They concretely spell out the will of God. They seem to function like common law principles, and there is a mix of liturgical, ethical and social commands which do not follow a strict ordering. The primary purpose of the commands is to illustrate the "will of God," which is that people love, trust and obey Him and reject all other gods; and that they treat one another with love and justice.
Jeremiah 3:17 "At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord, and all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of the Lord in Jerusalem, and they shall no longer follow their own evil will." The prayer of Jesus seems to resonate with this declaration of Jeremiah (and clearly Jesus read and integrated Jeremiah in His own ministry and teaching). The problem of the fallen world is that humans do their own will and not the will of God. The deepest meaning of the petition is that God free us from our twisted human will (corporately and individually). Compliance with the will of God will make a world a better place.
NT
The Greek word thelema (will, desire, pleasure, what one wishes or determines should be done) provides for both an active and more passive understanding of the will of God. The will of God is what the Lord does and describes what happens In other instances the word means that there are desires which God has provided as goals for us. The word thelema is only in Mark once, in 3:35 Jesus says, "Whoever does the will of God, is my brother, and sister, and mother. The parallels Matthew (12:46-50) changes God to Father and Luke (8:19-21) flips it to say 'My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it." Doing God's will makes one part of the family of Jesus--membership in His family is one meaning of "the church." But it is conditional, and implies that those who do not do the will of God are not part of the family.
The second time Matthew uses it, two chapters after the verse in the Lord's prayer Mt 7:21, Jesus warns that saying, "Lord, Lord" is not enough to enter the Kingdom, one must "do the will of the Father." In the context of the parable of the Lost Sheep Jesus concludes with this (sweet and heartening word). There is greater joy over the return of one who has gone astray--so it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost." Clearly our prayer is an embrace of the Father's will that the lost and the outcast be found and come home (with the consciousness that we, too, are the lost and least). In chapter 21, the parable of the two sons, one son says no to his father, but then does his will. The other son says, 'yes' but fails to follow up--Jesus asks, who did the will of the father? Jesus then warns, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the Kingdom before you because they believed.
The Gospel of John has many references as well (My food is to do the will of God 4:34; this is especially significant in light of the next petition "give us the bread") 6:38, 39, 40 Jesus does not do His own will but the will of the Father who sent Him (think of the Garden prayer), the Father's will is that Jesus not lose anything He has been given but to raise it up on the last day, the Father's will is that everyone who Sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life and be raised up on the last Day. John 7:17Jesus says the benefit of doing God's will is it gives us discernment to determine if He speaks the word of God.
Paul begins several letters declaring that he is called to be an apostle by the will of God (1&2 Cor, Eph, Col, 2 Tim). He speaks often of God's will in terms of the Gospel and the work of Jesus (Gal 1:4, Ephesians 1). At other times the will of God is identified as things we are supposed to do (Thessalonians) be holy, abstain from sexual immorality, give thanks.
1 Peter is especially focused on the will of God. "For it is God's will that by doing right you should silence the ignorance of the foolish." (2:15) Peter does indicate that God is involved in our lives as he exhorts the believers "it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God's will, that to suffer for doing evil. He explains how and why Christ suffered, and tells the readers 'you must be prepared to suffer' leaving behind the sinful passions and desires, "you mist o longer live by human desires but by the will of God" (4:2) He concludes (4:13) that we should not be surprised by the fiery ordeal of life, as if it were strange, but rejoice in sharing Christ's sufferings and look forward to the glory to come. 4:19 "Threfore let those suffering in accordance with God's will entrust themselves to a faithful Creator, while continuing to do good." An amazing letter, indeed, and vital for understanding the will of God.
Lastly the first letter of John (5:14) and this is the confidence we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And that is at the heart of this petition in the Lord's prayer, that we pray for His will, we pray according to His will. This is the deepest meaning of praying in the Name of Jesus --it is to pray in the person who is Son of God. To pray in His Name is to pray with and in Him. It is to desire the Father's will. Praying for His will becomes an open portal for the Lord to enter this place--which is ruled by the Enemy and polluted with evil and the demonic. GOd has given the world over to our wills (Genesis 1) in a very real sense. Ruled in place by the renegade and rebellious (the spiritual entities and human), the fallen world is in disorder and, per Romans, moans and longs for deliverance. Your will be done is fundamentally a prayer for that deliverance and new life.
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