Your Will Be Done, On Earth As It Is In Heaven- Dougie Spence

When I was growing up, especially in my teenage days, asking my parents if I could watch a movie with my friends was an insane proposition. As much as it annoyed me, I’m pretty sure my dad loved the question.

He would instantly transform into a detective, I’m sure he works for the CIA, and he just tells everybody he works in “the glass industry”. The house instantly became lock down and then the questions would come fast and hard; “who are you watching it with”, “where are you going”, and “what movie are you watching”?

After the interrogation he would go off to his computer to spend hours analyzing every detail of my story, and the movie. After he had gone through scrutinizing deliberation he would return with a verdict. Sometimes he would come back and tell me to enjoy the movie, other times I would have to hear how bad the movie was and that it would be a poor decision to go see that movie.

Once I was out with my friends I had a decision to make; do I do what my dad wants me to do, or do I do what my friends want me to do? In the simplest form, this is what “your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven” means.

At my parent’s house, we will call this heaven (and if you have tasted my mother’s cooking, it is not far off), the movies my dad told me not to watch were off limits. Whereas if I was away from home, earth, I was in a situation where I could make my own decisions.

This piece of the prayer is instructing us to seek God’s will in every decision we come across. We should be asking Him to show us His will. But asking is not enough; sometimes we need His strength to fulfill His will. In Heaven there is no sin, so His will is easy to follow, but here on earth we have decisions to make and sin to face. Ask God to give you the strength to do what He wants you to do.

Have you ever struggled with God’s will? What did you do? How did He help you?