By Michael Koontz
Pastor, Pine Ridge Baptist Church, Harriman
Focal Passage: Matthew 6:10–11;
James 4:6–10; 4:13–17
In the model prayer that our Lord gave to us, it shows us that our will is not key, but our Father’s will (Matthew 6:10). Look at James 4:6-10 and we see this passage begins and ends with a word that we must embrace as we pray for the Father’s will — humble.
Move forward to James 4:15 and again we see the same concept of the Lord’s will. Our prayer life is about submitting to the will of the Father “your kingdom, your will.”
My nature is to say my will be done, so I must constantly humble myself to whatever the Father wants.
First and foremost, the will of the Father is that you would be saved. Salvation requires that you humble yourself before God and submit to Him in faith and repentance.
In Luke 18:13 the tax collector came with that right attitude as he prayed for salvation.
Each person must do the same. Surrender all to God. After salvation, we must continually surrender to the will of our Heavenly Father. The second verse of B.B. McKinney’s hymn “Wherever He Leads I’ll Go” is a song I’ve sung all my life. The message is a hard one to practice though. To honestly say ‘wherever He leads I’ll go,’ is where my relationship needs to be with God.
In the second verse we find a key statement to have success in His will. It says, ‘I sought His will to know.’ Dear friends, we must seek God’s will and be willing to surrender to it. Surrendering requires us to be humble.
God will not work with the proud. Pride is a basic sin we must repent of. Pride says I’m above others. I’m not above any other person. We are all in the same boat with a sin problem.
Praise God my sin problem has been covered by the blood of Jesus! I’m certainly not above God. There is no room for pride in following the will of the Father.
At the close of World War II, Japan had to humble itself and accept the terms offered when they signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender aboard the USS Missouri.
Accepting the terms brought an end to conflict and opened up a path to working together. Working with the Father opens up the best possible path. The path begins when we surrender to His will.
James 4:8 says to “draw near to God.” The desire to draw near comes when we have submitted to Jesus as Lord and Savior.
We are promised in Psalm 145:18 that our God will be near us when we call upon Him with a sincere heart. Jesus promised that He is always near as we are serving (Matthew 28:20).
Declare the great works of our God. That is what David said at the end of Psalm 73:28 “That I may declare all thy works.”
As we surrender to our Heavenly Father, He will be glorified. He will open up opportunities for us to love others to Jesus!
