Trillions and trillions of prayers every day asking and begging and pleading for favors. 'Do this' 'Gimme that' 'I want a new car' 'I want a better job'. And most of this praying takes place on Sunday. And I say fine, pray for anything you want. Pray for anything. But...what about the divine plan? Remember that? The divine plan. Long time ago God made a divine plan. Gave it a lot of thought. Decided it was a good plan. Put it into practice. And for billions and billions of years the divine plan has been doing just fine. Now you come along and pray for something. Well, suppose the thing you want isn't in God's divine plan. What do you want Him to do? Change His plan? Just for you? Doesn't it seem a little arrogant? It's a divine plan. What's the use of being God if every run-down shmuck with a two dollar prayer book can come along and fuck up your plan?
George Carlin
I got to thinking of the will of the Lord this week in relation to the words of Jesus which we find in John 14:20. This is the passage where Jesus speaks to our union life lived in He and the Father. Now, of course this fly's in the face of the separation theology found in the mainstream church which preaches that it is our own sin which has separated us from God. In my opinion, Jesus blows this false preaching out of the water with His declaration of our union life in Him. You might ask, how are these words spoken by Jesus related to the will of the Father? Well, a good friend reminded me the other day to view this in the context of the words of the apostle Paul which we find in Galatians 1:15-16. It is here that Paul describes how his own realization of his life in Christ came about. Did Paul pray that his eyes would be opened to the truth of Christ Jesus in him? Probably not. See, the man Saul was a Pharisee dead set on the persecution of the followers of Jesus. In fact, as he walked the road to Damascus that day, he carried with him letters from his Pharisee buddies against the followers of Jesus in Damascus. He came to persecute, not to see Jesus revealed in him. But God had a different plan for Saul. In an instant, in what I call Saul's "Come to Jesus" moment, Saul came face to face with the One he had been persecuting {Acts of the Apostles 9:1-5}. For all intents and purposes, the man Saul had ceased to exist. What remained now was His servant Paul. What can we learn from Paul's Damascus road experience in relation to our own knowing of our life in Jesus? Paul himself proclaims that "When it delights God, Who severs me from my mothers womb and calls me through His grace, to unveil His Son in me" {Paul to the Galatians 1:15-16}. Paul's eyes were opened to the truth of his life in Christ Jesus not because of the prayers he offered up, but according to the will of the Father. That's right, God decided that time and place to call Paul unto Him. So it will be with us as well.
To whom God wills to make known what are the glorious riches of this secret among the nations, which is: Christ among you, the expectation of glory
Paul to the Colossians 1: 27, Concordant New Testament
Could Jesus could have very well proclaimed that it is only by the will of the Father that our own eyes will be opened to the truth of our life in Him? Sure, but I believe that He has already done that. For when Jesus proclaimed "In that day," He was referring to that moment when God will reveal our life in He and His Son. Our eyes will be opened, in that day. This is by the desire of the Father. He decides when to reveal His Son in us. I've been through many Sundays of mainstream church sermons, false separation theology teaching and countless prayers for forgiveness. However, it wasn't until God decided to open my eyes to my life in Him that I came to realize the truth of Christ Jesus in me spoken by Paul {Paul to the Galatians 2:20}. Were there others praying that my eyes be opened to His truth? Most definitely. Yet I believe that something too many Christians miss is that our prayers do not supersede the will of the Father. Yes, we can pray for whatever our desires are, but it is the desire of the Lord which will come to pass. Make no mistake, God never does anything out of spite or anger, so we can rest assured that He has only our well being in mind {Paul to the Romans 8:28}. We can also be assured that it is His desire that we know the truth of our life in Him. This is in accordance with the words of Jesus in the book of John.
In that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you
Johns Account 14: 20, Concordant New Testament
~Scott~
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