Wills and Wants - by Elizabeth Reynolds

Matthew 6:9-13

9 This, then, is how you should pray:

"Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be Your name,

10 Your kingdom come, 

Your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

11 Give us today our daily bread.

12 And forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from the evil one.

This passage in Matthew 6 is possibly one of the most quoted passages in the Bible. Actually, not quoted, it is prayed.

And when thinking about it more deeply one day, it occurred to me that verse 10 is one of several verses that supports the fact that we have free will. Let Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

This suggests that there is indeed a will other than God’s that exists or can exist. A will that is turned away from God, and that has turned the world around differently from how things are in heaven. This way is not only different, but also not as good, as the scripture causes us to pray that earth should be like heaven. (This seems pretty obvious - God’s way is obviously going to be better than any other way, but it’s still worth mentioning.)

We know for a fact that earth is not like heaven right now. And to me, that stamps out any theories about there being no free will. It is aligning our will with God’s will that is the trick. And it is what I think it means to do something in Jesus’ name. If you do an action in the name of something, the very action is for that cause, to support the ethos of that thing, in line with the beliefs associated with it. In John 14:13-14, Jesus says, and I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

Will He get me a life-time supply of chocolate or free pizza once a week because I add “in Jesus name” at the end of my request? Not necessarily, because a life-time supply of chocolates or free pizza, in its very essence, is not in the name of Jesus. It doesn’t align with everything Jesus stands for, everything He came to die for. His will, His heart for the world.

(You’ll notice I said “not necessarily” and not just “no”, because… well, you might as well still hang on to hope - you never know!)

Things happening on earth as they do in heaven is totally in alignment with God and His ways, and it is what He wants. Free pizza once a week is my will. That’s what I want, and that totally exists… the want I mean, not the free pizza unfortunately. The world and the people in it have many wants… all kinds of wants. And by looking at the state of the world, they are not God’s wants. These wants exist and they are manifested, and so there is clearly free will.

Let us reflect on whether our prayers and our wants are, in their essence, in the name of Jesus. We might see more answer to prayer and feel a deeper sense of connection with God if we do.