Are we really seeking God’s will?

One of the common prayers that all Christians have concerns God’s will for them.  But as we pray for God’s will we need to ask ourselves – are we really seeking what He desires, or are we just hoping He confirms a decision we have already made in our hearts?

There’s an interesting story found in Jeremiah 42.  When the Israelites began their exile in Babylon, there were some men who went to Jeremiah the prophet:

Jeremiah 42:1-3 (NIV)
1 Then all the army officers, including Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest approached
2 Jeremiah the prophet and said to him, "Please hear our petition and pray to the LORD your God for this entire remnant. For as you now see, though we were once many, now only a few are left.
3 Pray that the LORD your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do."

It’s a petition that many of us have.  Most of us go straight to the Lord and seek His will.  Others will need counsel from other Christians to guide and lead them to God’s will.  What is important is our hearts desire it.

Jeremiah 42:4 (NIV)
4 "I have heard you," replied Jeremiah the prophet. "I will certainly pray to the LORD your God as you have requested; I will tell you everything the LORD says and will keep nothing back from you."

The people asking for God’s will even proclaimed:

Jeremiah 42:5-6 (NIV)
5 Then they said to Jeremiah, "May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with everything the LORD your God sends you to tell us.
6 Whether it is favorable or unfavorable, we will obey the LORD our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it will go well with us, for we will obey the LORD our God."

Now that’s the attitude!  How many of us can say the same thing when praying for God’s will?  Whether it is favorable or unfavorable, we will obey the Lord.  This should be the attitude of our hearts always when praying for God’s will.  God’s will is not always pleasing or favorable to us, but it is pleasing to Him.  And if our utmost desire is to please the Lord, we will obey Him no matter what His will is.

What this group of Israelites proclaimed sounded really great.  But did they mean it?

After ten days Jeremiah came back with an answer from the Lord.  Remember, this small group of exiles were in Babylon, and were asking what God would have them do.  This was part of God’s answer:

Jeremiah 42:10 (NIV)
10 'If you stay in this land, I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you, for I am grieved over the disaster I have inflicted on you.

In other words, God wanted them to stay, and if the obeyed God would graciously work through the heart of the king of Babylon and take care of them while they were in exile.

Take a look at how the Israelites responded:

Jeremiah 43:1-2 (NIV)
1 When Jeremiah finished telling the people all the words of the LORD their God--everything the LORD had sent him to tell them--
2 Azariah son of Hoshaiah and Johanan son of Kareah and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, "You are lying! The LORD our God has not sent you to say, 'You must not go to Egypt to settle there.'

Ok, what happened to their statement “whether it is favorable or unfavorable we will obey the Lord”?  It turns out that their lips spoke one thing, but their hearts had another agenda.  They didn’t really want to hear what God’s will was.  They wanted God to confirm what they already had in mind and heart to do.  Their response to God’s will, God’s Word, simply showed what the content of their hearts were.  From the beginning they did not really want to know God’s will.

If we’re really honest all of us will admit that we have a tinge of this attitude in our hearts.  How quick we are to pray for God’s will, how spiritual and submissive it sounds when we do that.  But when God’s Word reveals His will to us, how quick we also are to reason out why we can’t do it.

How many of us prayed for God’s guidance in a conflict we had with someone, and when God’s Word told us to humble ourselves and forgive, how many of us reasoned out and said “not now Lord, give me time”.  We prayed for God’s will, but when He revealed it it turns our we didn’t really want to follow it in the first place.

When we come to pray for God’s will it is important for us to come with a totally submissive and obedient heart, ready to obey the Lord no matter what.  And this is not just something you say, but something you believe.  This attitude comes from worship, from reverence.  If we truly worship and revere God as greater and higher than ourselves, than any other person or thing in the world, then we will have hearts that will submit and obey.

And, when praying for God’s will, we need to throw away every decision we have made, every desire we have, and empty our hearts to desire only one thing – God’s will.  We need to die to ourselves, our emotion, our dreams, and realize that our Sovereign God has a better plan for us – the best actually.

Sometimes it is better not to pray for God’s will, than to pray for God’s will with an unwilling heart to truly please God.  Why?  Look what Jeremiah told them:

Jeremiah 42:19-21 (NIV)
19 "O remnant of Judah, the LORD has told you, 'Do not go to Egypt.' Be sure of this: I warn you today
20 that you made a fatal mistake when you sent me to the LORD your God and said, 'Pray to the LORD our God for us; tell us everything he says and we will do it.'
21 I have told you today, but you still have not obeyed the LORD your God in all he sent me to tell you.

It was a fatal mistake because eventually it lead to their disobedience.  And God takes disobedience seriously.

1 Samuel 15:22-23 (NIV)
22 But Samuel replied: "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry…

Let not our lips or actions pretend to desire God’s will, when our hearts actually do not.  Rather, let our hearts truly bow down and revere and fear God so much that there is no other way for us to live than in obedience to the Word of the Lord.  May our hearts be emptied of our desires, goals and dreams and submit totally to God’s will as revealed in His Word.