Over the past few days we have been reading the story of Elijah and Elisha. Today’s first reading is from Sirach 48. It is something of a recap of the story in 1 and 2 Kings. Our Gospel reading is from Matthew 6, where Jesus teaches His disciples how to pray. We know it as the Lord’s Prayer, or the Our Father.
“Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
Volumes have been written about every word, every phrase in this prayer. Perhaps the most important is “thy will be done.” God wants us to talk to Him. We must pray. And we can ask for anything, any desire of our heart. We can never know that any or all of our desires will be granted. But we can be fully assured that this one prayer will be answered when we pray it. Why? Because it is a prayer of surrender. We put aside our own will and surrender to the Father's will. You can never go wrong when you pray for God’s will to be done. This was the prayer of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. He told the Father His wishes, but then surrendered His own will to the Father. Let us always do the same.
Father, teach us to seek only your will, to surrender to you our own will. May your will be done. Amen.
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