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God's will is to make our life easier. God's will is to share our hurts, to lighten the load, and to give more joy.
DISCIPLESHIP:
BASICS FOUR:
God’s Will
Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,
on Earth as it is in heaven….
The Our Father is THE prayer recommended by Jesus to us. We will explore this prayer gradually over the coming weeks. There is one line, that we will focus on today, ‘thy will be done’.
What do you think God’s will is?
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How do you think we can know God’s will?
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These are the key questions for this week.
The first place to know God’s will is through prayer. St. Teresa of Lisieux says prayer is…
For me, prayer
is a surge of the heart;
it is a simple look turned toward heaven,
it is a cry of recognition and of love,
embracing both trial and joy.
BTW, the Catechism uses this quote to start its section on prayer.
Teresa’s prayer “embraces both trial and joy.” This means, she accepts what is happening in her life as God’s permissive will. God allows it to happen to her, so she accepts it as God accepts it. This does not mean that we are happy with injustice and the wrongs around us. We want God’s kingdom to come. But first we must come to Jesus and be transformed, before we can go out and transform the world. First we must come to Jesus and get to know him and be guided by him. We need to develop his attitude of heart, a humble loving heart.
There is a deep attitude of heart here that we need to develop with God’s help. The first step is to accept life as it is. As Jesus calls us to “take up our cross and follow Jesus”. Our cross is the daily challenges before us. By embracing and accepting our cross like Jesus did, we are able to follow him. This means accepting our limitations, but doing the best we can. It also means not seeking after things beyond us. There is a psalm which expresses this attitude well.
LORD, my heart is not proud; nor are my eyes haughty. I do not busy myself with great matters, with things beyond me.
Rather, I have stilled my soul, hushed it like a weaned child. Like a weaned child on its mother's lap, so is my soul within me. (Psalm 131, 1,2)
What great things do you go after?
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Do you try to impress others?
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Do you try to do things so others will think better of you?
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God loves us as we are. God is already impressed by
us. We do not need to earn his love. He gives it freely. He wants us to be
happy and accepting of who we are. Knowing this, we can relax into the presence
of God. We can still our soul in prayer and allow his love to enfold us.
Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)
By sharing our life with God, he is able to abide in us, and through us, God is able to transform the world. It is a matter of getting rid of greed, starting with our own. And being happy with what we have. If we don’t chase after so many things, and are happy with what we have, life would be easier and we would enjoy it more.
Are there times when you have felt the unconditional love of God? Describe it.
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At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure. …"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matt 11:25-26,28-30
To be yoked with Jesus, is an image from the farm, where two oxen have a piece of wood (the yoke) over their necks which pulls the weight of the plough. The cross is like the yoke. Jesus wants to carry our cross with us. He wants to be yoked with us. By sharing it with Jesus, it becomes ‘light’. This is God's will. He wants to share the hassles and struggles with us to make them light. His deepest desire is to be our best friend and share the pain and joys of our life to ease the pain and give more joy. His heart breaks with the pain of the world. He desires so much to take your pain away. And by praying each day, he will gradually do that. Take a moment now and share your pain with Jesus. Ask him to help you carry it so it becomes lighter. You might like to write a prayer for his help.
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We are the ones that make life hard and add extra weights upon us. Jesus wants to free us from all that and to live a simpler, easier life. The key, is to seek God’s will in all things.
As part of our prayer life we should pray the Our Father. As you pray it, really pray the part that God’s will be done from your heart. Ask God to help you seek his will above all things.
As we maintain our prayer life, we will slowly grow closer to God. By now, you have been praying for three weeks. You may even have given up at times on prayer, or just forgot to do it because of all the things you need to do. It is essential to pray each day. God alone has the power to transform our life, and the first habit we need to establish is prayer.
At times, we can feel like giving up on prayer. The first thing to realise is that Jesus came to save us not condemn us. It is illogical to think of a saving, loving God, being angry about our failures. God always appreciates the efforts we make. He knows we will stuff up. But he loves us regardless. He is there to help and nurture us. This is what John says about Jesus.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:17)
Jesus does not condemn us, but is there to help us. It is not the mistakes that are important, but the effort to keep going. God can deal with our past mistakes, but it is up to us to choose the right actions for the future.
For this week, keep up the 15 minutes of prayer, include some scripture. Pray the Our Father, really asking God to help you desire to do God’s will and to give you the grace to do it. You may like to say this simple prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, help me to seek God’s will and to do it. Amen
St. Teresa of Lisieux and St. Francis of Assisi, pray for us.
