Praying God's Will & Not Our Own

Foundations of Our Faith April 2003

As I write this, the world is perhaps hours away from conflict in Iraq. It is March 17, 2003. Since the beginning of this year there have been numerous prayer initiatives making the rounds by email land word of mouth asking people to pray for peace; to pray for Saddam Hussein to go into exile; to pray for any conflict to remain within Iraq's borders and so forth. But are these types of prayers what we should be pouring our energy into? And would these prayers actually bring the peace we have in mind?

Down through the centuries since the Messiah's resurrection, there have been many erroneous teachings unleashed on the church. One such teaching is that we, as Christ's followers, are to be His agents of peace, ushering in a time of world peace. After all, isn't Yeshua known as the Prince of Peace?

Yes, He is, but this particular teaching is in no way Scriptural. It has been propagated by taking Scripture out of context and even going so far as allegorizing much of Scripture to completely deny the Messiah's second physical return to earth. It is taught that the rule and reign of Christ is to be in our hearts and that is how His peace is to be spread. But is this what Scripture actually states? Let's take a look.

In Luke 4:17-19 we read the words of Yeshua as He reads the Torah portion for that day in the synagogue:

“And there was handed to Him [the roll of] the book of the prophet Isaiah. He opened (unrolled) the book and found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon Me, because He has anointed Me [the Anointed One, the Messiah] to preach the good news (the Gospel) to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed [who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity], To proclaim the accepted and acceptable year of the Lord [the day when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound.”

But If we look at the Torah portion that Yeshua read that morning we can see that He stopped short of the full portion. We find that reading in Isaiah 61:1-3:

“THE SPIRIT of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed and qualified me to preach the Gospel of good tidings to the meek, the poor, and afflicted; He has sent me to bind up and heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the [physical and spiritual] captives and the opening of the prison and of the eyes to those who are bound, To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord [the year of His favor] and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, To grant [consolation and joy] to those who mourn in Zion--to give them an ornament (a garland or diadem) of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, the garment [expressive] of praise instead of a heavy, burdened, and failing spirit--that they may be called oaks of righteousness [lofty, strong, and magnificent, distinguished for uprightness, justice, and right standing with God], the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.” (italics mine)

So, when Yeshua read this passage He was apparently declaring what His ministry objectives were during His time in Israel at His first appearing. The text He did not read (that shown in italics above), though not separated in the text by a period, was not part of Yeshua's ministry at that time. It will, however, be key at the time of His return. Let's take a look at another of Yeshua's statements, in Luke 21:22:

“For those are days of vengeance [of rendering full justice or satisfaction], that all things that are written may be fulfilled.”

So, the days of vengeance will take place in conjunction with His second coming and the fulfillment of all things in God's Word - “And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with great (transcendent and overwhelming) power and [all His kingly] glory (majesty and splendor).” (Luke 21:27)

If we look again at the prophet Isaiah, we find more detail of what will take place on the day of God's vengeance.

“WHO IS this Who comes from Edom, with crimson-stained garments from Bozrah [in Edom]? This One Who is glorious in His apparel, striding triumphantly in the greatness of His might? It is I, [the One] Who speaks in righteousness [proclaiming vindication], mighty to save! Why is Your apparel splashed with red, and Your garments like the one who treads in the winepress? I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the peoples there was no one with Me. I trod them in My anger and trampled them in My wrath; and their lifeblood is sprinkled upon My garments, and I stained all My raiment. For the day of vengeance was in My heart, and My year of redemption [the year of My redeemed] has come. And I looked, but there was no one to help; I was amazed and appalled that there was no one to uphold [truth and right]. So My own arm brought Me victory, and My wrath upheld Me. I trod down the peoples in My anger and made them drink of the cup of My wrath until they were intoxicated, and I spilled their lifeblood upon the earth.” -- Isaiah 63:1-6

We can see from this passage that, contrary to popular belief, Yeshua will not return directly to the Mount of Olives, but will return to Bozrah in Edom (modern day Jordan) and He will walk from there to Jerusalem. On His way, He will finally unleash God's wrath on those who will have gathered to destroy Israel and the Jewish people. So we can see that in conjunction with proclaiming the day of vengeance, Yeshua will also comfort all who mourn in Zion as they will have just been witness to, and will have survived, the greatest outpouring of anti-Semitism the world will ever see.

Now, I don't know about you, but it sure doesn't sound like the world is going to know any lasting peace until the day Yeshua returns to take His rightful position on the throne of David in Jerusalem. But does that mean that we should stop praying for peace? No! In Psalm 122, verse 6, we are commanded to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. But if we are praying for Jerusalem's peace, and we see that there are yet to be devastating conflicts involving Israel, are our prayers being said in vain? Again I would say no. We simply must look at things from God's perspective rather than our own.

I believe that when God commands us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, or the world, we are to do just that, knowing that the only One Who will ever be able to bring lasting peace to Jerusalem, Israel, and the world, is Yeshua the Messiah. When we pray God's Word and ask that His will be done, we must understand that we are asking God to fulfill the portions of His Word that have yet to be fulfilled. We are asking God to keep His promises. We are asking God to allow sin and iniquity to come to their full measure in order that He can bring them to their end. Our prayers for peace will initially bring greater world conflict, just as the Bible states must happen. But our prayers are not falling on deaf ears - God is honoring them. We will see the fruit of our labors. We will see our Messiah return to usher in His physical kingdom on earth. We just need to make sure that we have His perspective so we don't become discouraged or deceived when our prayers for peace seem to bring conflict instead. Remember the words of the Messiah in Matthew 10:34, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” Even so, come quickly Lord!

All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Amplified Bible,

Used by permission.


	Foundations of Our Faith April 2003 Praying God's Will & Not Our Own As I write this, the world is perhaps hours away from conflict in Iraq. It is March 17, 2003. Since the beginning of this year there have been numerous prayer initiatives making the rounds by email land word of mouth asking people to pray for peace; to pray for Saddam Hussein to go into exile; to pray for any conflict to remain within Iraq's borders and so forth. But are these types of prayers what we should be pouring our energy into? And would these prayers actually bring the peace we have in mind? Down through the centuries since the Messiah's resurrection, there have been many erroneous teachings unleashed on the church. One such teaching is that we, as Christ's followers, are to be His agents of peace, ushering in a time of world peace. After all, isn't Yeshua known as the Prince of Peace? Yes, He is, but this particular teaching is in no way Scriptural. It has been propagated by taking Scripture out of context and even going so far as allegorizing much of Scripture to completely deny the Messiah's second physical return to earth. It is taught that the rule and reign of Christ is to be in our hearts and that is how His peace is to be spread. But is this what Scripture actually states? Let's take a look. In Luke 4:17-19 we read the words of Yeshua as He reads the Torah portion for that day in the synagogue: “And there was handed to Him [the roll of] the book of the prophet Isaiah. He opened (unrolled) the book and found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon Me, because He has anointed Me [the Anointed One, the Messiah] to preach the good news (the Gospel) to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed [who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity], To proclaim the accepted and acceptable year of the Lord [the day when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound.” But If we look at the Torah portion that Yeshua read that morning we can see that He stopped short of the full portion. We find that reading in Isaiah 61:1-3: “THE SPIRIT of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed and qualified me to preach the Gospel of good tidings to the meek, the poor, and afflicted; He has sent me to bind up and heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the [physical and spiritual] captives and the opening of the prison and of the eyes to those who are bound, To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord [the year of His favor] and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, To grant [consolation and joy] to those who mourn in Zion--to give them an ornament (a garland or diadem) of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, the garment [expressive] of praise instead of a heavy, burdened, and failing spirit--that they may be called oaks of righteousness [lofty, strong, and magnificent, distinguished for uprightness, justice, and right standing with God], the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.” (italics mine) So, when Yeshua read this passage He was apparently declaring what His ministry objectives were during His time in Israel at His first appearing. The text He did not read (that shown in italics above), though not separated in the text by a period, was not part of Yeshua's ministry at that time. It will, however, be key at the time of His return. Let's take a look at another of Yeshua's statements, in Luke 21:22: “For those are days of vengeance [of rendering full justice or satisfaction], that all things that are written may be fulfilled.” So, the days of vengeance will take place in conjunction with His second coming and the fulfillment of all things in God's Word - “And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with great (transcendent and overwhelming) power and [all His kingly] glory (majesty and splendor).” (Luke 21:27) If we look again at the prophet Isaiah, we find more detail of what will take place on the day of God's vengeance. “WHO IS this Who comes from Edom, with crimson-stained garments from Bozrah [in Edom]? This One Who is glorious in His apparel, striding triumphantly in the greatness of His might? It is I, [the One] Who speaks in righteousness [proclaiming vindication], mighty to save! Why is Your apparel splashed with red, and Your garments like the one who treads in the winepress? I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the peoples there was no one with Me. I trod them in My anger and trampled them in My wrath; and their lifeblood is sprinkled upon My garments, and I stained all My raiment. For the day of vengeance was in My heart, and My year of redemption [the year of My redeemed] has come. And I looked, but there was no one to help; I was amazed and appalled that there was no one to uphold [truth and right]. So My own arm brought Me victory, and My wrath upheld Me. I trod down the peoples in My anger and made them drink of the cup of My wrath until they were intoxicated, and I spilled their lifeblood upon the earth.” -- Isaiah 63:1-6 We can see from this passage that, contrary to popular belief, Yeshua will not return directly to the Mount of Olives, but will return to Bozrah in Edom (modern day Jordan) and He will walk from there to Jerusalem. On His way, He will finally unleash God's wrath on those who will have gathered to destroy Israel and the Jewish people. So we can see that in conjunction with proclaiming the day of vengeance, Yeshua will also comfort all who mourn in Zion as they will have just been witness to, and will have survived, the greatest outpouring of anti-Semitism the world will ever see. Now, I don't know about you, but it sure doesn't sound like the world is going to know any lasting peace until the day Yeshua returns to take His rightful position on the throne of David in Jerusalem. But does that mean that we should stop praying for peace? No! In Psalm 122, verse 6, we are commanded to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. But if we are praying for Jerusalem's peace, and we see that there are yet to be devastating conflicts involving Israel, are our prayers being said in vain? Again I would say no. We simply must look at things from God's perspective rather than our own. I believe that when God commands us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, or the world, we are to do just that, knowing that the only One Who will ever be able to bring lasting peace to Jerusalem, Israel, and the world, is Yeshua the Messiah. When we pray God's Word and ask that His will be done, we must understand that we are asking God to fulfill the portions of His Word that have yet to be fulfilled. We are asking God to keep His promises. We are asking God to allow sin and iniquity to come to their full measure in order that He can bring them to their end. Our prayers for peace will initially bring greater world conflict, just as the Bible states must happen. But our prayers are not falling on deaf ears - God is honoring them. We will see the fruit of our labors. We will see our Messiah return to usher in His physical kingdom on earth. We just need to make sure that we have His perspective so we don't become discouraged or deceived when our prayers for peace seem to bring conflict instead. Remember the words of the Messiah in Matthew 10:34, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” Even so, come quickly Lord! Copyright (c) 1996 - 2003 Dan & Linda Krueger. All rights reserved, no portion of this site may be copied or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Amplified Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.