What Is God's Will for My Life?

Lutherans have a fancy label for the idea we’ve been considering in the last few posts.  It’s called “the doctrine of vocation.”  And it is a very encouraging and empowering doctrine!  It says, “God has called you to be and do what you are and do as Christian!”  On one level, your “vocation” is “a baptized child of God” no matter what you do.  But on another level, your “vocation” is all of the different roles, responsibilities and service opportunities you have assumed, because you carry them out AS a baptized child of God.

Sometimes Christians are tempted to ask, “What would God have me do with my life?” And then they become paralyzed waiting for a bolt of blinding clarity to come to them.  

There’s nothing wrong with wanting God to guide your decisions, especially when you are contemplating a change in work or lifestyle.  But Christians who ask “what would God have me do?” are often convinced that it’s “something different.”  In other words, they want a change and they believe that God wants them to change, too.

The truth, though, is that God wants you to serve Him where you are RIGHT NOW!  That doesn’t mean you can’t make a change in work or lifestyle, but it does mean that God has good work for you to do right now in the meantime!  

Don’t get frustrated that God hasn’t given you a “bolt of blinding clarity” while you pray over a change.  Whether you make the change or not, God wants to work through you where you are!  Wherever you are, there are people around you to bear with, love and forgive.  Whatever work you do, you can work as though serving the Lord with your work.

"for various holy orders and positions"

If you opened up your catechism to section 3 when you were reading the last post, you may have noticed the surprising sub-heading for the “Table of Duties”: “Certain passages of Scripture for various holy orders and positions, admonishing them about their duties and responsibilities.”

Holy orders!?!   That’s surprising enough, but then the list of “various holy orders” includes “hearers”, civil government, citizens, husbands, wives, parents, children, workers of all kinds, employers and supervisors, youth, widows, and even “everyone.”  

How can a list that includes “everyone” be a list of “holy” (i.e., set apart) orders?!?  Because this catechism is written for Christians!  And when Christians “go to work,” they are sent out into the world as God’s co-creators and Gospel ambassadors.  God is at work in the world through you!  And that makes your “day job” a holy work.

Does God work through engineers, secretaries and professional athletes who are not Christians?  Does He accomplish good things through them, too?  Yes, He does!  But as a Christian, you have a special calling as you go about your “day job.”  You share the Gospel in your words and deeds as you do your job!  In fact, you reveal Christ in your job.

“What Would Jesus Do?” has become a very popular slogan among Christians in the last few decades.  It’s meant to remind us that we want to follow the example of our Lord as we go through life.  And when it comes to doing our day job, that means we want people to see what “Jesus the engineer” or “Jesus the secretary” or “Jesus the professional athlete” looks like.

God's Word Has Even More to Say

Section 1 in the Small Catechism teaches the “six chief parts” of Christian doctrine, and most Lutherans teach these.  But it’s surprising how few churches teach the next three sections!  Section 2 provides four very helpful “daily prayers” for our use (either directly or as prompts for further prayer).  And Section 4 gives us a set of questions and answers to use when examining ourselves before participating in the Sacrament. 

But for this part of the blog, I want you to know about Section 3.  If you read through this section, you will notice that it is divided into different roles and responsibilities people can have:  pastors, hearers, citizens, husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, children, etc.  And in each sub-section is one or more passages of scripture that speak directly to how that person should carry out their duties.

For example:  Under “To Parents” we find Ephesians 6:4 which says, “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”  So if you are a father (or a single mother trying to make up for a fathers’ absence) and you want some guidance on how to do your “God-given job,” this passage makes it clear that bringing your children up in the training and instruction of the Lord is your job.  Now you will probably rely on people in the church to help you do this, but you will make sure that it is getting done well whether you or they are doing the heavy lifting.

The Bible is full of passages that speak to us “where we are” like this.  This is another great reason for every Christian to eagerly study the scriptures.  Maybe you don’t have time to read large portions of the Scripture every day, but I encourage you to read a little every day.  

Get a small devotional booklet that gives you a Bible passage and a couple of paragraphs to think on every day.  (I encourage you to pick up a copy of Portals of Prayer at St. Paul – Annapolis on Sunday.  We distribute them in the narthex.)  After you read the passage of scripture and the author’s brief meditation, ask yourself this question:  “What is God saying to me through this Bible verse right now?”  Maybe the passage will reveal something God desires of you that you have been resisting.  Then simply say, “I’m sorry, Lord.  I want to do better.”  Maybe the passage will reveal something He wants of you that you never realized.  Then simply say, “Lord, I want to serve you.  Help me see how I can do what you have asked today.”  Maybe the passage will encourage you that God has already given you great gifts.  Then simply say, “Lord, thank you so much!”

Keep the Ten Commandments

In one sense, the Christian life should have a very predictable look at feel.  In the six parts of the Catechism, we have learned how Jesus’ sacrifice and new life have saved us from sin and given us a new life, too.  But being saved from sin means we now live according to God’s plan for His children and His creation.  And that’s summarized in the Ten Commandments!

So whatever you do – whether you are a husband, wife, mother, father, son, daughter, butcher, baker or candlestick maker – keep the Commandments!  Martin Luther was famous for saying that this alone would give you plenty of good works to keep you busy for the rest of your life.  You don’t need to go chasing after “more noble” works than these; they are commanded by God, they are pleasing in His sight, and He has attached great promises to keeping them.  Why “make up” new works when we already have enough trouble with the works we’ve been given to do?!? 

But if you are like a lot of Christians, you want something a little more “prescriptive” to guide your life.  For example:  Knowing that God wants me to “love God” and “love my neighbor” doesn’t help me choose a college major or decide whether to relocate my family to take a new job.  Or does it?

In one sense it does!  God has given you your talents and abilities, passions and interest.  But you can use those to serve selfishly or selflessly.  So when you are considering a college major, you really should ask yourself:  Will I be able to use the opportunities unlocked by this degree to serve God by serving my neighbor.

That reminds me of an annual dinner I attended while I was an engineer.  The comedian who entertained us was talking about the engineers he’d met from a competing company at their annual dinner.  They were building a high bandwidth satellite communication system and the comedian was looking for an opening to make a joke.  So he asked the engineers in the front: “What are people going to do with all this bandwidth?”  Without pausing between bites, the engineers responded: “Porn.”

Now I’m not saying that the engineers who built that system were responsible for the many ways people would misuse it.  But we should care about the work we do and the effect it has on people!  We should care if the company we work for maximizes profits by employing foreign workers at near-slavery wages.  We should care whether the commercial artwork we produce sells products by exciting lust.  We should care whether we are going to be forced to say or teach things that God finds morally repugnant.

So the first question you can ask when you have to make a decision (of almost any kind):  Has God forbid or commanded this in His Commandments?

That's All Folks! (Or Is It?)

At this point, we have examined the six chief parts of Christian doctrine as the Reformers presented them in the Small Catechism.  And this is the strong foundation of faith for Lutheran Christians.  When a Christian joins the congregation of St. Paul – Annapolis, (s)he affirms that (s)he believes this doctrine and will live his or her life according to it.

But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing more to learn!  In truth, we never exhaust God’s Word.  It speaks a fresh message to us as the time and circumstances of our life change, and the time and circumstances of our lives give us a fresh perspective on things we have heard before.  For example:  The Bible passages about persecution rarely leave much of an impression on Christians in America until they’ve had to suffer in some way for the faith. Then they suddenly discover that the Bible speaks directly to their circumstances and – surprise, surprise – it speaks a word of comfort!

In fact, it’s generally true that God’s Word and the Christian faith should, can and does inform every aspect of our lives!  Consequently, I want to commit a few posts to this topic:  What do I do now that I’m a Christian?

The Lord's Prayer: Conclusion

After all of these requests to God, the Lord's Prayer ends like this:  "For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.  Amen."

What does this mean?  The Catechism says this: "This means that I should be certain that these petitions are pleasing to our Father in heaven, and are heard by Him; for He Himself has commanded us to pray in this way and has promised to hear us.  Amen, amen means 'yes, yes, it shall be so.'"

I've never particularly liked the longer explanation, but it does emphasize one thing very well:  We pray in faith.  We pray the Lord's prayer with boldness because God Himself gave it to us.  We know this prayer is pleasing to Him because this is the prayer He taught us to pray.  And because God gave us a pray that He finds pleasing, we can be sure that He hears it.

More than that:  When we say "Amen" it doesn't mean "I'm done now."  It means: "Let it be established!"  (That is the literalistic translation of the Hebrew word "amen.")  But we don't say this with any uncertainty.  God has called on us to pray for these things because He plans to give them to us.  And if God has said He will give them to us, it's a done deal.  The only question now is "how long, O Lord?"

So what should we do until He has answered all these petitions for us?  Oh, I know!  Keep on praying!

The Lord's Prayer: The Seventh Petition

The seventh petition of the Lord's Prayer is this:  "But deliver us from evil."

In truth, this is the second half of the sixth petition.  I find it helpful to imagine praying them as one:  "Lead us not into temptation; instead, deliver us from evil."

Of course, the attacks of the Evil one are many and varied.  But in the end they are all temptations!  The Devil is not content to just ruin your life or kill your body.  He wants you to reject the salvation you have in Jesus Christ!  And that means he wants to tempt you away from the faith with every thing he does.

Consequently, the Reformers explained the seventh petition in this way:  "We pray in this petition, in summary, that our Father in heaven would rescue us from every evil of body and soul, possessions and reputation, and finally, when our last hour comes, give us a blessed end, and graciously take us from this valley of sorrow to Himself in heaven."

The Lord's Prayer: The Sixth Petition

The sixth petition of the Lord's Prayer is this:  "And lead us not into temptation."

We may think we already know, but what does this really mean? The Reformers started their answer  with "God tempts no one."

But if nothing happens apart from God's permitting it to happen, can we really say that God doesn't tempt us?  It's a fair question, but we need to distinguish between "testing" and "tempting."  Because God most certainly tests us.

In Deuteronomy 13, Moses conveys this Law to God's people: "If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, 'Let us go after other gods,' which you have not known, 'and let us serve them,' you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams.  For the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul."

Hence, the Reformers go deeper with their answer:  "We pray in this petition that God would guard and keep us so that the devil, the world, and our sinful nature may not deceive us or mislead us into false belief, despair and other great shame and vice.  Although we are attacked by these things, we pray that we may finally overcome them and win the victory."

In the end, there is a real difference between "testing" and "tempting," even though they feel the same when they are happening.  The Tempter wants you to fail; God wants you to succeed.  And He sends His Holy Spirit to you to provide for you and protect you when you are tested so that you do not fail.  Trust Him!

The Lord's Prayer: The Fifth Petition

The fifth petition of the Lord's Prayer is this:  "And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."

What does this mean? "We pray in this petition that our Father in heaven would not look at our sins, or deny our prayer because of them.  We are neither worthy of the things for which we pray, nor have we deserved them, but we ask that He would give them all to us by grace, for we daily sin much and surely deserve nothing but punishment.  So we too will sincerely forgive and gladly do good to those who sin against us."

For many, the question they have about this petition is "what are trespasses," but it clears right up for you when we say, "Trespasses are sins."  Trespasses are simply all the things we are and do that separate us from God.  Trespasses are the reason why God would be justified if He decided to crumple up the whole creation like a piece of paper and toss it in the trash can.

The mercy of God is that He does not do this, but sent Jesus to suffer the just punishment which we deserve.  His grace is that He gives us the gifts that we no longer deserve, but that He desires for His children.

That's what we're praying for in this petition.  Just that our heavenly Father would forgive us for Jesus sake and treat us as dear children.

Of course, God also calls on us to forgive others in the way we've been forgiven.  Read Matthew 18:21-35.  Jesus is very clear in this passage about how He expects God's forgiven children to respond to their own forgiveness by forgiving those around them.

The Lord's Prayer: The Fourth Petition

The fourth petition of the Lord's Prayer is this:  "Give us this day our daily bread."

What does this mean? "God certainly gives daily bread to everyone without our prayers, even to all evil people, but we pray in this petition that God would lead us to realize this and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving."

Of course, it's best when the "meaning" doesn't include the very word we're trying to understand, i.e., daily bread.  But before we turn our attention to "daily bread," notice that the focus here is the effect praying this prayer has on us.   It's not that we won't have daily bread unless we pray for it!  Quite the contrary - God gives daily bread to all people, even evil people.

No.  We are to recognize that we receive all that we have from the hand of a gracious God and thank Him for it.

But what is "daily bread"?  This is the answer the Reformers gave:  "Daily bread includes everything that has to do with the support and needs of the body, such as food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, home, land, animals, money, goods, a devout husband or wife, devout children, devout workers, devout and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, self-control, good reputation, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like."  In other words:  Everything good in this life comes as a gift from God's hand!

Of course, when most of us think about the claim that "everyone" gets daily bread, we immediately think of hungry and starving people.  How are they receiving their daily bread?  A fuller answer will have to wait for another time, but the short answer is this:  They are still alive and God is supporting them in this flesh for as long as they are to remain in this flesh.  No.  They are not being cared for as God desired it in the beginning, but sin and the curse of the fallen creation have put a new "spin" on daily bread.  Now we have to "scrape by" to make a living.  Thank God it won't always be this way!

The Lord's Prayer: The Third Petition

The third petition in the Lord's Prayer is: "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

After a thorough study of the scriptures, the Reformers summarized what the third petition means in this way:  "The good and gracious will of God is done even without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may be done among us also."

It must be admitted from the outset that we don't always see God's will being done around us with our eyes.  When it comes to suffering and pain in the world, we want to say:  "Either that's not God's will or He's a monster that I won't worship."  But the truth is this:  It's either all in His hands or it's not.  Either He allows our pain and suffering (an unpleasant thought at first), planning to work it together for good, or He isn't strong enough to save us from it (an even more unpleasant thought!).

But we don't pray for God's will as though He is "the dispenser of good and evil."  We pray to "our heavenly Father," who has revealed His gracious will to us in many way.  He graciously wills good for us and He is working to make it happen in the midst of a fallen world that will ultimately pass away.  His merciful and gracious will is most clearly seen by His sending His own Son to die in our place so that our death isn't "for good."  In this way, He even turns "earthly death" to a good end.

God also works lesser blessings for us in this life, but He will never sacrifice our eternal life for the sake of temporary comfort.  If you and I suffer in this life, it is part of God's plan and in accordance with His will... but not for the sake of our suffering.  Ultimately, it all works together "to strengthen us and keep us firm in His word and faith until we die."

That's the "will" we pray for in this petition!  That is the will of "our Father", the gracious God.

This is how the Reformers understood this Third Petition, too. "How is God's will done?"  They answered: "God's will is done when He breaks and hinders every evil plan and purpose of the devil, the world, and our sinful nature, which do not want us to hallow God's name or let His kingdom come; and when He strengthens us and keeps us firm in His word and faith until we die.  This is His good and gracious will."

The Lord's Prayer: The Second Petition

The second petition in the Lord's Prayer is: "Thy kingdom come."

After a thorough study of the scriptures, the Reformers summarized what the second petition means in this way:  "The kingdom of God certainly comes by itself without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may come to us also."

It helps to remember that the word "kingdom" is almost always a "verbal noun" in Scripture.  In other words, a "kingdom" is "what a king does" more than just "where a king does it."  The kingdom is the reign of the king.

Of course, when you are talking about the "king of creation" and "lord of the nations," you might wonder how it could possibly happen that His kingdom hasn't already come to you and everyone else?

And that's where we need to recognize that this kingdom is the kingdom of Christ that will never end.  Unbelievers are not a part of this kingdom, unless they are drawn into it by God's gracious calling through the Gospel.  When that happens, His kingdom comes to them.

But the kingdom doesn't just come once (i.e., to a unbeliever); it keeps on coming to those who are in it!  Think about it:  A king doesn't stop reigning in His subjects' lives just because they have become His subjects.  Just the opposite!  So the kingdom keeps coming to those who are in the kingdom.

With that as a backdrop, we can understand the Reformer's follow-up question and answer from the Small Catechism:  "How does God's kingdom come?"  Answer: "God's kingdom comes when our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His holy Word and lead godly lives here in time and there in eternity."

The Lord's Prayer: The First Petition

As I mentioned in the last post, the main body of the Lord's Prayer is a string of "petitions" - i.e., things we are asking God to do.  Petition is the heart of prayer!

The first petition in the Lord's Prayer is: "Hallowed be Thy name."

After a thorough study of the scriptures, the Reformers summarized what the first petition means in this way:  "God's name is certainly holy in itself, but we pray in this petition that it may be kept holy among us also."

Of course, this immediately begs a second question:  "How is God's name kept holy?"  And answering this question requires that we remember what "holy" is.  It means "set apart" or "not mixed with the common, i.e., everything else."

Moreover, we need to remember that God's "name" is more than just the word or words we use to address Him, such as "Our Father who art in heaven" (as we do in the Lord's Prayer) or "Dear God" (as we sometimes do in personal prayers).  God's Name is everything about Him; it's His essence and attributes.  And it goes even further than that:  His Name is Who He is and what He does for us, too.  The Name of God is the story of God and His dealings with mankind.

In view of this, the Reformers answered the second question in this way:  "God's name is kept holy when the Word of God is taught in its truth and purity, and we, as the children of God, also lead holy lives according to it.  Help us to do this, dear Father in heaven!  But anyone who teaches or lives contrary to God's Word profanes the name of God among us.  Protect us from this, heavenly Father!"

The Lord's Prayer: Introduction

The Lord's Prayer does come with an introduction, but most of us don't think of it that way.  It's the words, "Our Father, who art in heaven."  The reason this is considered the "introduction" is because it doesn't ask for anything.  The rest of the prayer (with the exception of the last line) is a string of "petitions" (i.e., things we are asking God to do), but here in the introduction we are simply stating who we are praying to.

Many of us start our prayers "Dear God" or "God" or "Lord" or something akin to that.  Sometimes we leave off the introduction entirely and barrel straight into the need of the moment.  All of these are fine, of course, but Jesus is urging us in this model prayer to consider who God is for us as we pray to Him:  He is our heavenly Father.

Now "father" can carry a lot of negative connotations for people because they've had less-than-perfect (and sometimes FAR-less-than-perfect) fathers.  Instead of refusing to call God "Father" because of the failings of our earthly fathers, recognize that God is the father par excellence and that all earthly fathers are measured against Him.

And what does that mean?  To have a heavenly Father?  The Reformers put it this way in the catechism:  "With these words God tenderly invites us to believe that He is our true Father and we are His true children, so that with all boldness and confidence we may ask Him as dear children ask their dear father."

Notice the words: "tenderly invites us," "true Father," "as dear children ask their dear father."  When we approach our heavenly Father as His children, we are entering into the relationship that we were meant to have with our earthly fathers, too, before sin entered the world and ruined it for far too many.  But rejoice!  In God you have a true, heavenly Father.  And you can pray to Him boldly and confidently as a dearly loved child!

Prayer: But What Should I Ask For?

But how should I pray?  What kinds of things should I ask for?  Is there anything I shouldn't?

Jesus' disciples asked the same kind of questions once when He was praying "in a certain place. ... One of his disciples said to him, 'Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.'  And he said to them, 'When you pray, say:

'Father, hallowed be your name,
Your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread,
and forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation." (Luke 11:1-4)

Most of you will recognize this as the beginning of what we call the Lord's Prayer.  There is another account of Jesus giving this prayer to His disciples in Matthew 6:9-13.

Now Jesus wasn't telling us the only words that we can use to pray, but He was telling us the kind of things we can and should pray for.  And this prayer covers a lot of ground!  In the next nine posts, we'll look at each of these petitions and consider how we can pray these same things in our lives!

But before we move on, I must give you the "fuller" version of the Lord's Prayer that we use in worship on Sunday.  This longer version is based on the version from Matthew's Gospel with a line added by the early church at the end.

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.
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and glory forever and ever.  Amen.