“Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.”
Matthew 6:10
As our desires align to His will, we can expect answered prayers. Jesus prescribed for us to pray in this manner, not the exact repetitive words since vain repetition means absolutely nothing to Him (Matthew 6:7), but the actual exercise of yielding our will to the One who deserves all the praise and glory. The big question is, How do we get here?
“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.”
John 15:7
Abiding in Christ is conforming our will to that of His and we know this because it is written in God’s Word. In order to desire what He desires, His Holy Spirit must be in us. We can try to carry out His will apart from His empowerment, but we will always fall short since…
“For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.”
Galatians 5:17
How exactly do we get the Holy Spirit?
“Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’”
John 3:7
Every person who had a genuine encounter with Jesus has a conversion story. Can you recall a time in your life when you called on Jesus to save you and resolved to leave your old ways behind? This instance would be your born again moment (Acts 2:38).
True Vision and True Blindness
“Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, “Do you believe in the Son of God?” 36 He answered and said, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?” 37 And Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.” 38 Then he said, “Lord, I believe!” And he worshiped Him.39 And Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.” 40 Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, “Are we blind also?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains.”
John 9:35-41
The literally blind man had an encounter with Jesus. Not only was he healed of his condition, he also became a believer. He recognized his need for God. When the Pharisees rejected the revelation of Jesus, they declared that they have no need for a Savior.
Your conversion story is something you will never forget. The blind man gave his testimony of his encounter with Jesus (John 9:25-33). If you can’t think of that time you asked Jesus to save you, it’s possible you may still be at the “Welcome” stage and not in the actual sanctuary just yet. Most of us are exposed to Christianity because of our parents, but apart from that, would you have decided to be a follower of Jesus on your own?