Your Will Be Done

We say the words so easily. "Your will be done." But what does it actually mean to pray them — and mean them? In this week's sermon from the Full Life and Prayer series, Pastor Josh takes us into Psalm 40 and gets honest about the hidden reason most of our prayer lives feel dry, anxious, and going nowhere.

On Earth as in Heaven — Don't Over-Spiritualise It

Pastor Josh opened by locating the phrase we often gloss over: "on earth as it is in heaven." Jesus wasn't just being poetic. He was telling us to pray for God's will right here, in the real stuff of your life — your finances, your health, your relationships.

He shared a personal story. He'd hit a spiritual wall — no joy in ministry, didn't want to pray, didn't want to do church. He asked God to fix it. Nothing happened. Then he went to the gym, did a solid workout, and came out completely refreshed.

His point: not everything is a spiritual problem. Some things are physical. Some things are emotional. God made us as whole people, and He expects us to treat ourselves that way.

"Just because you prayed doesn't mean that your physical need will be fulfilled. Certain things are physical, certain things are emotional. You have to handle it in such a way that it actually requires."

His wife's gardening isn't just a hobby — it has a spiritual consequence. If she abandoned it for 24/7 prayer, it wouldn't fix everything. That's not how God made us. So when we pray "your will be done on earth," we're praying about the real, earthy details of our lives — not a spiritualised version of them.

The Real Reason Your Prayer Feels Dry

Then Pastor Josh named something few people want to admit: the Messiah Complex.

It sneaks up on you, especially in ministry. You start out humble — you don't know what to do, you're unsure of yourself. But over time, you get good at helping people. You become the one with the answers. And slowly, being needed becomes addictive.

"You disguise this sinfulness — I want to be the saviour. I want to be the answer. We make ourselves very busy, very available, very loving from the outside. But inside, you are still your God, running your own kingdom."

And this is exactly why prayer goes dry. Deep down, we don't actually believe God will answer — because we still think we should be the one to solve it. We pray, but we're not really waiting on God. We're waiting to act ourselves.

Pastor Josh connected this directly to last week's message: God's kingdom will not come in a place where you are sitting on the throne. Your will be done is impossible when you're still wrestling with the Messiah Complex.

Four Ways to Actually Pray "Your Will Be Done"

Moving into Psalm 40, Pastor Josh walked through four practical postures for praying this prayer — not just saying the words, but meaning them.

1. Learn to wait.

Psalm 40:1 — "I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry."

Waiting is one of the most powerful things you can do — and one of the hardest. Because waiting kills your desire to control. It forces your will to loosen its grip.

Then comes the image of the miry bog. You're sinking in thick mud. And the worst thing you can do is try harder — every struggle pulls you deeper. That's what depression feels like. That's what burnout feels like.

"Your will is actually the worst component of this situation. The more you wrestle, the more you sink further."

And notice what God heard: not a well-formed prayer. A cry. Sometimes your tears, your silence, your wordless ache — that's a clearer prayer than anything you could eloquently say. God leans in to that.

2. The end goal is His praise, not your relief.

Psalm 40:3 — once God lifts you from the miry bog, He puts a new song in your mouth. Not so you can tell your testimony. Not so people can see how faithful you are. The end goal of prayer is always the praise of His glory.

"Sometimes He wants you to wait until your ego dies. Until you know — finally — you've got nothing to solve. You have no power to solve the problem. And when God answers, that's where the genuine gratitude comes."

3. Learn to discern God's will from lies.

Psalm 40:4 — blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not turn to the proud. Romans 12:2 fills this out: God's will is good (beneficial for you), pleasing (righteous), and perfect (He's running the whole universe — He sees what you can't).

Pastor Josh was direct: don't run to other people before you come to God in prayer. Well-meaning people can be confused, proud, and wrong — even when they think they're speaking for God.

"The best person to pray over your situation is you. You cannot make someone else be your Messiah."

And if it's not God's will? Then no matter how wise or logical it sounds — it's a lie.

4. Come with a heart ready to obey.

Psalm 40:6-8 echoes Samuel to Saul: obedience is better than sacrifice. God doesn't want the ritual. He doesn't want the transaction. He's looking for people who come to prayer already willing to do what He says — not to inform God of what they want Him to do.

"We make prayer like this: I pray this loud, I pray this often, I do so much more — but how come you're not giving me that job I want? We make all of prayer about God being obedient to us."

Obedience flows from trust. Believing that God's will really is good, even when it's different to what you want.

The Prayer That Changed Everything

Pastor Josh got emotional preparing this section. He'd been reading through Gethsemane and wept — because what he saw there is the most powerful example of this prayer ever prayed.

Luke 22:42 — Jesus, hours before the cross:

"Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done."

Jesus didn't perform. He said exactly what He felt — I don't want this. Christianity doesn't celebrate suffering for its own sake. But then: nevertheless.

The consequence? Crucifixion. Resurrection. Billions of people across history able to come to God. You and I being saved. All of it — because Jesus prayed "your will be done" and meant it.

Pastor Josh also spoke about sending his son Nathan to Mexico for a mission trip. Standing at the airport, Nathan looked at the camera and said, "I might die. I don't care." Pastor Josh laughed telling it — clearly proud. But you could hear the father underneath. Choosing God's will is easy to say when you're young and the cost feels abstract. It's a different prayer when the cost becomes real.

Poor and Needy Is Enough

Psalm 40 ends quietly in verse 17: "As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer. Do not delay, O my God."

Pastor Josh said he doesn't see a hero in that verse. No one who's figured it out. Just someone broken, who's tried everything, and is out of options. And that — that is a real prayer.

Because the staggering thing is: God takes thought for that person. Before you were born, He was already thinking about you. Your prayer isn't twisting His arm — He's already been thinking about your situation.

Challenge: Why Pray at All?

Pastor Josh closed with a question worth sitting with all week: if God is going to accomplish His will anyway, why does He ask us to pray for it?

Because your prayer isn't just about getting answers. Your prayer is the way God performs His will on earth. He invites you — broken, poor, Messiah-complex-carrying you — into His history-making activity. That's not a burden. That's a privilege.

So this week:

• Come to God before you go to anyone else.
• Name what you actually want — be honest about it.
• Then say: not my will, but yours.
• And wait — patiently — as an act of prayer in itself.

Stop trying to get yourself out of the miry bog. Stop sitting on the throne. His will is good. It's pleasing. It's perfect. Even when it doesn't feel like it yet.