Matthew 6:9-10 — After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

I said I would be coming back to The Lord’s Prayer often — and here I am! I want to focus on “Thy will be done”, knowing that I can only touch the surface of what it means to me. In fact today I will touch on only three facets of this particular jewel.
Let me start with a comment about “Hallowed be”, “Kingdom come” and “will be done”. I don’t often tangle with grammatical constructions when I write these pieces — I’m not that smart. This time though I do want to point out that these three verbs are all what are called “aorist imperatives”. That means they are talking about things that definitely need to be done, now. To me they call for obedience from us — complete and precise obedience. When we pray “Thy will be done” we are praying “Thy will be done completely and precisely”. It’s an offer of complete submission of the will.
To me, this prayer — especially in its aspect of complete submission — is closely related to the “Gethsemane Moments” I wrote about the other day. Jesus modeled the attitude perfectly when He prayed “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt.” (Matthew 26:39)
Another thing to consider with this prayer is what to make of “as it is in heaven”. Some of it is plainly about attitude. Obedience can be compelled, offered out of respect, or offered out of love. In heaven, of course, there are no malcontents to be compelled to obedience, or even dutiful servants obeying because they must. The obedience offered in heaven is surely of the same kind that William Barclay describes when he talks about this part of the Lord’s Prayer — “Some people may say: ‘Your will be done’ in perfect love and trust. They may say it gladly and willingly, no matter what that will may be. It should be easy for Christians to say: ‘Your will be done’ like that; ”
The last thing I want to mention today us that, as with the other petitions, “Thy will be done” should not perhaps be considered in isolation. It connects naturally to “Thy Kingdom come”. God’s Kingdom on earth would surely be a fulfillment of His will. It connects too, perhaps, to “Give us our daily bread”. Even if we are willing to do God’s will, we surely cannot achieve it without His provision. This is yet one more of the beauties of the Lord’s Prayer. It is by no means a set of unlinked petitions, but one beautiful whole cloth.
Thy will be done indeed.