Five Faculties for Effective Prayer: Part 4: Will
If we think of the Way, as taught by Jesus, aligning with the Way of Taoism (the natural flow of the universe), we see a new layer of meaning in at least two familiar passages from the New Testament. In the Lord’s Prayer, for example, we have this passage: “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.” Thy will be done is an affirmation of the Way, this natural, unseen flow through the material aspect of our life. In our modern vernacular we might simply say, go with the flow, or don’t push the river.
In the context of the soul, the meaning of will aligns with volition, the commitment to a particular course of action and direction. It is a willingness to allow for a desired good or something better. Again, in Gethsemane, when Jesus prayed three times that this cup be removed, he concluded with, let Thy will not mine be done.
From the point of view of our spiritual homecoming, the will is the faculty that allows us to raise our point of view to greater possibilities and then keep our every step pointed in the new direction. We exercise the faculty of will as our means of keeping the picturing aspect of the imagination properly focused, our faith directed to spiritual wholeness, and our judgment functioning at a higher level.
We exercise the will when we reign in negative thinking and emotion that has been carried away by challenging appearances. We become willing to look beyond immediate circumstances and consider different possibilities. The soul has but one desire, and that is its commitment to freedom of expression without limits.
Our desire to reconnect with the soul is prompted by this internal call of freedom. Let thy will be done, then, is the highest form of prayer when directed to the soul. Follow this with the acknowledgment that thy will is being done, on earth (in expression) as it is in heaven (the unseen realm of the soul). Affirm the willingness to let go and trust that greater good is now naturally unfolding through your life.