Thelō means to wish, will, want, or desire. It appears about 208 times in the NT and expresses an orientation of the will — what someone actively wishes or intends. It covers a range from casual desire ("I want") to firm resolve ("I will").
In NT Greek, two verbs express "will/desire": thelō (inclination, willingness, wish) and boulomai (deliberate purpose, counsel). Thelō is the more common and often describes the active willing of God or Christ.
Divine will (thelēma) — the noun form of thelō — is central to Christian theology. "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10) is the petition that reorients every other prayer. The supreme expression of thelō is Christ's prayer in Gethsemane: "Not what I will (thelō), but what you will" (Mark 14:36).
1 Timothy 2:4 declares that God "desires (thelei) all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." This is the warm heart of the gospel — the divine wish presses toward every person. The mission of the church flows from this desire of God.
Paul's agonized self-description in Romans 7:15–21 uses thelō repeatedly: "I do not do what I want (thelō)… For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want." This is the civil war of the unredeemed will — and the context in which the Spirit's liberating work (Romans 8) becomes essential.