In our continuing adventure of looking at the Lord’s Prayer
phrase by phrase we come to a transition point. We entered the prayer with
acknowledging that God is our Father, yet God is also holy and beyond all
creation.
Now we ask that the holy will of our Father come to earth,
just like in heaven. We say, 'thy will be done on earth as in heaven.' As noted on June 18, heaven (if we think of it as outer
space) is incomprehensibly vast and beyond our human knowing. It is even more
unknowable when we think of it as the dwelling of God. So how can God’s will be
done ‘on earth as in heaven’? When we say, ‘thy will be done on earth, as in
heaven,’ aren’t we offering to be part of bringing God’s way to the people of
earth? That is not an easy task, nor something we should take lightly.
Enter the Presence: The idea of being a conduit of
God’s will on earth is found in the Episcopal Baptismal covenant which asks us
to ‘respect the dignity of every human being’, and to ‘work for justice and
peace’. You can read the entire prayer.
Christian artist Hillary Scott sings a song titled, Thy Will be Done. She notes that it can
be hard to determine what God’s will is in our lives, sometimes. “I thought I
heard you,” she sings. But it didn’t work out and now “all I get are these 4
words-thy will be done.”
Can you relate to Scott as you try to work to bring God’s
will to earth?
Stand In Awe: Teresa of Avila reminds
us “Christ has no body now but yours, no hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours
are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world.” That is an
awe-full idea that we fallible humans are responsible for being Christ to the
world. However, it is in everything that we do and say that we are just that. Our daily actions matter to God's will becoming real on earth.
What
do you feel when you think about being Christ’s hands and feet in the world?
Involve your Heart: There are
as many ways to help God’s ‘will be done on earth as in heaven’ as there are
people on earth. Most of us are already doing something every day to live into
that hope, in our interactions with one another. This week take time to do
something intentional that you don’t normally do.
Consider a prayer walk around your neighborhood, your work
place. As you walk, focus on what you see in the homes or offices you walk past
and pray “Thy will be done” over each one. Continue your walk each day this
week. *
Write your name in the center of a page. Surround it with
people, situations, places, worries that you want God to intervene in. Ask God
to help you pray for each of these things. *
On
June 29 the Forward Day by Day meditation suggested greeting yourself (and
others) with ‘Good morning, Child of God’. It might be a little uncomfortable
to do that, esp. on days when you are feeling out of sorts or grumpy. However,
that is how God sees us, isn’t it?
How
would saying, ‘Good morning, Child of God’ to yourself and everyone change your
attitude?
This week focus on letting
God’s ‘will be done on earth as in heaven’.
Next
week we turn to the petitions in the Lord’s Prayer.
*From Thy Kingdom Come https://www.thykingdomcome.global/
