July 9, 2017

Our Father: Thy Will be Done


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/