ATB: as it is in heaven

Hey, everybody! This week on ATB, we’re talking about the Lord’s Prayer. I just wanted to remind you guys that we love to hear what you have to say, so please comment! And, please, please, please, if you have any questions related to God and the Bible, write them down below in the comments. (If you’re question hasn’t been answered yet, don’t worry, we’ll get to all of them.) Now, here we go.  Prayer is important in our lives because it’s how we connect with God. We talk to Him, and He responds. In Matthew 6:19 (also known as the Lord’s Prayer), Jesus says: ” This then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father, who is in heaven, hallowed (holy) be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, (sins) as we forgive our debtors (people who have done wrong to us). And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.'” (words in parentheses are mine) Essentially, this is Jesus giving us a rough outline of how to pray. Let’s break it down, bit by bit.  When Jesus is saying “Our Father, who is in heaven, hallowed by your name” , he’s saying that we first need to address that God is above us. He’s in heaven, we’re on earth. Next, we need to address that God is good and holy, even though we’re not. The next part is “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” By saying this, we’re committing to let God control our lives, and asking Him to make earth look like heaven by using us to transform it. “Give us today our daily bread.” Give us what we need for today. It’s also interesting to point out that by saying “Give us what we need for today”, we’re also saying “I’m focusing on today, and not worrying about tomorrow.” It’s also sometimes referred to as “living by faith”. We live believing that God loves us, so He’ll provide for our daily needs; and when we’re trusting God today, we don’t have time to worry about tomorrow. Then Jesus says, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” This one’s pretty simple: God forgave us for how we sinned against him, so in that same spirit, we forgive the people that hurt us. (If you want to read more about that, check out the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant in Matthew 18:21-35 sometime) “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” Here, we’re saying, “God, don’t let me be tempted. Please keep my thoughts on you, and protect me from the devil.”

Tim Mackie said something like this in his podcast episode titled “The Lord’s Prayer”, “The Lord’s prayer is special because it was Jesus’ personal prayer. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed ‘Not my will, but Your will”, which sounds suspiciously similar to the Lord’s prayer. Jesus gave us His prayer to pray.” Isn’t it crazy to think that when we pray the Lord’s prayer, we’re praying the same thing as Jesus did? But, we can also think of it as a guideline like I mentioned before. For me, making the Lord’s prayer my own usually sounds like this: “Hey, Jesus. Thanks for being so good. I can’t believe you loved me enough to die on the cross for me. It must have been so painful and humiliating. Thank you for another day, and the sunshine, and my family. Today is your day, God, and I want to do what you want me to do. (Here, I usually insert a mental list of things I can do to bless the people around me) Will you give me the strength I need for today? I know I’m not strong enough (to be everything you’re asking me to be, I give up, I’m not strong enough. That Matthew West song plays in my head EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.) to do what you’ve made me to do, and I really need you to be with me.  Will you forgive me for what I’ve done, and help me to extend grace to the people who wrong me? Also, can you guard my thoughts and my heart from attacks from the devil? I’m not strong enough to do that either. Um, thanks again for all the stuff you do for me, and can you please help my chickens to get along better, and….” You get the gist of it. Honestly, when I’m looking back on that prayer, the praise part seems kinda small in comparison to the asking section. But that’s when I remember what Mike Donehey said in his book, Finding God’s Life for My Will, ” I’ve heard it said that you shouldn’t go to God only when you need something, but I think I’m starting to disagree. Is it even possible to approach God without needing something? When do we not need something of Him? Let me try to unpack that, because you might argue that we must first come with adoration and thanksgiving. Question: Isn’t gratitude the need to direct out attention to the one who is worthy of it? What is adoration except our need to be free from slavery of self so we can revel in the limitless glory of God? If He gives us life, breath, and all things, isn’t need the only thing we bring to Him? If we think we go to God with more than need, aren’t we bringing too much?” In the end, that’s what prayer is all about. We bring our needs, wants, gratitude and sin to God, and we wrestle with it in prayer. We come to Him openly with us and our needs, and we give Him permission to come and change our hearts. Prayer, according to the Bible,  doesn’t have to be long, or fancy, or jam packed with every thing that God has ever given us. It’s a conversation, and it works best when we stop pretending and start to be honest with God and ourselves. Prayer is where we stop to intentionally look for God, and prayer is where we’ll find Him.

Have a wonderful week,

Bright Eyes

One thought on “ATB: as it is in heaven

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *