Sunday Message: Lord's Prayer pt 5

So far, I had to do the most research on this section of the prayer- "Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."  One of the most helps was an article on the website of First Presbyterian Church of Jackson, MS.  This article made three standout points to me that really helped.

First of all, we need to notice that everything we have prayed so far is GOD-DIRECTED- His Name, His Kingdom, and now His Will.  So often we come to God with our needs first.  But Christ told us we shouldn't worry there, that He has our true needs in mind just as the sparrow is in His hands.  In studying Nehemiah's rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, I learned a great template to start my prayers based on the three things he mentions just inside those walls:  The Temple itself, reminding us of God Most Holy; the barracks of David's mighty men, symbolic of Jesus, our Mighty Man; and the Pool, whose refreshing waters symbolize the Spirit.

The second point that showed itself in the article was that there isn't a dichotomy, a "What God approves of on earth" vs a "What God approves in heaven."  There is one rule for each, and I'll expand on that a bit later.

And the third is that His Will, if you want to truly know it, is in the Bible.  See how the people acted- when they were in God's will.  See what made Abraham, Moses, and David favored of God.



Later on the article brought up three points about God's will itself that are helpful:

- It can be difficult, and you can expect to resist.  Jesus prayed for the cup to pass; Paul prayed for the thorn to be removed.  But both submitted to God's will, accepting that the answer was, "Thy will be done".

- It is nothing like instantaneous.  You have to train yourself in these things.  One way I do that is the reading of a chapter of Proverbs every morning.  More and more as I do, I give thought to its lessons before I do something stupid.  Slow progress, to be sure, but progress.

- You almost never get it as a 'package deal'.  You learn a little more every day.  A piece here, a piece there, "10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little". (Isaiah 28)


Then, I hit on a nugget of knowledge I didn't know before.  From an article on Ligonier Ministries:

So when Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, teaches His disciples to pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” there is a lot of Old Testament background to this concept. The kingdom of God was something the Jews were expecting. During the time of Jesus, Jews even concluded their synagogue services with a prayer (the Kaddish) that is strikingly similar to this section of the Lord’s Prayer: “Exalted and hallowed be his great name in the world which he created according to his will. May he let his kingdom rule in your lifetime and in your days and in the lifetime of the whole house of Israel, speedily and soon. Praised be his great name from eternity to eternity. And to this say: Amen.”


So to me, I see this entire first five parts we've looked at as a reflection of God's three priorities.  In 1-3, we looked at the first leg- His Name, His holiness, His set-apartness.  Last time, we looked at His Kingdom- His authority, His rule, not dependent on realm or populace.  This time, it is His Purpose.  His 'big picture'.

Once again, I go to FPC Jackson for the big finish, for they sum everything we've learned so far up quite nicely:


The issue, then, is whether we are willing to be submissive and obedient to that expression of the will of God that has become clear to us. In heaven, as the petition so wonderfully reminds us, God’s will is perfectly done. There is no sin there to impede his will. But we are not in heavenѕ not yet! We are "on earth"ѕ code, that is, for that realm where opposition and frustration abounds. Hence the prayer that this world might more and more conform to that perfect pattern of heaven. It never will be true, not totally, that here on earth God’s will is done perfectly. But in so far as it touches our lives, we long that it might be so. That is our longing.

It is a matter of putting God first.