The Lord’s Prayer - Day 4
 

Throughout the Old Testament, and especially in the Psalms, we find ideas and concepts expressed twice in succession but in slightly different ways. Jesus continued this practice in the Lord’s Prayer. Here he qualifies the command that we should pray "Thy Kingdom come", by following it with the condition which has to be fulfilled for the Kingdom to come to pass. His Kingdom will come when His will is done on Earth as it is in Heaven.

If we are to mean what we say when we pray "Thy will be done…" we have to develop a keen sense of ‘what would God have me do?’ as we make life’s decisions. When we have to makeup our minds, we need to ask God to  help us to make the right choice, and consider how Jesus would have acted.

Jesus not only taught us that we should do God’s will but he provided us with his example to follow. In the garden of Gethsemane he prayed saying, "Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will but thine, be done." (Luke 22 v 42) Prayer is not a shopping list or a personal agenda that we would like god's help to create. It is time set apart for us to seek and listen to God.  There is little point in praying "Thy will be done...." if we are unwilling or unable to hear that 'thin small voice' over the clamour of modern life. In prayer we are not asking God to 'change his mind'. We are seeking God’s presence with us, we are asking what we can do to make his world a better place and we are seeking his help and blessing for our own plans and ideas.

It is not just in relation to personal choices that we have to seek the will of God. The sins of omission are often of greater consequence than those of commission. Ignorance of the law is no excuse in our courts. Ignorance of the world’s scandals, of deliberate blindness, excuses us not one whit in the eyes of God. When half the world is starving while we feast, when farmers are paid to leave fields uncultivated to prevent overproduction, while we operate Trident submarines, each capable of devastating over 100 cities, of killing millions, and seriously injuring many more, when the ethical dilemmas of our age are of a magnitude never previously encountered and will affect the whole future of life on this planet, can we let political popularity (or democratic choice as it is more commonly expressed) be the sole criterion for what we do as a nation? Or should we not proclaim  these scandals as the evils that they are and live our own lives in ways that will be sustainable by future generations.

To pray "Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven" means that we need to become informed about the scandals of this world (or at least about those that should concern us). Having become informed about them we have to ask God "what  would he have us do?" We can no longer pass by on the other side. We have to match our actions  to our prayers. Obedience to God’s will is costly but it is the only way in which the Kingdom of Heaven can come to reign on earth. 

Meditations and Prayer
The Prayer of St Francis "Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace....." (In full below) provides the foundation for a number of meditations looking for God's help on furthering his Kingdom. The whole prayer is directly pertinent, but it is the succession of requests e.g. "where there is despair, hope"  that can provide the focus for daily meditation. Download it and take it with you  - on holiday or wherever you have time to live with it without time pressure, then use it daily and you may find that you come back with more than a tan to remember.

Think or say "Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven" slowly to yourself several times. What am I asking of God when I pray these words? Does my interpretation vary from that written above?

A scandal is defined as something important that runs contrary to the will of God. i.e. it leads away from God's Kingdom
Think of those things which happen here in Great Britain and round the world which could be classed as scandals. ‘What scandals am I (or should I) be aware of? Do I know enough about them to take a view as to whether or not I should have an opinion about them? Now I know enough about them, what should I do?

The will of man and the will of God often conflict. Ask yourself ‘What really matters to me in my life? Is God’s will pre-eminent ? Could I make it so? What am I living for?

If you have got this far without too much stress, you may find it helpful to reflect back on your life and look at all you have done, picking out things you are ashamed of and asking God's forgiveness. This not only "cleans the slate" but also helps us to identify situations to avoid in future. You may find it easier to do this at a Retreat such as is run by the Iona Community. Most people find it a hard but life uplifting process.

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