Christian Counseling Service -- Devotions

On earth as it is in heaven

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

From Matthew 8
"Pray this way," Jesus said. "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Echoes of old movies and Lutheran churches in my childhood. The sound of a whole congregation just before Mass, in English at the hospital on Ash Wednesday and in every language every day across the world. Jesus tells us to pray this way. So we do.

Philosopher and theologian Dallas Willard's body gave out before his mind. Often he woke up in great pain, and the middle of the night is no place to be alone with pain. So at 3 am Dallas Willard prayed the Lord's Prayer, one little bit at a time, over and over, giving himself to the words for God to soothe his soul.

Martin Luther too, prayed one phrase at a time:

Our.
Father.
Who Art in Heaven.
Hallowed by Thy name.
Thy Kingdom come.
Thy will be done.
On earth.
As it is in heaven ...

There are so many ways to pray. If necessary, we can even use words. When we use these words, we follow in Jesus' footsteps as surely as when we follow him into the desert.

Many churches include them in each week's liturgy. Bill and Lynne Hybels pray this prayer before they get out of bed. On Monday evenings, centering prayer at St. Patrick's in Urbana is followed by the Lord's Prayer. At each of the eight fixed-hour liturgies at a three-day Transforming Community retreat, we share the Lord's Prayer. And recitation of a full rosary includes six repetitions of the Lord's Prayer.

Give us this day.
Our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses.
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
Lead us not into temptation.
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom.
And thine is the power.
And thine is the glory.
Forever and ever.
Amen.

The first and last parts of the Lord's Prayer honor God the creator. In the middle we essentially say, "O Lord, make haste to help us." Jesus knows how helpless we are, even as we are fearfully and wonderfully made. We exist and thrive because God put us here, enables every breath and heartbeat, and takes us home.

Of course this is a prayer for the ages, a gift Jesus bestows on us as well as his disciples. In the morning when we rise, we can pray this prayer on our knees. In evening before we sleep we can pray this prayer with our hands raised to the sky. There's no hurry, and we need no other words.

Father, my thoughts so often get ahead of the words, and then the words are rushed and don't seem to mean a thing. But as Thomas Merton said, "I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you." Well, I do want to please you. Increase the stillness inside me, quiet my inner commentaries. Let me relax into your arms.

Devotions Archive

On earth as it is in heaven

Tuesday, February 20, 2018