Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Prayer and Solutions

When Jesus taught His disciples to pray in Matthew 6, His opening words drew attention to the fact that there is another KIngdom where the will of God is done all the time. His words were.... "Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be your Name.
Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven."

Recently as I was praying this prayer, it came to me that what we keep wanting God to do is already being done in Heaven.
The fact that it is not being done on earth is not because He is unwilling. It is because the conditions are not right on earth. Mankind does not want to do what He wants to do. What should be happening here is because man will not cooperate with God's will.

Often I hear people really get frustrated at God's seeming lack of willingness. I, too, have been frustrated with God's seeming lack of interest or willingness to act. Jesus' prayer sets the record straight. There is a place where His will is done and we should pray that this world would become such a place.

My cooperation with God's will as revealed in Jesus' words is a start. Imagine the world if for one day everyone did the will of God. What kind of day would that be? How many things would immediately change? Imagine your private world with you doing the will of God moment by moment.

I believe that knowing there is a place where His will is being done is the best place to start our prayers. It focuses us on the fact that the same kind of kingdom is coming to this world. We need to become personally engaged with this new kingdom right now. It is just a start, but it is certainly a taste of greater things to come.

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