Your Will Be Done

A few weeks ago, I posted something about prayer and how I feel like I shouldn't ask for things because it is assuming I know what I need. Perhaps I just need to go through tough times so I can become a stronger person. Anyways, Gavin in the comment section asked about my thoughts on the Lord's prayer and I thought it would be an interesting idea. I would like to think that my ideas on prayer line up with this because if it doesn't, I should be excommunicated. I will say this before I start. Many smarter people have written more in tune ideas about what you're about to read. I'm a fake intellectual.

"Our Father in heaven, hallowed by your name..."

This statement puts everything where it should be. It is a wonderful statement of you are God and I am not in the same league as you. It is important to revere God and sometimes I think that especially with some modern Christians, it is popular to bring God down to our level. That He's our buddy, which I have always felt uncomfortable with. I wrote about this idea a while ago, but it still holds true. God is not one of our human peers. He is the creator of the world. I don't want to hang out with Him at the pub and shoot pool.

"...your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven..."

This is where I see that we have to submit our ideas to what God would have us do. Now, I take this fairly broadly. I once again do not believe that we have to funnel every decision through God and wait for a magic sign for us to proceed on something. That said, we know what God's will is. It is to love God and love others. I'll take a side note and say what I believe it means to love God. The biggest one is respect. When we are talking about loving someone who is in authority, we usually don't mean a romantic love or even a friendship kind of love. Usually, it is a love that shows respect. Like you would to your parents. You show love to your parents by obeying them and valuing their input. You want to love God? It's not by merely saying that you love God, it is also about trying to lead a discipline life.

This prayer reminds us that we want to submit to God and that we want to follow his will. It is also admitting that God's idea of what should happen is not dependent on what I think needs to happen. For the individual, showing respect to God and showing kindness, generosity and compassion for our fellow humankind is our way of backing up our words.

"...give us today our daily bread..."

This implies to me that God is not some magic machine, but rather keeps it simple. I think it also opens us up to being able to make plans. We can make decisions on our own and we can set up our goals as long as we follow God's will of loving Him and loving others. It also puts it on us to actually execute our plans. The prayer does not say that "give us today our daily bread and $40,000 and a passport" but rather just keeps it to what we need. Bread is something we need. God also knows what we need. God knows that if we need $40,000 and a passport and we are working towards it and it is something that needs to happen, it will happen. However, I think we sometimes whole-heartedly believe that we need something specific and maybe it just simply isn't meant to be. Am I saying that it's wrong to ask for something specific? No. I am saying that we need to approach it with humility. That we approach God saying that "This direction seems to be where I need to go and/or where You are calling me next and yet I am not sure how to overcome this obstacle. Help me to find the best way to bring this about whether it is by my hand or with Your help or by Your grace." To me, it seems bizarre that I would declare to God what He should give me.

However, this prayer also admits that we can't always do it on our own, but if God is there to give us the basics, then that is still giving us the ability to do His will.

"...forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors..."

This is, in my mind, an admission of who we are. We are broken and we screw up. It is also a vital reminder about how we need to see our common humanity and how we need to show grace. If this phrase was one that the world could learn to live by, it would be a wonderful thing. It is so difficult to have mercy on those around us when they do something wrong, but somehow we always have a justification for what we do wrong. It is a call to take responsibility, a quality that is elusive to many people. If we do not own up to our own wrongs, then we can never attain the true ability to forgive others and fix broken relationships.

"...and lead us not into temptation..."

This, to me, is one of the most interesting phrases in the prayer. I do not believe that God would lead us to temptation in the first place, so it's a bit curious. In the end, it comes back to the line before it and the line after it and that context is needed. It is another admission of who we are. We are so susceptible to putting ourselves first, that we need God. We need to have it infused into our character to be people of compassion and love, which are not focused on the self but rather outwards. It is a reminder for us that we should not turn in on ourselves but rather keep God's will in mind.

"...but deliver us from the evil one."

Some transcripts say "evil" and not the "evil one". Call me a heretic if you will, but I have been reluctant to admit that there is a devil. In fact, I would even say I don't. Because even if he did exist, it really should not affect how we live our lives. I think that some times when people believe that a devil is trying to get them to do evil things, that it sort of gives people a scape goat for their bad behavior. They tend not to fully own up to their decisions. The fact is, whether it is the devil, another person or our own selfish desire, we still make the decision. It is not anyone else's fault that we make our decisions the way we do. That's why I don't mind not believing in the devil. Just like I don't mind not caring about how Jesus is going to come back because it shouldn't affect how I should live now or even in the future. In some regards we are our own devil. The fight of good and evil is mostly inside the individual. I tend to think that you really can't change people, you can only really change yourself. What is a good decision and what is an evil decision comes down to whether we are others-focused or self-focused. Our temptations are all around us to put ourselves first and maybe some devil is trying to push us in a direction he wants us to go, but he never makes our decisions for us.

I guess, in reflection of the Lord's prayer as a whole, it really has given the outline to my theology. It's interesting because I think that is almost the point of the prayer. This is an outline of what is important in this shared relationship with the heavenly Father. God has given us incredible freedom but we also have the responsibility to a live a life that is in the moment and full of love and grace which is the most difficult life. However, through the grace of God we can live up to it and make it so His will will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

"Too many men

There's too many people

Making too many problems

And not much love to go around

Can't you see

This is a land of confusion.

Now this is the world we live in

And these are the hands we're given

Use them and let's start trying

To make it a place worth fighting for."

- "Land of Confusion" by Genesis from their album "Invisible Touch"

Don't Skip to the End!

I was talking to this guy that I had met on the bus because he had a book on fasting and decided that I might as well start a conversation. It's an old trick I learned at Roger's. One of the best way to approach a customer is to ask about what they have in their hand and if they have a movie you like, then you can enlighten them with what you like about it and go from there about what other movies they might like or what have you. Anyway, so I was asking him about fasting and why it interested him and one of the things he said was "so that I can know how to pray more effectively and get what I want." I thought that was interesting but I didn't follow up on it. In hindsight, I wish I would have.

Long gone are the days for me where I ask God for anything specific anymore. Not that I lack faith that He can do it, so much as I lack the belief that He would do it. In the past, I was one of like that guy on the bus and would ask God to give me things that I wanted and even needed. There was a couple of times when things came through for me and it was great, but it was through people that it happened.

I came to the realization that a lot of the times when God works miracles, it is through His people. God didn't magically print out more money to deliver to my mailbox, it was through the generosity and the intuition of one of His people. Now, of course, yes, you can attribute that to God and ultimately it is because He has laid out for us in His Word that we should live in such a way that is generous. I think one of the things that people overlook or maybe realize but wish wasn't true is that we have a big part in the work of God. This may seem to contradict what I have said earlier about me believing that people are not particularly special as individuals, but it does not contradict it because the work of God is not reserved for the few who receive some grand call on their lives or who have been given special gifts or talents. Instead, despite how distasteful it is to take time and resources to reach out and help others that is what it means to live a godly life. One that holds loosely onto their possessions so that all can pursue a life of good. One of the things I really liked about the movie "Evan Almighty" is the message of "be the miracle". We wait for God to change our circumstances and a lot of the times our circumstances will change if we are just willing to do it. We just don't because it's hard or painful or we're lazy.

I think that's why for me, I don't like to pray for something specific, because when I do, I am assuming what I really need. I am looking for the easy way out. Can you give me more money? Will you please heal me? Can you make "Jersey Shore" go away now? However, what I have learned from living here in North America is that when you are given whatever you want or things always go your way, you have been given a shallow life. A life that only knows one dimension. A life that revolves around being happy does not know what to do when bad times finally come.

When God offered to give Solomon anything he desired in the world, he did not ask for riches or love or good health. He asked for wisdom. It is the only story I know where God opens it up and says "you can have anything and I will give it to you" and the guy chooses wisdom? God is pleased with Solomon's answer and in return gives him wisdom along with riches and things people would normally want. People are short-sighted sometimes because we think the ends is the most important part and it's not. The means in which in we get there is. People want the riches, not the hard work or discipline to get there. People want the answers to Lost, but don't want to watch six seasons of the show in order to find out. People think that the life of a good person is all about heaven, not the path that leads you there. Life is about building yourself up so that you can weather the tough times and still be able to reach out to those around you and bless them.

That's why when I pray, I try to avoid using phrases where I am asking for things, but rather for understanding in order to navigate the problems. I try to ask for awareness of possible solutions. I pray for intuition. I pray for courage to make the right choice. I pray for the will to actually do what I have to do. I pray for peace so that I can be ready for what is to come. I pray for compassion so that I don't forget about others and what I can do for them. I pray that I can trust that things will work out for the best. Of course, I also pray that if God or one of His people can help me out in a tangible way, please help because it's tough to sometimes do everything yourself.

Sometimes the answer is easy and sometimes the solution will just swoop in from nowhere, but I don't think it is fair to expect that from God. It would cheapen our experience just like it would cheapen my experience if Damon Lindeloff and Carlton Cuse tells me what's the deal with that stupid island. The thing is, the perfect solution for the problem at hand might be one that we hate, but it is the one we must face in order to become better people. It's not because God can't or won't but rather that we need to step up to the plate as both individuals and as a people and become what we need to be.

I think some people hang on the metaphor of God being a king. The person you'd go to if you had a problem and ask for the resources to help you out and it is kind of a business deal. However, it may be appropriate to kind of see prayer as an audience with a wise man. Some one to talk about life with and talk about where it's going. Taking time to reflect on the good things that are happening to help give perspective. It's an opportunity to bounce ideas and share frustrations with and it's an opportunity to pause the world and realize that the solution was perhaps with you the whole time.

"I can only see half of what's going on

But I'm alright cause I can still smile

I can still smile."

- "Smile" from Wide Mouth Mason's album "Stew"