This essay continues a sequence. Read the previous one here.
We have now established that the ideal prayer is an expression of joyful gratitude (ref. “A Redefinition of Prayer“).
Click here to receive new essays from The Word, (Re)Discovered every week
This gratitude comes from the recognition of our Creator’s great Love, which is expressed in the Laws of Creation (ref. “The Nature of God’s Laws“, “Is His Love Blind?“), and which automatically ensures our welfare if we align with these Laws (ref. “Does ‘Take No Thought’ Make Any Sense?“).
This awareness of His Fatherly protection and provision, is captured in the opening sentence of the Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father, Who art in Heaven
Christ expressed the same in:
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul,
and with all thy mind.
This is the first and great commandment.
— KJV, Matt 22:37-38
This is “fatherliness” of a most sacred type, with only a passing similarity to earthly fatherhood. In fact “Our Father” is as much a prayer, an intention, as it is an address, because it expresses a desire to be regarded as a child of God (ref. “Blessed Are the Peacemakers, Part 2“).
“Who art in Heaven” helps to remind us of the need to maintain a deep sense of reverence in this regard.
Our reverence should reflect in how we use the word “God”. The connection between name and spiritual reality was explored in “Mind Your Language, Part 1“. If we allow His Name to become commonplace, we must suffer harm, as explained in that essay.
This is reflected in the second sentence:
Hallowed be Thy Name
which contains a similar sentiment as:
Swear not at all;
— Matt 5:34
(An aside: it gradually becomes clear that each sentence of the Lord’s Prayer contains so much, that the word “sentence” begins to feel inappropriate. Going forward, let us treat each sentence as a complete prayer in itself1.)
Click here to receive new essays from The Word, (Re)Discovered every week
A child that is genuinely grateful for the love of his parents would act in a way that is pleasing to them. If we love and revere the Almighty, we would take cognizance of His Will in everything we do.
For this to happen, our goals would have to align with the kind of world that we believe He wants us to create. In other words, we would commit to the third sentence/prayer:
Thy Kingdom Come
In the previous essay, we dwelt on the fact that genuine prayer reflects in actions. If we are serious about this prayer, then we must work towards it.
This means that “Thy Kingdom come” should not be prayed with the passive intention of “God, do what you can to bring Your Kingdom – I’m ready to accept it“. It should be prayed with the diligent intention of “I want to help your Kingdom to come, and I am committing to discover and fulfil my contribution to building It“.
This is the sense in which we should interpret statements like:
Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
— Matt 4:17
It is not just “God is bringing His Kingdom, so get ready“. We should interpret it in the more diligent sense of “The deadline for man to understand God’s Will sufficiently to consciously build a Kingdom of God here on Earth has arrived, so get to work!“
It becomes clear that the fourth sentence/prayer is a natural follow-up if we are serious about what we have been promising:
Thy Will be done on Earth as It is in Heaven
We are the ones to do His Will, and in so doing to build a paradise on Earth. By our words/prayers thus far we have committed to studying It, understanding It, and implementing It, as explained severally:
He that hath my commandments,
and keepeth them,
he it is that loveth me:
— John 14:21
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven;
but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
— Matt 7:21
We shall continue our exploration in the next essay.
Today’s Resolution:
- We will make the effort to deeply understand each sentence of The Word.
Click here to receive new essays from The Word, (Re)Discovered every week
Back to Homepage: The Word (Re)Discovered
- For a deeper and more extensive treatment of the subject, the reader is referred to Abd-ru-shin, “The Ten Commandments of God/The Lord’s Prayer” (Grail Foundation Press, 1995) ↩︎
Leave a Reply to 80. Everlasting Meat & Treasures In Heaven – The Word, (Re)DiscoveredCancel reply