March 22, 2017
“Thy Will Be Done on Earth as it is in Heaven” – “God's Will is for us to believe in Him, His Word and His Will!”
“Thy Will Be Done on Earth as it is in Heaven” – “God's Will is for us to believe in Him, His Word and His Will!”
On Monday nights at our Simple Worship, during our worship
time, we confess the Apostle’s Creed, since it is the Baptismal Creed. It begins with, “I Believe”. Not only is this a personal expression of our
own individual beliefs, but it is a clear and unmistakable declaration of our churches
belief in God. We also pray right before
receiving the Lord’s Supper, the prayer Jesus taught His disciples. Our use of the Apostle’s Creed and its
connection to the Lord’s Prayer comes because of the petition we consider this
evening of “Thy Will Be Done on Earth as it is in Heaven”.
When we pray, “Thy Will Be Done on Earth as it is in Heaven”,
we pray for God’s Will to be fulfilled.
Simply, “God's Will is for us to
believe in Him, His Word and His Will!”
God’s Will is that all of mankind be with Him in His Kingdom. In order for us to be in God’s Kingdom, we
have to ‘believe in Him’ and the Gospel of what Jesus Christ came into the
world to offer us, eternal life.
Yet, this petition, “Thy Will Be Done on Earth as it is in Heaven”
is difficult to pray. Why is it
difficult? Why do we at times stumble
over this petition and the entire prayer?
For some the prayer has become rote without meaning and value. It is just what we do in the church service,
because we don’t understand the gifts God is attempting to offer us and we
don’t want to make it personal. For
others, it is because, no one ever asked us or told us that it should be a
personal prayer and we are to think about the prayer as a conversation, not a
recitation back to God. This is why the
Apostle’s Creed and the Lord’s Prayer are meant to be, our opportunity, our
calling, our personal conversation with God, to clearly and unmistakably
believe and firmly ask and understand “God's
Will is for us to believe in Him, His Word and His Will!”
When we pray, “Thy Will Be Done on Earth as it is in Heaven”
it is specifically so that the devil will have no power over us while we are
here on this earth. For from the time of
Genesis in the Garden, the devil, his minions and his followers have been
attempting to lead unbelievers and especially believers in God and His Son,
Jesus Christ away from God’s love and His divine Will. This is why when we pray this petition, we
stand against the selfish intent of man in our world, in our community and even
in our church and pray for ‘God’s perfect Will’! For “God’s
Will is for us to believe in Him, His Word and His Will!”
The Holy Bible contains countless stories of individuals living
their lives for God’s Will. Tonight we
heard a snippet of the story of one man, who did exactly this, lived his life
for God, a man by the name of Joseph.
Joseph experienced in his life many dark moments where he did not know
what the future would hold. From being
put in a pit by his brothers, sold into slavery, accused of adultery and even imprisoned
when he was innocent. Yet, Joseph’s life
and his experience is simply a true expression of this petition of the Lord’s
Prayer when he would pray to God as a good Jew and possibly say, “Thy
Will Be Done on Earth as it is in Heaven”. Joseph believed God and His Will and way and
even when he could have smote his brothers, when man would have said they deserved
it, Joseph, chose the ‘high ground’ and chose to insure “God’s Will was done.”
Tonight we have not only the opportunity, but the pleasure
to pray “Thy Will Be Done on Earth as it is in Heaven” in the Lord’s
Prayer. When we pray this prayer and
petition, we pray it in belief that God’s Word and Will are better than our
own. We have the opportunity to pray “Thy
Will Be Done on Earth as it is in Heaven” not in rote recitation, but
with the firm faith that God’s plan is a perfect plan that points to the Cross
and His Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ.
We pray this petition in the belief
that “God’s Will is for us to believe in Him, His Word and His Will”
in order that we can firmly, and faithfully pray to God as Jesus inspires us to
pray, “Thy Will Be Done on Earth as it is in Heaven”! AMEN!
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