As It Is In Heaven

“And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.  For they think that they will be heard for their many words.  Therefore do not be like them.  For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.  In this manner, therefore pray:…” (Matthew 6:7-8 NKJV).

“Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.’  So He said to them, ‘When you pray, say:…’” (Luke 11:1-2a NKJV)

I was taking my daily “put the day to bed” walk in the park recently being very intentional about “putting the day to bed” so as not to take it into tomorrow.  I got halfway around the park and thought I might have to do another round because thoughts from the chaos of the day just seemed to keep popping back up no matter what I tried.  It was so distracting that I couldn’t even pray.  Every time I tried my mind went blank and I could find no words.  I finally stopped and just said, “Jesus, I don’t even know what to say.  Will you help me to pray?” 

Have you ever had those days?  Everything around you looks so out of control and insane that you can’t even tell what’s right or what is God’s will in the circumstance, you can’t seem to see it from any angle that brings Him glory.  You just don’t know what to pray for, what His heart is, or how to partner with Him to bring about victory…. if there even is one to be had.  As I asked for help to pray, I began to hear one phrase repeat itself softly behind all those obnoxious thoughts, “Hallowed by thy Name.  Hallowed be thy Name.”  As I began to focus on that phrase, I started to pray the very prayer that Jesus gave to the disciples to pray: “Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name…”

I kept repeating this prayer and as I heard myself saying it over and over I felt like I was hearing it for the very first time.  I started to hear just how powerful and sufficient this prayer, the prayer that Jesus gave us, really is.  I have read it, studied it, dissected it, learned all about it mentally; but for the first time I was connecting with it in my spirit.  I was praying it, hearing it, seeing it, and believing it all at the same time.  Thinking of all the times I tried to come up with the right declaration, the right command, the right scripture striving and guessing to pray in accordance with the will of God when all along it was right here.  “In this manner, therefore pray:”

Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.  Just a quick note about names, God introduces Himself throughout the Old Testament with names that express His character and attributes so that we will know who He is and what He is like.  It’s one of the ways we get to know this invisible yet very real God.  Most of the names in the Old Testament refer to Yehovah, LORD God – self-existing One, Name of the One True God.  We know it more commonly as Jehovah.  There’s Jehovah Jireh – God my Provider, Jehovah Shalom – God my Peace, Jehovah Rapha – God my Healer, Jehovah Nissi – God my Banner, and so on.  But these names actually point us to God the Word (the Son), not God the Father.  Yehovih, Lord GOD refers to God the Father and the Name given to us to express His nature is Adonai.  It is a very slight difference in the capitalization of words between LORD God and Lord GOD and you might not have ever noticed it before, but I bet you will now.  In fact, some translations removed these terms altogether and combine them both into “Almighty God” making no distinction between the two.  But in the Hebrew, they do refer to different members of the Godhead.

The name Adonai is a picture of God the Father’s absolute authority as Ruler, Leader, and Master, Lord over and above all.  The Hebrew letters in the name Adonai literally mean “The strong leader who opens the door of life with His hand.”  He is the ONLY God who can do that.  There is no other god, deity, or power that can open the door of life.  All life exists from and through and by the explicit permission of Adonai, and outside of Him, there is no life.  That is the God that Jesus tells us to acknowledge as “our Father” when we pray.  The One, the only One, who can open the door of life.  He is the only One that can be called by that Name and that is why His Name is Hallowed – holy, sanctified, reverenced.  That is why His Name is to be magnified as our lives are focused on and centered around Him.  And we get to call on Him, our Father.

The definition of “Father” in the Easton’s Bible Dictionary describes a title of respect to a chief, ruler, or elder; the author or beginner of anything; and as denoting the covenant relationship God has with His sons and daughters.  He is the author and the beginning of all things, of all creation, and of all life.  And as “Father God” He wants to provide for us, lead us, protect us, and be our stability in this very unstable world.  We don’t always let Him be these things for us, we don’t always trust that He will or that He can.  We trust ourselves sometimes more than we trust in Him.  But when we call upon Him, “Our Father” we are to recognize that this is who He is and this is what He offers to us.  When the world is in chaos, what better place to run to than the arms of my protecting, stable, Father who will lead me in safety and sustain me in all things?  And how much better would it be to learn how to rest in and live from that place and never leave?  To learn to just rest in His strong and capable hands.

“Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name.”

Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  It is the kingdom of Father Adonai that is the kingdom of light and life.  The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17).  It is a kingdom full of His riches in glory to supply all our need (Philippians 4:19).  It is a kingdom limitless in resources, established provision, appointed events and divine set ups, and angelic aid that is all made available to us.  John the Baptist and Jesus both said repeatedly, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand,” meaning it is accessible.  So, everything that this kingdom contains, we have access to.  It is a kingdom of order, a kingdom of law and justice, a kingdom of holiness, of virtue, of purity, and of Truth.  It is a kingdom containing wisdom, creativity, understanding, knowledge, courage, and strength. 

This kingdom is not only accessible to us but also dwells within us (Luke 17:21).  I have access to everything in it, and I am commissioned to release it into every situation, every circumstance, every location that I am standing in or walking through during my sojourn on earth.  Why?  God wants earth to look like heaven.  And not just to look like heaven, but to become as heaven is.  I get to invite the kingdom of heaven to invade the earth, open up and empty itself to override anything that is contrary to it.  I get to confront every illusion of this world with the Truth contained in God’s kingdom and overturn the ruling of deception and evil.  I get to expel the darkness with the Light within me, the Light of the kingdom of heaven.  I get to set the atmosphere with peace and order with the authority of the kingdom that dwells within me.

I get to call on the perfect, good, and pleasing will of God as it is established in heaven to, in like manner, be established in me, on the earth, in my family, over my home, over my destiny, over my workplace, over my future, over my day, over my sleep….whatever He has intended for me, I am saying “Yes, I agree, and I want it too.  So be it God.”  And it doesn’t matter if I don’t know exactly what it is, I am inviting it to be worked out as He reveals the steps He has ordered for me.  One step at a time.  He wrote out His will for me from the beginning; He has authored my life from the beginning.  I want to experience everything He has written for me, and I get to call it forth and order it to be established here “on earth as it is in heaven.”

“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.  The King James Version says, “give us day by day our daily bread.”  Basically, it’s saying, give us the measure that is necessary to sustain us for this span of time that is before us, from dawn until dusk.  No more, and no less.  What this says to me is that I don’t need to be asking for more than what is necessary for me to handle this day.  God has prepared works for me to do today, and He has well equipped me to accomplish them.  And tomorrow, it will be the same.  Day by day.  If you are like me and you always want to know what’s 20 miles up the road, Jesus is saying “Just ask for what you need to deal with where you are today.  Ask for what you need for the tasks laid out before you today.  Be content with having what you need to accomplish what is assigned to you today.” 

Jesus said, “have no thought for tomorrow,” “seek first the kingdom,” and “it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Matthew 6:33-34, Luke 12:29-32).  It is His good pleasure to give us the kingdom!  Ephesians 1:3 says we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.  It has already been allotted to us.  Everything that we have identified as being of the kingdom of God, we are asking God to grant to us in the measure necessary to accomplish the works of today.  Whatever measure of provision, revelation, understanding, peace, patience, wisdom, council, vision, solutions, relationships, connections, etc. needed for me to fulfill the works of today, may it be granted to me.  Most importantly, give me my daily measure of the Bread of Life.  I need that first and more than anything else to sustain me through the day. 

What tends to happen when we are always thinking about what lies up ahead is that we completely miss what was supposed to be accomplished today, that in turn affects what can happen down the road because we missed the action to prepare for it today.  If we really trust God, focus on what He wants us to focus on for today, we will end up accomplishing all that He has for us the entire way.  We have access to all of heaven, but we don’t need everything it contains all at once.  We just need what is necessary to manage what is before us.  And God knows what that is.  When we ask for our daily bread, we are not only agreeing to receive what we need for the day, but we are humbling ourselves in acknowledging our complete dependency on God to provide it for us.  Our daily bread isn’t anything we work for, earn, or can obtain in our own will or strength.  It is from His hand alone that we are given what we need.  And it is His good pleasure to give it.

“Give us this day our daily bread.”

It is also important that we position our hearts to walk in a constant state of forgiveness each and every day.  The moment we get caught up in an offense, resentment, or discord we are stopped dead in our tracks and can’t move any further.  The Bible clearly says that if we don’t forgive, we cannot be forgiven (Matthew 6:14-15, Matthew 18:21-35, Mark 11:25, Luke 6:37).  Daily we need to ask for grace to forgive and set our hearts to intentionally act on it so that we too can be forgiven and continue moving forward.  We must be willing to say, “No one owes me a thing.” And mean it.  How do we do that?  By turning things over to God.  Anything someone has said or done to us that was hurtful, no matter how big or small, we immediately turn it over to God.  We trust Him to bring it under judgement, and we move on and don’t look back.  The truth is, we have no idea why people do or say some things that hurt others.  We just look at the act and judge it.  But God looks at the intentions of the heart and the journey of that person.  And He looks with love and He sees the wounds and the heartaches and struggles and torment of that person and He judges with compassion.  He sees what we cannot see, therefore we are not capable to judge anyone.  Only He is.  So, we offer it to Him and go on about our day.  And when we need to be forgiven, there is nothing to prevent it from being granted to us.

“Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.”

And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.  Here we are asking God to lead us away from deception, away from the illusions of this world, away from the traps and snares that so easily entangle us.  He gave us His Spirit who is to be our guide into all Truth, and we are to ask Him to lead us, to help us to see the illusions from reality.  Lead us away from the ways of this world and all of its systems and corruption so we can walk according to the ways of the kingdom of Father Adonai, the kingdom of life, righteousness, and Truth.  Philippians 2:15 says we are to be “blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.” 

I asked Jesus one time how evil can be so powerfully tempting as to turn us away from Him when He is so pure and loving and good.  He told me the power of temptation lies in manipulation and deception.  “Remember, the serpent was the most cunning of all the beasts of the field,” He said.  Artfully schemey you could say.  We can’t go through life thinking we can locate every attack that is coming our way or that we can see every trap that has been laid for us.  We see things through a haze. We need the eyes of the Holy Spirit to see and alert us, again, one step at a time.  When we walk with Him, He will shine His Light on the temptations of the enemy and expose them for what they really are.

“Lead us not into temptation”

And should we be held in servitude to any part of this worldly system or the kingdom of darkness, any chains that hold us in bondage, any arrows that have pierced and wounded us leaving us vulnerable and unarmed, we ask our Father to deliver us.  Coming out of Egypt was a process, it was a journey.  And there were a lot of things that the Israelites remained in captivity to even as they wandered freely in the wilderness.  They had to be taught to live, think, and exist differently to make it to the Promised Land. 

Likewise, we remain in bondage to things we don’t even know about until the Holy Spirit shows us and leads us into freedom.  And sometimes we fall back into bondage through old habits, ways of thinking, bad influences, or spiritual immaturity.  But if we ask Him to, He will deliver us.  In fact, I feel like in this prayer Jesus is saying deliverance is a daily provision that is being offered to us.  And it reminds me that I am not left to defeat sin in my own strength, but I get to ask for His help and depend on His strength and power to defeat it. 

Father, deliver me from this spirit of pride that uses me as its mouthpiece to bring discord and division.  Deliver me from this spirit of selfishness that wants me to only see things as how they affect me and no one else.  Deliver me from this spirit of accusation that fills in the blanks to make up a story and compels me to believe that it’s true.  Deliver me of the spirit of fear that is always asking “what if…?” about future events that haven’t even or may never even happen.  These are all voices that speak contrary to the kingdom that has been given to me.  And Jesus acknowledges that God will need to deliver me from them so I can be stubborn and try to do it on my own or I can ask Him to help me.  Everything has been given to me already; it’s up to me what I choose to receive.  Remember, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  But will we reach out a take it?

“Father deliver us from evil.” 

For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. This is my favorite part of the prayer because here I get to declare to Father Adonai that His kingdom is THE kingdom, the only kingdom that is eternal and will remain standing after every other establishment is brought to annihilation.  I can actually see fortresses and strongholds in the kingdom of darkness begin to shake and tremble and crumble when I pray this.  I can feel the rage and the terror of this counterfeit kingdom that is doomed to destruction; they do not like it when I pray this.  It is Adonai’s kingdom that is reality, and it is His kingdom that will be established and reign in the earth for all of eternity when all other supposed realities are brought down.  It is His kingdom that rules in governmental authority and power, and His kingdom that will never be defeated, will never fall, and will never fade away.  His kingdom will stand forever.

His is the power that is the highest power with the highest authority.  His power gives and takes away life.  His power creates and cuts off.  His power subdues and exalts; it appoints and diminishes.  His power is matchless and cannot be defeated.  His glory will be recognized and magnified throughout all of creation. His glory is imprinted within all of creation already.  The glory of Father Adonai, the only uncreated being, the One who was and is and is to come will be exalted over all the earth.  All blessing, honor, dominion, and power belong to Him. All worship, all praise, all adoration, all devotion will be given to Him for all eternity. Forever and ever.

“Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.”

This has become my daily (some days hourly) prayer in pretty much every area of my life since it first came to me that day in the park.  It has become such an empowering prayer and every time I say it, I can feel His kingdom open up over me and within me.  I feel bigger, stronger, more at peace, and I know that there are more that are with me than there are against me.  “Subdue the earth,” God told Adam and Eve.  “Make earth like heaven.”  That commission has never changed.  I am not placed anywhere in this life to have an opinion, to force my perspective, to reprimand, or to judge.  And I’m not here to carry every burden and fix every problem and take control of everything that is in disorder. I don’t change things, God does. I just acknowledge His presence and His kingdom and invite them into where I am. When I do that provision comes, answers seem obvious, problems work themselves out, and all the while I’m resting in His ability instead of toiling in my own inadequacy. I am where I am because the God of Life is my Father and I can call on Him and invite Him into anything.  I have access to the kingdom that has everything needed to bring this earth from chaos to order, from darkness to light, from death to life.  I am where I am because I have within me all the answers to every problem that surrounds me.  I am where I am to release what I carry so that everywhere I go I am planting seeds of the kingdom of God, that it may one day be “on earth as it is in heaven”.