Tuesday, June 11, 2013

My will or His?

Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven,
give us this day our daily bread
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Amen

Catholics usually stop the "Our Father" (as they usually call it) here, whereas Protestants usually add this phrase which some later manuscripts add to the "Lord's Prayer" (as they usually call it), "For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen." Catholics do add this additional phrase during the Mass after a few intervening prayers.


The part I have been thinking about is the phrase, "...thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." What we are really asking for is for God's will to be done on earth and in our lives. We are aligning ourselves with God's will here and not ours. We are praying the same prayer that Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane as He sweat great drops like blood in anguish as He faced his time which had come. The time to lay down His life for us. After asking for the cup to pass from Him, He finishes his prayers to His Father with, "And yet not My will but Yours be done." A question to ask ourselves is whether we really want His will? Often what we really want, if we are honest, is for our will to be done in heaven as we seek to have it done on earth. Jesus identified with us in the Garden wanting the cup to pass but then he chose to entrust Himself to the Father and offered up His life.

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