Your Will Be Done On Earth as it is in Heaven

“Your Will Be Done On Earth as it is in Heaven”
 Message @ Jericho Ridge Community Church –Sunday, Jan 29, 2017
Text: Romans 12:1-3 // Series: Pray Like This

Good morning, friend.  Welcome to Jericho Ridge.  It’s MissionsFest weekend down in Vancouver, which means that a number of our people are down there at Canada Place.  One of the things that I love is that here at Jericho we’ve got a heart for not only our city and the place you live and work, but we also have people spread out all over the globe working for peace and justice, doing literacy & Bible translation work, caring for people who are poor…  For example, Peter Ash just returned from work in Tanzania training front line staff at Under the Same Sun in caring for kids who have experienced trauma.  As you heard earlier, we have a little group heading to Mexico this week. In March, we have our 10^th JRCC team going to Guatemala.  Sometimes our global focus can create the impression that if you pray “God, Your Will be done…”, and you say to something like “God, I am available to you.  I want to do your will!  Anytime. Anywhere.” That God might say something like: “Mwah ha ha!...  I’ve got them now!  If they want to see my will be done on earth like it is in heaven, Fine!  I’m going to send them to the furthest corners of the earth!”  Then we start praying like this guy… 

VIDEO – Scott Wesley Brown “Please Don’t Send Me to Africa”

Oh that’s a throwback all the way to 1995 and the classic Scott Wesley Brown song “Please Don’t Send Me to Africa!”  It’s funny but there is an element of truth to it… sometimes I wonder if we are afraid to pray not because we believe God isn’t listening, but perhaps because we believe that He is. And if we pray a prayer like “your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” He may just ask something difficult or impossible of us.   So we pray timid prayers and we settle for small faith because we don’t want God’s will to be that we go to Africa or leave our comfy suburban lives.  Ouch! 

Here at Jericho this season, we’ve been learning together what it means to grow in boldness & confidence in prayer conversation with God.  For guidance in this, we’re looking at what is perhaps the most famous prayer in history, known as the Lord’s Prayer.  When Jesus’ disciples came to Him and asked “Can you please teach us how to pray and what to pray about?” Jesus replied: PRAY LIKE THIS.   

Here’s the text of that prayer in the New Living Translation from Matthew 6: Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us today the food we need, and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.”

Pretty short.  But also pretty bold & pretty comprehensive!  We’ve been taking the prayer apart phrase by phrase and actually thinking about what we are praying.  So began our journey through the Lord’s Prayer by looking at the first two phrases, which seem clear enough. The prayer begins with “Our Father in heaven.”  So we learned that In Prayer, we approach a God who is…

• OUR FATHER – He is PERSONAL We have the privilege to come right into his presence! We are invited into God’s family as those who are loved & welcomed, coming in faith that He hears us not because we have earned our way in by good behaviour but because we are His children. Yet He is…      
• IN HEAVEN – He is POWERFUL – We are coming not only to a loving, perfect father but also to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The one who right now sits in the heavenly realms and has all power and authority and sustains everything by His mighty strength.  Able to do much more than we ask or even think!  So God is personal and powerful.   He is also…  
• HOLY – He is PURE

When we pray “may your name be kept holy” we are reminding ourselves that God is pure in every aspect of His character – He is holy in his justice and holy and pure is His love for the stranger and immigrant and the widow and the orphan. And we are called to participate in His holiness by living pure lives.    

Last week, John Smed led us through not only our prayer training workshop on Saturday – so great we have over 40 people there – but also he preached on the fourth phrase: May Your Kingdom Come… He reminded us that when we pray this we are saying that Jesus is not only up there in heaven, but He is also actively in charge of the nations and over our city and over our lives as a  

• REIGNING KING – He is PRESIDING

Personal, powerful, pure, presiding…  Our Father in heaven, May your name be kept holy, may your kingdom come soon.  There’s a lot in this prayer, isn’t there!

So as we hit this phrase “May Your Kingdom Come…”

• We’re shifting from reminding to requesting (wrestling and declaring)

We are moving from adoration to supplication and declaration.  The early part of the prayer focuses on God’s character, now we begin to see the implications of His holiness, His Kingship, His power.  In the pray like this prayer, Jesus invites us to come to God with our requests and our petitions.  But notice the pronouns in this prayer… Because they are important.  It’s not “God, I have things that I need you to do for me.  I have plans and purposes that I need you to get on board with.”  NO.  I like the way John Smed put it last weekend in his message.  When we pray “May YOUR WILL…

• “It’s God’s will that we are inviting to be done, not MY will or OUR will” – John Smed

Think about this for a minute.  If we are praying that God’s will would increasingly be done, that implies that there is a gap.  That it is not fully being done in all places at all times.  In Romans 12:3 Paul says “Let God transform your into a new person by changing the way you think.  Then, you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good, pleasing and perfect.”  Did you catch that?  We have to learn it.  We need to allow our lives to be increasingly shaped by God’s will which is a process of changing the way that we think & act.  In other words, a clear implication when we pray God’s will to be done, is that there’s going to be

• Implications: STRUGGLE

Have you found this true in your experience?  Would you be willing to share a story from your personal journey of a time when you struggled to do God’s will?  Open mic sharing (If quiet, share my story of coming to College)

I struggled with the notion that I knew that coming out here was what God wanted for me.  But it was NOT what I wanted for me.  I had a very clear plan for MY life and it did not involve Langley.  And now, 21 years later, I’m still here and not planning on going anywhere.  But that initial act was a struggle. 

Sometimes this isn’t the case.  Sometimes people have an easy time submitting to God’s plans for them.  They must be much more spiritual than I am because I find it is often a struggle for me.  But here’s where I think when we pray “your will be done” and it’s a hard wrestle for us, we can take comfort in the fact that Jesus Himself wrestled with the question of doing the Will of God!  Pause and think about that for a moment.  We know this to be true when we listen in to this prayer that Jesus prayed the night before he went to the cross in the Garden…

• Example: Jesus in Gethsemane
  • “If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” (Matthew 26:39)

Amazing!  In His full humanity, Jesus wrestled with doing the will of the Father.  Jesus wants something different – another option!  A way that didn’t’ involve suffering and ultimately His death.  And yet He finishes His prayer-wrestle with a powerful phrase that we would do well to learn: “Yet I want your Will, not mine”

• Question: Am I willing to SUBMIT?

Submission MAY mean something hard.  Africa.  Suffering.  May also mean submitting to something wonderful and rich and full – The challenge is we must pray this part of the prayer before God shows us the rest of the journey.  Your Will, God.  I desire it.  I want to learn it.  I want to pursue it.  AND I want to do it. 

That’s the second part of this phrase…

May your will BE DONE…

Here at Jericho, we are on a two year mission to deepen our life together both corporately and individually in prayer.  I was sharing this with someone and they said “so you’re going to sit around in a circle, pray and do nothing for two years?”  

There can be an impression that prayer is passive.  But that’s where this phrase helps us re-learn a balance.  It’s not just that God has a plan and purpose – something that He wills – it’s also that He wants it to BE DONE!  This implies

• Implications: ACTIVE PARTICIPATION on our part

Now, here’s where I think we need to do some rebalancing.  Actually, it’s not so much learning balance as it is learning the proper sequence of life with God. 

Those who know me know that I am wired up as an activist.  I’m quick to move.  I like ‘gettin er done’.  So my danger and perhaps you feel this tension as well, is   

• Caution: Activism preceding Activation

In other words, I am often guilty of beginning to do stuff FOR God, before I’ve checked in with Him to see if that is the right thing to do or the right time to do it in.  I have a very hard time being patient enough to wait for marching orders from my Commanding officer – I just want to begin marching!  My activism can dangerously precede my activation.  I love the way author Henry Blackaby nails this in a very convicting way.  In his classic book Experiencing God, he says:

• “I think God is crying out & shouting to us, ‘Don’t just do something, stand there! Enter into a love relationship with Me. Adjust your life to Me. Let Me love you & reveal Myself to you as I work through you.’ A time will come when the doing will be called for but we cannot skip the relationship.”       - Henry Blackaby

Don’t just rush out and do something.  Stand there.  Wait.  Learn to listen. Argh – this is SO hard for me!  Maybe you wrestle with this as well.  This isn’t just an individual phenomenon.  Whole churches can be guilty of this sin – getting lots of things DONE without pausing to consider whether or not those things were done in the will and the way and the timing of Our Father in heaven.  Here at Jericho, we are determined NOT to be one of those churches. We desire to be marked by our unhurried attentiveness and not by our unbridled activism. How about you? 

• Question: Am I willing to wait for empowering & direction before acting?
  • Wait “until you have been clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49 NIV)

The crazy thing is that Jesus gave that instruction to wait to his disciples following His resurrection & immediately preceding his ascension.  If I was them, I would want to right away get on with the business of telling everyone in Jerusalem about the good news that Jesus is alive, raised from the dead by the power of God the Father almighty and I had seen Him!  But Jesus says, wait.  I will activate you in mission and ministry.  BUT first, I need you wait for infilling.  For empowerment.  For direction.  THEN, there is lots to be done. Till then, wait.    

The final phrase in our little cluster for today is “God, we want Your Will be done

On Earth as it is in HEAVEN…

In heaven, God rules and reigns.  Millions of angelic hosts exist to carry out His bidding.  Heaven is a place where the rule of the King is always done perfectly.  God’s will is 100% realized.  No sickness. No death. Perfect love.  But here on earth, there is a gap.  Significant gaps, often.  So what are we praying when we ask God that His will would be done more fully here on earth as it is in heaven? 

One thing we need to realize is that when we praying this part of the prayer, we are stepping into a place of risky obedience because we are putting ourselves into that GAP.  We are inviting God to use us to be a  

• Implications: CONDUITS of the Kingdom coming

We are saying “God, where you point out a place where your will is NOT being done, and you empower me, I will get to work to close that gap.  I want to see more and more of your will done here on earth because it is fully done in heaven. 

So if you are a nurse, when you drive up to the place you work, your prayer might be “God, my role here today is to help bring about healing and restoration – because that’s what is going on in heaven, and I want to partner with You to see more of it happening here and now.”  That prayer makes you a conduit of care. 

If you are a parent, you might pray “Jesus, in heaven, there will be perfect obedience.  In our home, there is not perfect obedience.  Part of that is because I’m not a perfect parent.  I need your grace.  And then I know that you will is for my kids to experience the shaping power of grace both through discipline & also through love.  I need wisdom to know what situations require which this week”.  That prayer invites God to make your into a conduit of Kingdom grace at home.

If you are a teacher, you might pray “God, part of your will is that people would flourish.  And in order to do that in our world, they need to learn.  Help me to teach well and love well those you have placed in my charge today.  Where there are information gaps, help me fill them” and in doing that, you are becoming a conduit of kingdom knowledge and compassion.  

If you are an accountant, you might look at your spreadsheet and say “God, your desire is for human flourishing, and that requires some level of doing things decently and in order.  As you give me strength, I am going to apply myself to bringing some of that structure into this business setting.” As you pray that prayer, you are inviting God to make you a conduit of Kingdom orderliness.    

There are so many examples of gap areas where we can become conduits of the Kingdom coming.  But remember, we go at this in our own strength and power…    

I love how the story of Peter and John in Acts 3 illustrates this for us.  They are on their way to an afternoon prayer meeting and as they approach the Temple, a man who is lame is being carried and placed there so that he can beg for money.  Peter looks at him and says “I don’t have any money, but I do have something for you.  He prays and God grants the man who is lame complete physical healing. 

The phrase that I love most in that story, however, comes just a touch later when Peter is explaining where the man’s healing came from.  Listen to Acts 3:12… 

• Example: Peter heals a man who is lame
  • “Why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?... By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see.”                                                      Acts 3:12b & 16

Peter says “I didn’t do this.  I’m just a conduit.  The healing came from Jesus” 

Friends, that is our role.  To become conduits of God’s Kingdom everywhere we find ourselves.  In little acts of kindnesses we personally offer to the person in line in front of us at the store; in becoming advocates for Kingdom hospitality to be offered to refugees or those on the margins…  The question that Kingdom-conduits wake up in the morning burning in their minds is this:

• Question: “Where do I want to see God’s presence and power break into my world?”

Where is there a gap between the way that heaven operates and the way that this earth operates that I can help close today?  In his book “God is Closer Than You Think”, author and pastor John Ortberg says that asking this question is one of the most dangerous yet exciting prayers that we can pray because it is a bold statement: Make Up There Come Down Here.  Ortberg suggests…

“Jesus never told anybody – neither his disciples nor us – to pray, ‘Get me out of here so I can go up there.’  His prayer was ‘Make up there come down here.’ Make things down here run the way they do up there… This is maybe the most dangerous, exciting, life-altering prayer a human being can pray!”  – John Ortberg. What would it look like if you made that your prayer each day this week?  God, today, would you make up there come down here.

Let me suggest three questions to you For Reflection & Response

The first one is one of submission.  You see, you and I can’t be conduits if we are most interested in our own wills being done.  We need to have the King’s values and vision and priorities in the front of our minds.

• Are there areas of your life you are having a hard time submitting to Jesus?

Perhaps it is your finances.  You want to be a kingdom conduit, but you can’t stick to a budget that allows you to be generous.  You are not in a habit of giving that puts God first in your financial affairs.  Maybe it’s the area of sexuality.  Lust has more mastery over your life than Jesus does.  Make these areas of repentance.  Take them to Jesus and say “Not my will, Yours be done”.  So that’s the area of submission.  You don’t get out of the gate in the Christian life if you don’t go through there.  Maybe for you today, you need to surrender your life to Jesus for the very first time: saying to Him, I’m sorry.  I say “yes” to you! 

The first question is one of submission.  The second question is one of sequence

• Are there areas you are running ahead of lagging behind the Spirit’s work? I love the way Paul writes to the Galatian church and says
  • “Keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25 NIV)

Are you in a habit of waiting on God.  Asking Him for direction and then striking out OR are you busy, busy with activities and you have not been given authority or activation for those activities?  Wait for empowering direction before acting. 

The final question is where the real adventure begins!  I challenge you to wake up this week and ask yourself each day:

• Where do you long to see God’s presence & power break into your world?

What breaks your heart?  What gaps do you see that need filling? 

As the worship team comes and prepares to lead us in 3 songs of responding to God, here at Jericho, one of our practices is to have people available for prayer response for you each week.  Part of the reason for that is our core purpose is that we exist “to cultivate disciples of Jesus everywhere that you go”.  So it’s our conviction that you will go places this week where God’s presence and power need to break out.  And we want to stand with you in that journey.  Maybe it’s a tough relationship that needs mending.  Come for prayer.  Maybe it’s an area you are wrestling with submitting to God and you want to invite the help and support of your community.  Maybe it’s a need in the life of a friend or loved one you want to invite God to work in.  Where is the gap and how can God fill it?  Let me pray for you as we worship together.