Alright.  I hope this finds you well.  Today I’m stepping out of the forgiveness study to address a realization that occurred to me this week.  So here we go.

In a discussion this week I found that we don’t really understand prayer at all.  I don’t mean that we don’t see that prayer is good or necessary.  I mean that from observation it looks as if we are performing a practice and in some cases even a duty.   Yet in other cases it seems as if we are just tossing the ball in an upward direction in hopes that God will see it and maybe respond.  Sometimes it seems if we feel that God may not even act at all.  We don’t even seem to have the basic expectations in many cases.  Let me tell you, Christian…

Satan uses tactics to make you think that prayers are unheard.  Little whispers of doubt.  You’re not good enough.  You’re not a strong enough believer to be heard.  Why would He be concerned with you?

To quote a good friend.

THOSE ARE LIES FROM THE PIT OF HELL!

ALL PRAYERS TO GOD ARE HEARD AND RESPONDED TO ACCORDING TO HIS WILL.

The key there is “according to his will”.

Now, His will is sometimes hard for us to understand.  I’ve heard the answers to prayer described at times as yes, no, maybe, wait and see.  Those answers don’t do it justice. 

God’s will has two aspects.  Conditional and unconditional.  These are exactly as they sound.  His unconditional will is what He determines will happen regardless of any other circumstance.  His conditional will is determined by a response to conditions set.  Salvation is one such example.  God desires that all men be saved but yet one must believe in Jesus before that comes to pass.  Belief is the condition, the response from us that’s required to see that particular event to fruition.

Understanding the nature of His will helps us in our prayer life and our understanding of His response.

My goal here is to make prayer and act of worship for you.  It’s an act of worship that James seems so important that he says you should never stop and so does Paul.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 CSB
[17] pray constantly,

From James we read.

James 5:13 CSB
[13] Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises.

Make no mistake, you are in one of these two conditions.  Pray for your suffering or thankfulness for the lack there of, constantly.

Now what is prayer?  In the church we often teach that it’s communication with God.  While it is that, it’s so much more.  Let’s look at the prayers of Jesus.

First the obvious, The Lord’s prayer, after all He said you should pray like this.

Matthew 6:9-13 CSB
[9]  “Therefore, you should pray like this:  Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy. [10]  Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. [11]  Give us today our daily bread. [12]  And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. [13]  And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

In vs.9 we see the proper placement of God in our lives and the adoration, the honoring of His name.

In vs.10 which is where I will camp out shortly, we see the request for action,  the desired response.

In vs.11 we see the request for our needs to be filled. 

In vs.12 we see a request for forgiveness.

And finally in vs.13 a request for guidance and protection.

Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Think about that request.  God’s will is perfect.  In heaven God’s will is all there is.  If God’s will is perfect and in heaven everything is God’s will, then what is this part of the prayer asking?

Make earth perfect?  That’s a reasonable assumption.  But how?  The very phrase on earth as it is in heaven, indicates to me that we need a translocation of what is there to come here.

PRAY TO BRING HEAVEN TO EARTH!

Again we’re back at how?  Your Kingdom come, hmm?  Notice that Kingdom and heaven are both mentioned.  The Kingdom here I believe are the people, the Christians.  I see in this a request for aid in the sharing of the Gospel for the growth of the Kingdom.  Also, there is the desire for completion of the mission. (On a side note, more Christians means more prayers.) Then I see the means by which we request this be done.  Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

MAKE WHAT IS HERE PERFECT.

I had never heard this from the church.  I find it to be critical in my desire, my need, and my responsibility to pray.  I need to realize that I’m not just asking for change, I’m asking for Heaven to be brought here.  This changes the perspective drastically.

Let’s again look at the prayers of Jesus.

Luke 9:28-31 CSB
[28] About eight days after this conversation, he took along Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray. [29] As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. [30] Suddenly, two men were talking with him — Moses and Elijah. [31] They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish in Jerusalem.

As He was praying, heaven came to earth.

Mark 6:41 CSB
[41] He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he blessed and broke the loaves. He kept giving them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all.

He prayed and for a time things on earth were as they are in heaven.  Heaven came here and the food was multiplied.

For a time earth in that spot was as it should be.  Not fallen.

Are you praying for heaven to come to earth?

When you see this in your prayers, it will change your life.  I challenge you Christian, you prayer warrior…

MAKE THIS YOUR WEAPON OF CHOICE!  BRING HEAVEN TO EARTH.

Please keep in mind that this is not an exhaustive look into prayer.  It’s just something that I’ve noticed we don’t talk about and thus we might not even realize.

My aim is that God’s perfect will be done in your life.  To do that I pray that heaven will surround you on earth today.

Love in Christ

Colby