Pray Like This #4 -- Thy will be done

Pray with me to give every situation to God and trust that He has everything under control. Everything personal and everything International. I learned in one of my prior Churches to request everything once, then thank Him for working it out when you pray about it in the future. That is what it means to have faith when we pray*. If we continue struggling with our requests, it shows a lack of faith. I know that sounds harsh because we do struggle. We're only human, after all. The challenges lie in developing a habit of praying in faith and trusting God for the results, knowing they won't always be what we want or look like we expect. Also in continuing life in "the peace that passes all understanding*" every day. We all experience moments of testing in these areas, but if we can stand strong in our Armor*, we can live in the victory purchased for us by Jesus on the Cross. The latest on Mike is that he's had to move temporarily into a motel that caters to the homeless. As of right now, he's there for a month. Trust that God has the provisions needed to get him back on his feet soon. Also continued faith that Rob and I can find a peaceful balance. And Sheila gets all the provisions she needs as well.

Do we have any mind readers in the crowd?? Husbands, wives, kids?? No hands raised?? Anyone?? Bueller?? (sorry, it was there LOL) Being highly unlikely that I have any Psychics reading this, I don't imagine any of us can claim "mind reading" among our talents*.

In our pursuit to know the Will of God, we try to be good people; even show up to Church on a regular basis thinking that we're bringing our "A-game" to God and to the World. But how can we truly know what His Will entails?? We "pine for" or painfully wish to know God's Will in our prayers. While there are a number of places we could look for the answers in Scripture, our focus today will be pretty basic... but, once again, for those just joining us, here's the Lord's Prayer in the full Bible passage --

Matthew 6:9-13 New International Version

9 “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 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 lead us not into temptation,[a] but deliver us from the evil one.[b]’ -- The "tag" was added later...

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Our focus passage, or rather, verse today is a simple one for memorizing Scripture. I'm sure we've all heard this one "floating around" before. Turn with me to Micah 6:8 ---

Micah 6:8 New International Version

8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly[a] with your God.

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Short and sweet today, but with so much packed in -- So join me in the "unpacking" --

First of all, we need to know that The Lord's Prayer is just a "template" or pattern for prayer. It can be a helpful "stepping off" point if needed, but reciting it by rote week after week can cause it to lose it's power in our hearts. This series is here to "revive" it for us and help us to understand that it's in no way intended to limit our prayers, but to expand our vision for what prayer can do. That's why "digging deeper" into the Scriptures is so important to our Spiritual lives. It broadens the scope of our understanding and thereby deepens our faith.

"Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done..." they go together because it is the very nature of the Kingdom of God that it is present wherever His Will is being done. So consider this Part 2 of the set.

As indicated above, there are multiple places in the Bible that speak to God's Will in particular situations. Our verse in Micah basically sums them all up in a neat little package. The "essence", if you will, of God's will is the loving renewal of His saving mercy and love in our lives.

The context of our verse lies in the fact that, before Chapter 6, God has Micah focusing his attention on calling out the leadership of Israel's Northern Kingdom for teaching the people basically that as long as they followed the Sacrifices and showed up for Temple every week, the rest of their lives were their own. Now, God turns the focus onto the people, saying that they should know better. (the mirror of our own lives reflects harshly at times) God's best can never be achieved by only giving Him one day out of the week*. We see all throughout the Scriptures that God's interested in our hearts, this will naturally result in walking with Him through every moment. This is how we will know God's Will. We try to decide what is right or wrong/good or bad, but as the Creator of All, only God is qualified to make those determinations.

So let's explore our verse more thoroughly --

Act Justly -- "Justice" is a word that's tossed around all too lightly these days, isn't it?? What does it really even mean anymore?? Who is making the decisions?? Unless it's people who truly love the Lord, it's nothing more than a twisted form of power. "I/we make the rules here, so we get to decide what's fair." There's no consistency in that. Truth is perverted to support an opinion. What does the word "justice" actually mean?? "Grammar Nerd" out with me for a minute here -- The Greek word "dikaiosúne (dik-ah-yos-oo’-nay)" can denote either human or divine justice (righteousness = acceptable to God) depending on context. Obviously, our context is Divine, so for our purposes; the definition of "justice" is, "the pursuit of the condition of being acceptable to God." So what is that supposed to look like?? Clearly, the word "pursuit" indicates action as opposed to just ideas or desires. If we are to "seek justice", we should be acting on behalf of those who need it. We should not shrink away from the "hard discussions." We are the ones with the right answers because we are on God's side, not because we have Him on ours. (a distinction more would do well to embrace) The challenge then becomes one of presenting truth without judgement or personal concern for the results. The fact is, any level of violence is the enemy of humanity as the "image-bearers" of God*. Ideas like Racism/Ethnicity divisions lead to violence either directly, as shown in war; or indirectly in the form of oppression. The Will of God is the "straightening of what is twisted."
Love Mercy -- We can all relate to watching action movies and waiting for the "bad guy" to get what's coming to him/her, right?? If not, you know someone who can*. And sometimes the character in question may be a different color or ethnicity than we are, right?? I mean, most of us are smart enough to separate movies from life, but what if someone wasn't?? What if some movies bred anger in someone and led them to react in violence?? What does it build in the heart?? It brings hardness, right?? We may not "act out" personally, but we get upset on behalf of others who are hurt by these people. We get "pumped up" to see criminals brought to "justice". But what does God say?? "Love mercy." We are to be compassionate. We are to practice patient forbearance. ("old school" word, I know) But the point lies in soft hearts rather than hard ones. We who are parents understand that it's not typically the kids who are patient with us, don't we?? ;p We are the adults, we are the authority; it's up to us to be merciful towards them. Now obviously, discipline is still in order, but don't let it "outweigh" the "crime"*. The same thing when we are in charge of other adults or even other people's kids. Everyone needs to be held accountable for their actions, but with compassionate results. Remember, we as humans still exist because God is merciful!!
Walk Humbly with God -- Think back to the Garden of Eden... In Genesis 1-2, everything is peaceful between Adam and Eve and God. He walks with them every day. He's in fellowship with them, and they with Him. Then we all know what happens in Chapter 3, don't we?? Eve is led astray by the Devil and eats from "the Wrong Tree"*... Ooopsy!! And then what do Adam and Eve do when it's time for their "daily constitutional" with God?? They know they've done wrong, so they hide. They are ashamed to show their faces, say nothing of their bodies. But how does God respond?? He lovingly reaches out to them in healing, redemptive love. He doesn't judge them or get angry. He doesn't come down saying, "What did you DO??" No, He comes down in gently seeking love for HIs friends. "Where are you??" He quietly looks for them and encourages them to come out and admit their guilt so He can deal fairly with their sin. While it's human nature to be independent and "do life" on our own, it's God's nature to love us and initiate connection with us and "set the pace" for our fellowship with Him*.

In 1 Timothy 2:3-4, we read where Paul is sharing with Timothy the fact that God wants for everyone to know Him. He wants all of us to join in fellowship with Him the way He did with Adam and Eve. Now He knows that not everyone will join Him, but it's still important for us all to know that He desires it*. Matt. 22:34-40 gives us the conversation between Jesus and the Pharisees when they ask Him, "What is the greatest Commandment?" Jesus then proceeds to sum up the 10 Commandments by saying that love for God comes first, then (no less importantly) comes love for others. After all, loving others properly requires that we first love God. Bottom line, the more we seek wisdom, the more we will align ourselves with God's Will. -- God Bless!!

Footnotes --

Pray in faith -- Matt. 21:22. (of course, being sure that you are praying God's will, not your own) The situation in Russia/Ukraine is foremost in our minds right now. Just remember that God's got it all covered. Matt. 24 tells us that these are just "birth pangs".
"Peace that passes understanding" Phil. 4:7
Armor of God -- Eph. 6
"mind reading" talents -- that being said, my ex-husband understands me better sometimes than I understand myself... but that's a rarity among people.
One day a week -- there's an old 70's/80's song that speaks to this. I'll include it below.
"Image-bearers" See Gen. 1:26
I can relate not only to seeing the "bad guy" come to justice, but I also don't mind seeing the rules get "bent" a little in order to achieve it. If something doesn't work the way it is, then adjustments need to be made. That being said, those who "bend" them still need to be held responsible, but at least they're calling attention to something that needs to be changed. I could easily expound further on this, but will refrain in the interest of keeping my page non-political when possible. Just know that I don't approve of "rule bending" in all situations.
Discipline shouldn't outweigh the crime -- In my years of Parenting Classes we learned the distinctions of punishment vs discipline and natural consequences when possible or logical consequences as needed.
Eve eats from the "wrong tree" -- I've given this a lot of thought and come to the conclusion that this was necessary in order for Jesus to later die for ALL.
God sets the pace for our relationship -- While this should be an example to us in our relationships, to be in fellowship 24/7/365, the fact is, as humans there sometimes needs to be limits to be set and boundaries respected. That's not to say that people are "out of fellowship" during the "down times" of these boundaries, just the fact that we as humans are simply not all equipped for being around others every second of the day. "Out of sight" doesn't equal "out of mind" or "out of relationship", it just means that we need the occasional break. After all, even Jesus took time away from the Disciples to rest and pray. That spoke nothing of His fellowship or good-feeling toward them, just of His need for quiet reflection and prayer.
Not everyone will join God -- This speaks to the "Predestination" crowd. Just because God is Sovereign doesn't mean He will get everything He desires. It means He's in charge of the results of our choices. Numerous verses say, "whosoever", that indicates that not everyone will. Is. 46:10 tells us that "I know the end from the beginning..." Matt. 6:44 says that "no one comes to the Father lest He draws them." It is my belief that God only draws those who He already knows will respond.