Thy will be done

Matthew 6 : 9-16
New Living Translation (NLT)

9 Pray like this:
   Our Father in heaven,
   may Your name be kept holy.
10 May Your Kingdom come soon.
   May Your will be done on earth,
   as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today the food we need,
12 and forgive us our sins,
   as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
13 And don’t let us yield to temptation,
   but rescue us from the evil one.

At the onset, it is common mistake to treat the latter part of verse 10 as 2 separate halves. In the greek language it is actually one sentence with a brief interjection, more like this comma you just read. More important though is the need to understand where the interjection comes - it is not after the word done; it is after the word earth. This drastically changes the way we read the verse as it then becomes Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven rather than Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven; the latter being the way the mission school i attended as a child (as i'm sure many others) teach their kids the Lord's prayer. However, just for the purposes of understanding this verse better; we will break it down and join it all together again.

May Your Will be Done on Earth

1 John 2: 17 (NLT) says: "And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever." What does it mean to please God? The noun used in the greek 'thelema' is actually from the root verb 'thelo' which carries the meaning 'to will, wish or purpose.' The same word when used as a noun however carries forward an additional set of meanings; giving us translations like 'desire, pleasure.' In terms of usage, the noun is used to express the meaning of desire / pleasure much more than the root verb meaning (especially in the Septuagint) - hence the NLT translation. Interestingly enough the same noun form is used Mathew 26:42 when Jesus prays to the Father in the garden of Gethsemane asking Him to take away his suffering but ultimately states "Not my will, but yours be done."

But in the usage of this noun we see the deep seated meaning of what it means to please God - doing His will. Because in terms of pleasing God in the light of Col. 1:10, as we are increasingly filled with the knowledge of God's will, we can walk in a way that increasingly pleases Him. John Piper tied it all down in this sentence - "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." He couldn't  have been more profound because as the scripture tells us in Psalms 40: 8 "I take joy in doing your will, my God, for your instructions are written on my heart.” Even Jesus echoes this way of living as He makes it abundantly clear that His nourishment came from doing the will of God in John 4:34, 5:30, 6:38.

What does this mean to us as believers? After all we are taking about God, the creator of the universe(s) as we know them. The angelic host wait at His beck and call even though He is a God who creates, does and works by speaking His word. Everything in the universe(s) moves to the tune of His voice and will. Who are you and i to defy His will?

May Your Will be Done on Earth, as it is in Heaven

Herein lies the depth of this statement. To the God who is the creator of all and knows each of us by name, we are praying that His will be done on earth like it is in Heaven right now! To draw us back to the previous post for a bit - we talked about how God's Kingdom is here and now but not in a perfect manner. So us praying May Your Kingdom Come Soon signifies us asking Him and yearning for His Kingdom to grow in all the earth so that there is no corner where His dominion doesn't hold good. It is only when this happens that His will would be executed perfectly all across the earth; just like it is in heaven right now. 

Again drawing reference to the previous article, we are actually asking for God to extend His Kingdom into all our hearts. By asking Him to extend His influence in perfection to the depth of what makes us human; we are in essence asking Him to enable us to submit ourselves completely to His dominion and therefore will.

That is a powerful thing to ask - for anybody. For we asking God our creator to take us whole and do His will in and through us. We are in essence then asking like Paul (or the author of Romans) directed us  for the Lord to take us as living sacrifice as we offer ourselves in whole to Him. And we need to be careful when we make such statements, for God takes them pretty seriously even as the psalmist puts it in Psalms 19:14.

Let us be careful when we pray again "May Your Will be Done on Earth, as it is in Heaven," for it entails surrendering our whole being for Him to do as He wills. May the good Lord give us the grace we so need to live in this manner.

http://www.wordsoftruth.net/thywillbedone10212001.htm

http://www.crosswalk.com/blogs/dr-paul-j-dean/can-we-please-god-1362681.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thelema

Thy Kingdom Come

Matthew 6:9-16
New Living Translation (NLT)

9 Pray like this:
     Our Father in heaven,
     may your name be kept holy.
10  May your Kingdom come soon.
     May your will be done on earth,
     as it is in heaven.
11  Give us today the food we need,
12  and forgive us our sins,
     as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
13  And don’t let us yield to temptation,
     but rescue us from the evil one.

May Your Kingdom Come Soon

Luke 17:21 (NLT) says: You won’t be able to say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘It’s over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is already among you. Here a lot translations use  'For the Kingdom of God is within you.' But it has to be pointed out that Jesus spoke this statement in response to the question the pharisees raised and therefore would not have used within you; else it would assert their own so called righteousness. Further, the greek word used was there was entos which translates to the midst of  and not within you. So the NLT gives a very closely accurate translation of this verse. This then though opens up an interesting point - where is the Kingdom of God? What did Jesus mean when He said the Kingdom is already in the midst of you or among you?

From the Jewish perspective, they awaited the Kingdom of God with eagerness and longing. But it was primarily in order to liberate them from the tyranny of them being conquered. Their notion of the Kingdom of God was a physical Kingdom where Israel would rule into eternity. So Jesus' statement would have been startling to the audience He spoke to; especially because he starts with telling them that they will not be able to say of the Kingdom of God that it was established in Israel or any other geographical location. Instead He told them that the Kingdom was already in their midst or among them. A startling claim for anybody to make in that day and now!

The Kingdom of God is already among you - How can we understand this? If the Kingdom of God is already among us, why is there still pain, suffering, evil rampant at work? Is the Kingdom truly here? The Bible tells us it is. 'But if I am casting out demons by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you.' (Mt. 12: 28; Lk. 11:20 - NLT). Jesus even confirms to John the Baptist' disciples that the Kingdom has arrived as a result of which many signs and wonders were being performed; also the good news was being preached (Mt. 11: 2 - 6). The Kingdom is definitely here; that we cannot doubt. It is here and the proof is in the exorcisms, sign, miracles, healing and the gospel being preached. The power of the Kingdom of God is invading the domain of evil, expelling the powers of evil.

Satan still exerts some influence, but he has been defeated, and 'the ruler of this world has already been judged.' (John 16:11, NLT). He has been partially restrained — tied up (Mark 3:27). Jesus overcame Satan’s world (John 16:33), and with God’s help we are overcoming it, too (1 John 5:4). But not everyone does. In this age, the kingdom contains both good and bad, both wheat and tares (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43, 47-50; 24:45-51; 25:1-12, 14-30). Satan still has influence; we still look forward to a world and a time in which God’s will is done perfectly rather than partially.

Jesus Christ is in the church today, too, and just as the kingdom was present in the ministry of Jesus, it is present in the ministry of his church. The King is among us; his spiritual power is in us, even though the kingdom is not yet operating in its full power. We have already been brought into God’s kingdom (Colossians 1:13). We are already receiving a kingdom, and our proper response is reverence and awe (Hebrews 12:28). Christ “has made us [past tense] to be a kingdom” (Revelation 1:6). We are a holy nation (1 Peter 2:9)—already and currently a holy kingdom—but it does not yet appear what we shall be. God has rescued us from the dominion of sin and transferred us into his kingdom, under his ruling authority.

God is already ruling, and we should be sharing in the divine life right now, living in his domain, in which his will is done. We don’t yet possess a territory, but we do come under the reign of God. The kingdom does not force itself upon us – we have to voluntarily come under its influence. Understanding that the kingdom already exists can help us give greater attention to the way the world is right now. We do not forget that the completion of the kingdom is still future. If our only hope is in this age, we don’t have much hope (1 Corinthians 15:19). We do not harbor illusions about bringing the kingdom with human efforts. Nevertheless, even though we cannot transform this earth into a heavenly paradise, doing good is still good. We can still try to make the world a better place for at least a few people. [1] 

And herein lies the significance of praying May Your Kingdom come soon. We started the Lord's prayer with May Your Name be kept holy. In continuation to asking the Lord to make His Name known through all the earth, we are praying that everybody would accept the influence of His Kingdom into their own hearts and lives. We are also praying that His Kingdom would not be just within us, but also all around us. That the day shall come soon when the ruler of this world is vanquished for all eternity and we are able live our lives in His presence.

What then does this mean to us in our everyday prayers by praying in the manner of May Your Kingdom come soon?

1. A Kingdom Perspective: We are asking the Lord to give us a Kingdom perspective; where everything that drives us is with the ultimate vision of how it would / wouldn't help His Kingdom. That every suffering, every pain, every trial we might bear while on this earth for His Name sake but most importantly because we know His Kingdom is here and coming soon; and therefore everything we face is just temporal. When we ask for and receive this big picture perspective, everything we go through becomes minuscule. We quit cribbing, complaning and being anxious - for we are part of His Kingdom. As a result of this, life becomes joyous and we are victorious.

2. His Kingdom be victorious today: We are also asking the Lord to bring under control the powers of darkness and their work in our lives and that we might live in a way which shows who we are - the royal sons and daughters of the most High King (Rom. 8: 14 - 17). That for us, to live might be gain and to die (in this world) might be Christ (Phil. 1: 21).

3. His Kingdom extend into all areas of our lives: As we seek His Kingdom in to encompass all, we also seek that He truly transforms us as we strive towards perfection. That every area of our lives would be under His dominion in the days to come. That there would be no thought, word or deed not held captive to Him and His cause (2 Cor. 10:5).

May Your Kingdom come soon Lord!

Hallowed Be Thy Name

Its been a while since i have wanted make a post about a book i read; but never really got past thinking about it.

Have been doing my daily devotions on the book of Mathew; spent some time on mulling over and understanding the Lord's Prayer. 5 years past i had the privilege of interacting with and learning from NT Theologian Dieter Kemmler. A professor of Hermeneutics, he has written and taught widely - but his life's work has been the Lord's prayer. For me, it did come alive sitting through that series with him. The theological depth of what we ought to understand from it as a model for our lives and prayer is just magnificent. So i decided to share here my gleanings from the same in a series of posts; though not new in any way. If we were to truly follow this pattern how amazing our lives would be!

The Purpose of the Lord's Prayer

In both Mt. 6 and Lk. 11, the context of the Lord's Prayer is the disciples asking Jesus to teach them how to pray. From their Jewish mindset it made perfect sense; especially as they viewed God as the wholly other who could never be understood, dealt with, related to or known by a mere human. When they came from a culture where the common man could enter only the outer courts of the temple, only the selected tribe of priests could enter the inner courts and only the high priest could enter the holy of holies; that too once a year with rope tied to his waist to pull him back out, in case he died in God's presence - their question was very simply, 'teach us how we are to pray and speak our petitions to this supreme being we are so disconnected from and fearful of.' Jesus' answer was surprising indeed.

The Lord's Prayer

Matthew 6:9-16

New Living Translation (NLT)

⁹ Pray like this:

Our Father in heaven, 

  may your name be kept holy.
¹⁰ May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done on earth,
    as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us today the food we need,
¹² and forgive us our sins,
    as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
¹³ And don’t let us yield to temptation,
    but rescue us from the evil one.

For most of us, we would have learnt the Lord's Prayer as children while in Sunday School. Today, in most Christians persuasions we tend to repeat the Lord's Prayer verbatim on various occasions; while not truly understanding what we are asking or praying for. For ultimately this was not meant as just a creed; it was meant as a model of prayer for us to follow. More disturbing though is the fact that we tend to skip by the 1st line (vs. 9) as if it were just another thing to be recited as part of the creed; and subconsciously incline to focus on the following verses where we are asking things for ourselves. We couldn't be more wrong.

Our Father in Heaven

OUR: Jesus starts the prayer with the collective pronoun OUR. This is interesting because he could have very well said MY; since He was addressing His Father. But He starts with the word OUR. Goes to signify our acceptance of the fact that God is creator of all that exists & lives and is therefore OUR God. More interesting though is the word Father.

FATHER: The Jews always thought of God and referred to Him as the respectful other. They would therefore use words of majesty to speak about Him or address Him. The commonly used Greek word at that time by them for father in this context when you wanted to address God, was pater. It is the equivalent of us calling our earthly parent Sire or Sir or Pithashri (in Hindi). It assumes a distance which cannot be bridged. Further it assumes a respect which cannot be forgotten. Finally it signifies an unrelenting submission which would never allow for us to relate to our parent so as to truly connect with him at an emotional level and feel secure and comfortable with it. 

But in His prayer, Jesus didn't use the word pater. He instead used the Aramaic word Abba. No, not the band! :) This word also meant father, but it is the equivalent of calling our parent Papa or Dad. It denotes respect but also love - It shows endearment. It signifies the authority of the parent but also gives a feeling of warmth and security. Most importantly it feels connected! Jesus was teaching His disciples to get over their disconnectedness to God. More importantly He was teaching them that they could personally relate to Him. That they could love Him and relate to Him as one would with their loving earthly father. This was a revolutionary idea to the Jewish mindset as they never truly understood the Immanence of God.

IN HEAVEN: The bible tells us that in the heavens in God's throne and the earth is His footstool. (Mt. 5: 34, 35). Jesus is teaching the disciples to recognize the fact of who God is and where He sits. This is in contrast to the earlier Abba but does signify the Transcendence of God.

ALL PUT TOGETHER: We could therefore put together this first part of the sentence to understand that Jesus was teaching us understand and remind ourselves of God's Transcendence and Immanence every time we approach Him in prayer.

May Your Name be kept Holy

HOLY / HALLOWED: The Greek verb been used here is hagiazo. It signifies a range of meanings so as to say venerate, declare sacred, adore, holy, consecrated, sanctified. It goes to denote the wholly other and how it ought to be treated. It goes to signify the grit and passion one ought to have in order to maintain the sanctity of the venerated one or holy one.

A brilliant example that comes to mind is the followers of Islam. Though i do not in any way agree to their actions and the way they choose to deal with situations; i do admire their passionate grit to keep up the sanctity of their religion, faith and prophet. Even in the light of the recent uprisings over the video - Innocence of Muslims we can see that they are willing do anything to protect what they see as sacred, holy and hallowed. If the followers of Islam who probably are never able to relate to their creator at a personal level have such kind of a passion to upkeep what they consider Holy; it is sad that we as Christians pale out in comparison. After all, we are the people of the light; we share a personal relationship with God and are able to address and approach Him directly. We need to ask ourselves the question do we truly consider God Holy and treat Him with all the respect He is due? Or has our focus on the Immanence of God driven us to the other extreme of disregarding Him? It is indeed food for thought.

YOUR NAME: It is interesting to note that Jesus didn't pray May My Name be kept Holy! He instead said May Your Name be kept Holy. Whom was He referring to? He was referring to God's Name - the great I AM. Every single time that the Lord God refers to Himself, He does so by calling Himself God Almighty (Ex. 6:3), I AM (Ex. 3:14), Holy (Isa. 57:15). In Ezekiel 36 He goes so much to say that He scattered His people of Israel because they disregarded His Holy Name. The Bible teaches us that our God is a jealous God (Ex. 20: 4, 5). What is He jealous about? 2 things really - The Holiness of His name and the fate of humanity. For the former He would even punish His dearest Israel in love and for the latter He gave up His Son on the cross that you and me might enjoy His presence for the everlasting. Jesus is referring to the same I AM, whose name is so Holy that we were never considered worthy of mentioning it. Jesus is in essence teaching us to give the same reverence to God's Holy name.

OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN, MAY YOUR NAME BE KEPT HOLY: By making this statement and asking us to pray likewise, Jesus is asking us to respect and praise and worship due to God. But more importantly when we pray likewise we are asking that His name be kept Holy through all the earth. Wow! We are making a missionary prayer here. We are praying for all humankind to worship Him. We are praying for God to make Himself known in all the earth. We are praying for people to know Him and Him alone as God. We are praying for all who do not know Him and that we would together as His creation worship Him for who He is - God above all! The implications of this statement are profound. The Lord Himself taught us to start our prayers by recognizing who He is and asking that He makes Himself known to all. The question is how?

The answer lies in us; we can ensure that His Name be kept Holy by always keeping Him first and above all:

1. In Our Hearts: What is the first thing you do in the morning? Watch the news, read the newspaper, check our phones for messages from our boy / girl friend, check facebook for updates from friends / family? Or do we choose to acknowledge Him for a good night's rest, His unconditional love for you; as a result of which you only want to spend time with Him (Quiet Time). Is He the first thought in the morning and the last thought you retire to bed with? Do we feel His presence all day with us so real that we are constantly communicating with Him? Do our innermost thoughts truly give Him all glory? Is He the first thought on our minds in our deepest, darkest moments?
2. In Our Lives: Does every word and deed of ours truly give Him all glory? Through everything we do, are we truly giving our best that glory be brought to His Name? Whether it be our studies or work, our relationships or our own private lives; are we doing our best for His Holy name sake?
3. In the World: We all have friends / acquaintances of other faiths who have invited us over to celebrate their festivals. How many times have we truly chosen to represent the true and living God to them and called them to be part of Church, or some program where they could have a chance to meet with Him? Have we truly been praying for such people in our sphere of influence that they too might find God? Have we been shy of using our gifts and talents for His glory?

The implications of the first line of the Lord's prayer are astounding! Jesus essentially taught us to pray to be His ambassadors in this world. Are we up for the challenge? Are we truly prepared to say OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN, MAY YOUR NAME BE KEPT HOLY???

On Living Right & Dying Young

If you have known me from my teen days then you will know just how hyperactive, impulsive, spur of the moment, always craving for action kinda guy i was. You would also then know just how stick thin i was and yet had the energy of a horse. I wanted to do everything, be everywhere and know everything (of things i was interested in); and i would get very frustrated when i was not able to finish what i had set out to do. Most importantly i never wanted to be a 9 -5 job kinda guy. This is all because I was born full of nervous energy and as a dear friend once pointed out, that is what drives me. That all changed after my surgeries of course. I yet wonder at times whether that unusual corrugated bundle of nerves the doctors found on the outer surface of my heart was in any way synonymous to the nervous energy that filled me and kept me going.

Yet what most people do not know about me is that right from my childhood days, i have been torn apart from within. This is owing to the ongoing tussle that would take place between my nervous energy and my quiet side; needless to say my nervous energy won most times, at least earlier. Things took a drastic U-turn when after surgery i had limited energy resources per day. This was because of my compounded full blown heart condition and the medication i was taking everyday (which will continue all through life); it just slowed me and my thinking down. I had to discipline myself to use the energy i had, to do what were the most important tasks required for that day. Very quickly and with no choice my nervous energy and all its tag alongs (hyperactivity, impulsiveness, etc.) died down. I became the mostly level headed, mostly calm and collected, mostly planned guy people know me to be today.

But my original dominant nervous energy has never departed; only kept under wraps. I figure i have managed to be this way primarily because i almost mastered the trick of channeling this same nervous energy in a planned and organized manner, so as to achieve the targets of that day. Notice though i said almost mastered. There are times when the aqueducts and pipes blow and then all hell breaks loose. The last week has been spent bringing under control one such massive leakage. And it was all triggered by my health being bad again!

I woke up breathless, missing my family and feeling lost in thoughts and frustrated. While part of the reason for my getting into a panic mode in my mind might have been the sudden death of my brother-in-law (wife's eldest brother) who was just 48 and me thinking about my never getting better health condition and what i was doing in my life when i still had time; the reason for the frustration was nothing new (when such leakages occur). My nervous self has wanted always to achieve much in life but all such plans had to be put on hold over the last 5 years. What i wanted to do by the time i was 30:

• Finish my M.Th. in Theology from SAIACS
• Finish at least 1 more Master's Degree, preferably in IT Security (through correspondence)
• Register for starting my PhD in Theology
• Finish writing at least 1 book
• Start a Christian FM radio station
• Be in a position financially where i was able to devote not just my energy and time, but also money i'd earned towards the Kingdom work
• Start work alongside the church in China
• Travel across India
• Travel to at least 3 other countries
• Learn at least 3 foreign languages
• Have a meaningful job where i could clearly see the difference i was making in people's lives and the proclamation of the Gospel

Of course i have always wanted to do and achieve all of this for His glory.

Instead what i find myself doing while running 31:

• No further education completed over the last 5 years
• Nothing written exceeding 2 pages
• Giving freely towards Kingdom work a distant dream as i struggle financially
• No travel even in India undertaken over the past 5 years
• No other languages learnt
• Working with IT; completely unsure what He has in store for me or wants me to do in the long run

In short i have done nothing that i wanted to do. And if i were analyze the reason why not even one of the things i set to achieve has gotten done, it will all boil down to 1 thing - my health not permitting me the energy  i need to do anything extra other than doing my 9 - 5 job well and spending some remnants of my energy for the day with my son and wife. Sometimes i wish i was able to do much more with them too.

The overall result of this all - i felt like a failure, started feeling low and went into borderline depression. Not having my wife and son around didn't help much and neither did the fact that i didn't get too much of good food during this time. Was struggling hard with channeling back all this pent up nervous energy firstly by trying to distract myself by doing a movie marathon (4 movies, back-to-back from 11 am to 11 pm), eating as much comfort food as possible and trying hard to get my job done well, but to no avail. That was up until last night.

I have often times been criticized by my wife and very close friends saying that:

1. I think too much
2. I really ought to make more realistic goals for myself in order to make them achievable and not get myself disappointed
3. I need to just give all my dreams and aspirations to Christ and allow for Him to work out things in His time, in His way; for He only always gives us much more than we ask for or imagine...

To this i have always had to say that i do not think too much; that's just me. Also i am a firm believer of the quote, "Reach for the moon, if you miss you will land among the stars" and as such a more in-achievable goal is always better to drive you forward. But i must accept, i have never really been able to give all of myself; in terms of my dreams and aspirations to Christ. I have somehow at an unconscious level almost never let go and submitted these dreams into His hands.

Last night, we received news of another of Christi's cousins having died a sudden death. After a week of being stuck and muddled up in my own mind, it was a rude awakening again - life is short and unpredictable. But i am not dead and alive still! We are but a vapor in the wind whose very existence is so dependent on Him and His grace, love and mercy. My life may be shorter than others due to my heart condition but the very fact that He chooses to keep it there and not take it away ought to be my clue - He means to use even this weakness of mine for His glory. But more importantly He is not done with me yet; there is much He will yet do in me and through me. My life will have meaning yet - inside and out!

I now realize that i do indeed think too much about the rhetorical, "What am i doing with my life?" question. Also that i need to consciously keep giving back all my dreams, hopes and aspirations to Him so as to allow for anything He wants to be done with it; for i am able to do things, but only through Christ who strengthens me. I do also need to slow down and channelize my nervous energies even further; so as to make myself keep trusting Him, depending on Him and know that He will lead me to where He wants me to be as long as i just submit myself to His will. Finally that through it all, He will indeed take everything that i submit and make it more beautiful than i can ever ask for or imagine.

If you are reading this, keep in your prayers; that i will find His continued grace to calm down and channelize my energies to walk at the pace He wants me to, despite my natural instincts wanting to tear down the track. Also that i will be able to continually release myself whole to Him so that He will be glorified in greater measure. Finally that my energy levels would increase in the days to come... May He be glorified this year and for as long as He grants me life here.