Prayer: Praise, Petition, and Unleashing Power, Part Two

Are you getting excited about prayer yet?  I know I am!  I love digging deeper into God’s word and learning new things!

Let’s return to Matthew chapter six.  You may recall yesterday we began studying The Lord’s Prayer as a means of learning how we ought to pray.  Today let’s focus on verse ten.

You kingdom come

Your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

The first part- your kingdom come- implies we are speaking to a king.  You cannot have a kingdom without a king. Again, we are acknowledging who God is.  He is “Lord of lords and King of kings”, (Revelation 17:14)  This is another reminder that we are to humble ourselves before Him and honor Him with praise as to who He is.

The next sentence- Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven- speaks volumes.  First, Your will, not my will, not the President’s will, but God’s will, be done.  We are to remember who is all knowing, all powerful, and all loving.  He knows best.  When we think of it that way, we realize only His will, will do.

The final section for today, the phrase- on earth as it is in heaven- which when placed with the first part of the sentence tells us that God’s will is done in heaven.  None of this, I hope it is, business- simply put- it is. He controls heaven, and He also had complete control of Earth.  If you remember back in Genesis chapters 1 and 2, God made the world, and had complete control over it.  God gave Adam and Eve a choice to follow Him, and they did not choose to obey Him.

Some would say this is when Satan received his temporary, limited control of the earth.  He does have control of this earth for a time.  Not complete control.  Remember in Job, Satan had to ask permission to test Job.  So, Satan’s power is limited.

What can further limit it? PRAYER.

God will often intervene on our behalf when requested.  When we pray: Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven, we are helping to unleash God’s power.  Remember Abraham in Genesis 18: 22-33.  Abraham is distraught with the impending destruction of Sodom.  He repeatedly asks God not to destroy it for the sake of the righteous. in dwindling numbers. God finally assured Abraham that He would not destroy it for the sake of ten.  God knew Abraham’s heart, and He sent angels to rescue Lot and his family before the destruction struck.

I would like to end with a quote from a dear friend.  She once told me, “I want to be the kind of woman that when I wake up in the morning, Satan says “Yikes! She’s up!”

Reflection: How can I pray to help limit Satan’s control of this world?