Pray Carefully

It is a dangerous thing to pray this prayer that Jesus taught His disciples to pray.  It is the one we find in Matthew 6:9-13.  As we pray it with the gathered people on Sunday morning during worship services, we start out with the words, "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done...."   The last two phrases are, perhaps, the most dangerous part of the prayer.  We should be careful as we pray it.  If it is a petition that is granted, everything around us is going to change.

 

And, we might not be comfortable with the change.  For God's Kingdom to be realized on this earth is something most of us would find frightening.  Think about it for a minute.  Nothing would be like it is.  And while we might say it would be a wonderful world, it would also be a world where power people, control freaks, and religious geeks would have no place.  It would involve living according to love in every situation.  It would mean an equality among people that would destroy every vestige of security for the status seekers.  It would finally mean that the reign of Christ would be paramount in every life.     

"Your kingdom come, Your will be done"  leaves nothing as it is and puts the order we have so carefully put in place in total disarray.  We should be careful   We should be careful about the things for which we pray.  God just might be listening.  God might just be in a mood to give us what we say we want.  But, of course, the most frightening thing about the whole business is that to pray the prayer as Jesus taught us to pray means praying according to the will of the Father and if there is anything which God longs to grant through our praying, it is His will.  Be careful.