The Phil Files

[Jesus said] “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

For or yours is the kingdom and the power
and the glory forever. Amen.’”

I am struggling today, and will continue tomorrow, as I prepare to lead our church leaders on a biblical discussion about a potentially controversial topic. It’s not the potential differing ideas that concern me. My experience in these kinds of discussion is that we all tend to come at them with our minds made up. We leave little or no room for the Holy Spirit to use Scripture to change us. Instead, we tend to reach for proof texts that support our position.

And when I use the word “we” I do not mean “they”! It is so easy for my competitiveness and my work at understanding to dig in and see everything from my own point of view. This only gets worse when I see people doing the same thing, but a with a point of view different than mine.

So all today, and I trust all tomorrow, the phrase in the Lord’s Prayer that I hope will control my heart will be this: “Your will be done!”

“Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven!”

“Your will be done in our church as it is in heaven!”

“Your will be done in my heart, my words, and my actions as it is in heaven!”

“O Abba Father, Your will be done!”

Jesus said:

“Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother” (Mark 3:34)

O Lord, I want to show that I am a part of your family. “Your will be done!”