On Earth as it is in Heaven

By David Hobbs

Not every prayer is worthy of being prayed. Some prayers are little more than a projection of our fears and anxieties (“don’t let the boogeyman get me!”). Some are for things He’s already promised over and over (“And if I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.”). Some are almost prayers of boredom, for things we truly care very little about (“And we pray for the pygmies in Africa and all the ships at sea”)--Prayers to make us the pray-ers look/feel good rather than trying to accomplish anything in the Kingdom.
To avoid many of the pitfalls of wrong praying, Jesus gave us a stock prayer; we call it “The Lord’s Prayer.”

Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name
Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven
Give us this day our daily bread,
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever, amen.

In the past, when I thought about this prayer's most famous line, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, I thought about things like judicial justice, people praising God openly and nobody ripping anybody off—kind of a civic righteousness and joy. But I saw it in an entirely new light this morning.
We were down at the capital in Sacramento in one of the committee meeting rooms, holding our weekly worship and intercession meeting. As we sang and worshipped, the presence of God kept filling the room until it became so pervasive and strong it seemed to fill every cell of my being. As always, when that happens, I thought, “I never want to leave this place of intimacy with Him.” I started praying, not out loud, but to the Lord in secret, “Lord, I always want to be with You like this! I don’t care if it’s on earth or in heaven. It doesn’t matter. I’m not asking you to take me to heaven so I can be with You. I am asking that wherever I am, whether earth or heaven, I can always be with You like I am right now.”
Then it struck me: that verse from the Lord’s Prayer, on earth as it is in heaven. “Lord,” I prayed, “if I was in heaven right now I would be with You like this, always! So let it be done on earth as it would be in heaven! Let me be with You, here--experiencing You and being filled with You--as much and to the same degree as if I was in heaven: on earth as it is in heaven!”
Now that is a prayer worthy of being prayed!