I've been taking a slow stroll through the Sermon on the Mount lately. You should do it - it provides the basis for Catholic Moral Theology, and for the most part tells us exactly how Christ said we should go about our lives.
Matthew 6:9-12 - The Lord's Prayer
9 "This is how you are to pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread;
12 and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors;
13 and do not subject us to the final test, but deliver us from the evil one.
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"Your will be done, on earth as in heaven."
If you want a glimpse of heaven, one characteristic is in these verses. In heaven, God's will is done. When we say the Lord's Prayer, we are asking God for His divine will to be done on earth as well.
In meditating over these verses recently, I was really struck and by this verse. In the Lord's prayer, I pray (which literally means "ask") God for His will to be done. So far so good. However, do I really WANT that in my life? Because if I really did want that in my life, I would be doing my very best to submit myself in obedience to Him, so that His will is done through me.
If I'm not doing that, or ATTEMPTING to do that, or at least THINKING about attempting to do that ... then this prayer becomes hollow. Empty. I'm asking God to do something that involves my submission to Him, but I'm just saying the words without throwing my hat in the ring.
I met a guy once who told me that "if you're going to pray for potatoes, pick up a hoe." I challenge all of us to think about that the next time we say the Lord's Prayer.
