…Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
“Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it.” Ever heard that before? Probably from a painfully old person who never learned what the word cliché means? The thing about clichés is that they became clichés because they’re true enough to be repeated. Each petition seems to make the Lord’s Prayer even more dangerous than the last. This petition, though, touches on some pretty profound fundamentals of Catholic teaching.
First, there’s the concept of a “separation” of earth and heaven. God is infinite, yes; and because of this, God is all around us and, in fact, IN us. The problem is because of the original sin of Adam and Eve, we’re made to live a short, mortal life here on earth where we make the best of what we’ve been given and strive to live according to the teachings of Christ before we die and leave our mortal bodies so that our souls can be united with God in a perfect state of eternal happiness and love which we call “heaven.” (Heck of a sentence there, huh?) Since there is this conscious “separation” between the perfection of heaven, and the “imperfection” of our mortal world, we recognize the need to desire to be perfect (or at least as perfect as possible) in accordance with the will of God.
The next concept that is implied here is that of free will. As Catholics, we believe that each individual has been given the gift of “free will” by God, that we may FREELY choose what we do in this life. God does not force himself on us, but INVITES us to seek his love and do what he has asked us to do in our lives. The best way for us to figure out what God wants us to do—what God’s WILL for us is—is to pray for guidance and answers. Now, don’t expect a booming voice to come from the clouds and give you an answer. God typically doesn’t operate like that. God’s will might come in the form of a “good feeling” you have about a job offer, or a simple suggestion a friend made to you about how he thought you’d be a good fit to teach a Religious Education class. Sometimes when trying to figure out God’s will for you in your life can be incredibly hard to reason out, the answer can be as simple as telling God, “This is what I’ve decided to do because I feel it’s what you’re asking of me, but if I’m wrong, I’m asking you to put something in my life to stop this from happening.” Many times, though, we can EASILY do things in our lives that are not done according to the will of God. Often, this comes in the form of sin. Other times, we may not follow God’s will exactly, but if our intentions are good, God will often bless our lives based on our decisions, anyway. This line in the Lord’s Prayer asks that God have HIS will—not OURS—be done in the world.
This brings us into the pretty deep question of the ultimate purpose of prayer. Luckily for you guys, I just had this discussion with a priest buddy of mine last night. In south Louisiana, we have a pretty universal prayer we include in the Prayer of the Faithful during Mass every hurricane season. It’s a simple prayer that asks that God would spare us from any major storms or hurricanes during this hurricane season. Now that raises an obvious question. If we pray for no storms, and get hit by a storm, is God listening? Even more deeply, what’s the point of praying to be spared from a storm if God has already decided that we WOULD be hit by a storm this year? The answer is not a simple one, but in the end, does make sense.
Obviously, God doesn’t want his people to suffer any unnecessary hardships, but he typically is not acting like a “puppet master” pulling the metaphorical strings of the world and our existence. He sets things in motion, and works through natural processes, intervening when he sees necessary to do so. But again, there’s the question is if that’s all decided already (since God is eternal and unchanging), what’s the point of prayer if God has already decided when a storm will hit, or when someone will get killed in a car crash, or even something as simple as whether you will have enough patience to get through reading the rest of this blog post? The answer is time. We are bound by time. God’s not. It’s not that God has already decided everything and our prayers have no bearing on God’s plan. The fact remains that we cannot fundamentally “change” God’s plan, but that God knew from before the world began that you would, right now at X:XX o’clock am/pm on Month-X Date-X, Such-and-Such a Year be praying for something in particular. Then he took that prayer and considered it based on what would be best for you in your life, and decided accordingly…long before he said “Let there be Light.” See, God WANTS to give us what we ask for, but in the end he knows what’s BEST for us. If you’ve ever been in a bad relationship or have had a drinking problem, you probably understand the principle of how we sometimes want things that are not good for us. God takes our petitions and gives us what we want and ask for when it’s in our best interest, and denies our prayers when it’s not what will fall in line with his ultimate plan.
But remember, we still have to ask. Even though it’s decided already, the decision has been made (partially) based on our actions. If we decide right now that we’ll never ask for anything again, God knew we would choose to do that, so he would never have decided to take our desires into account. Catching this? It’s pretty complicated, I know. Just remember that when you want something from God, Jesus has told us in the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 7: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” He goes on to say there, though: “Which one of you would hand his son a stone when he asks for a loaf of bread, or a snake when he asks for a fish? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him?”
God knows what he’s doing. He hears you. Just because you don’t get everything you ask for, doesn’t mean he doesn’t hear you asking. Before getting upset about the things you ask for and DON’T get, take a second to think about the amazing things you DID get—things you probably didn’t even ask for. Keep praying.
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