Pray ONE: Thy Will Be Done

I can’t help but think that this phrase, “For thine be the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory…”, was popped in by a new scribe who, having copied the Lord’s Prayer for the first time, was so overjoyed at the immensity of these few words that he couldn’t help praising Yahweh with his pen.  The fact is, the Power and Glory and Kingdom belong to him forever, and to us also, if we’ll but abide in communion until our faith becomes sight.  The scribe who copied those foreign lines into Matthew was probably a monk and maybe even under a vow of silence.  The only way he could shout out was to scribble his praise loudly.  Loudly enough to still be heard today.

 

Luke 11:1 And it came to pass as he was in a certain place praying, when he had ceased, some one of his disciples said to him: Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. 2 And he said to them: Whenever you pray, say: Father, thy name be hallowed: thy kingdom come: 3 give us day by day our needful bread; 4 and forgive us our sins, for we also forgive every one indebted to us; and lead us not into temptation. …

   9 And I say to you: Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you.  10 For every one that asks receives, and he that seeks finds, and to him that knocks it shall be opened.  11 But should a son ask bread of any one of you that is a father, would he give him a stone? or also a fish, would he for a fish give him a serpent? 12 or should he also ask an egg, would he give him a scorpion?

   13 If therefore you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father who is from heaven give the Holy Spirit to those that ask him. (ANT)

 

Matthew 6:7 But when you pray, use not vain repetitions as the heathens; for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 8 Be not therefore like them; for your Father knows what things you have need of before you ask him. 9 In this way therefore pray you: Our Father who art in the heavens: hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done as in heaven also on earth. 11 Give us this day our needful bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors; 13 and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. (ANT)  (This is from the Sinaitic Codex.)

 

Psalms 138  Hymn of thanksgiving of David  1. I thank you, Yahweh, with all my heart, for you have listened to the cry I uttered. In the presence of angels I sing to you, 2. I bow down before your holy Temple.  I praise your name for your faithful love and your constancy; your promises surpass even your fame.  3. You heard me on the day when I called, and you gave new strength to my heart. 

   4. All the kings of the earth give thanks to you, Yahweh, when they hear the promises you make; 5. they sing of Yahweh's ways, ‘Great is the glory of Yahweh!’  6. Sublime as he is, Yahweh looks on the humble, the proud he picks out from afar. 

   7. Though I live surrounded by trouble you give me life, to my enemies' fury!  You stretch out your right hand and save me, 8. Yahweh will do all things for me.  Yahweh, your faithful love endures forever, do not abandon what you have made.  (NJB)

Colossians 2:8-13. See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, by putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ; when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.  (NRSV)

 

Three Doves

   After learning the basic meaning of prayer from her parents – “now I lay me down to sleep” – a nine-year old girl went off to bed – and she dreamed a dream.  She dreamed that she passed through giant doors into an elegant cathedral.  Three people were kneeling in prayer at the altar rail.  The third was a young girl, like herself.  As she drew closer to the podium, she noticed that upon each person’s shoulder was a dove.

   The girl quietly approached the first pray-er and her dove – a beautiful white one.  But when the girl touched the dove, it fell apart, being nothing but a crust with no substance.  So it was with the prayer uttered by the lady with the dove: beautiful on the outside, but only a shell – empty on the inside.

   All of a sudden the second dove began to fly.  It flew around and around the great empty space of the cathedral before flying upward toward the tiny sunroof in the ceiling.  This second dove hit that little window with a thud, and fell downward into the dark pews below.  It was like a prayer that began in a blaze of glory, but after awhile, the mind of the pray-er went on to other, more important, matters, and the meaning of the prayer was not only lost, but crashed and forgotten.

   The third dove was perched upon the child who prayed at the rail.  This third dove wasn’t so beautiful as the first, nor so big, nor did it get off the ground nearly so gracefully as the second.  But this little, mottled dove flew straight for that same skyline window that’d been the impenetrable obstacle to its predecessor, and flew right through it. 

   In her dream, the little girl saw the mottled dove ascend up beyond the great high steeple and upward toward the clouds above.  It didn’t falter, but flew out of sight, even to heaven.  This dove was the prayer that got through – not an empty shell, not a double-minded prayer; but a simple prayer that reached – even the King of Heaven, landing in a coop of doves on the roof of his palace, bearing the sincere message from a kneeling child in a dark cathedral so far below.[1]   (More illustrations.)  And then the nine-year old girl awoke; and alas, it was but a dream.

 

Pray: “Good father Yah - grant the ability - to love your son

as you love him - till he be in me - totally.  Amen.”

 

One Popular Lesson

   Is it any wonder that the only recorded thing the disciples asked the Master to teach them was to pray.  They observed that the disciples of John the Baptist had been taught the proper way of praying that reached to the “dove coop atop the heavenly palace” – and they were sure that John had taught them rightly.  How did they know?  Because the prayers of John’s disciples, and most certainly the prayers of Yahshua, were heard and answered.  “Teach us to pray,” they asked fervently.

   It’s vital for everyone to recognize the need for prayer – that, in many cases, only intercessory prayer can be effective in changing circumstances.  It’s also vital for pray-ers to recognize that praying consists not only in saying, but in listening – for the listening part of prayer is the divine part. 

   St. Paul advises his followers to pray without ceasing.  One wonders how that’s possible, since there’re so many tasks to keep the mouth and mind busy each waking moment.  However, no matter what a person’s doing, no matter how detailed or how much brainpower the task requires, one can pray in the mode of listening without ceasing.  Even when a person’s sleeping, she can pray without ceasing.

 

Prayer Mightier Than Pen or Sword

   Religious folks like us are called to be experts in prayer, seeking the Almighty above everything else – to relate to him in speaking and listening.  Religious folks know that, just as the pen is mightier than the sword, the prayer is mightier than both, if one learns to pray effectively and in the Divine will.  And religious folks know that, in all circumstances, they must try to live a hidden life in Messiah, a life from which prayer originates from supernatural love and compassion for the needs of one’s neighbor, whether that neighbor is in the next house or in the next world.  One who prays for and receives the spiritual gift of compassion will automatically receive the gift of effective prayer. 

   In fact, for the Christian worker, the constant danger is to be so absorbed in the Father’s tasks that he forgets that the Father is in the task.  For this reason, when we draw up our “to do” lists for our apostolic works, we must always be certain to balance all work with moments of personal and community prayer.  Our power to complete the heavenly mission is endowed in the same proportion, as prayer is to work, in our lives.

 

Initial Mind / Body Experimentation

   Prolonged and continuous prayer does change things.  Christians and Jews of all ages have known this from experience.  Many men and women whose names we’ll never know have dedicated their lives to the humble career of praying; and the un-famous have changed the world.  But the modern world has only realized the power of prayer in the last twenty years or so, since scientific research has empirically proved the efficacy of prayer. 

   Dr. Herbert Benson founded the Mind / Body Medical Institute at Harvard University in 1988.  His intention was to find a connection between a person’s health and a person’s mind.  If there was such a connection, he could use it to heal. 

   Benson actually began using prayer for the sick in his experiments for economic reasons, for the Mind / Body Institute started out with Swamis who meditated over patients.  But these Swamis charged up to $200 an hour to meditate.  Benson realized that he could find people willing to pray – FOR FREE.  Here’s an excerpt from Psychology Today describing the Institute’s initial use of prayer in healing:

   He had Roman Catholic subjects use “Hail Mary, full of grace” or “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me.” Jews … settled mainly for the peace greeting, “Shalom,” or “Echad!” meaning “one.” Protestants used the first line of the Lord’s Prayer … or the opening of the 23rd Psalm….

   [The result?]  They all worked. …  As a hard-nosed scientist, Benson kept trying to avoid … actual prayers.  …   People who used prayers rather than … phrases … stayed with the method. So [Benson] began to work with religious researchers on [what] … he calls the faith factor. His data suggest that the benefits of faith may interact with the direct physiological benefits of [relaxation], and that prayer sets up the interaction. …

   [Benson] found himself swapping religious ideas with theologians, religious sociologists, born-again psychologists, … monastic orders, and … backers of Billy Graham. …[In 1987] he started a series of programs with hospital chaplains and other religious workers….   But first he had to teach the preachers which styles of prayer evoke [a healing response].  Benson and other colleagues invited 30 priests, ministers and rabbis to the Mind/Body Medical Institute at Boston’s New England Deaconess Hospital.   [He] began the training by reporting … that people who feel … in touch with God are less likely to get sick – and better able to cope when they do.

   Since Benson believes that [meditation] makes people intellectually more open, he was prepared for a lively response.  But he was startled at the excitement among the religious pros. Most [had] long lost [the habit of prayer] in the hassle of the rat race.

   “This is why I came into church work in the first place,” said one [preacher], “and I’d lost it.”[2] 

   Now imagine – theology pros, pastors, rabbis, those of religious vocations, going to a medical doctor to learn how to pray.  Now that’s really something.  But, of course, it worked the other way around, too.  Those who knew how to pray taught the medical world that prayer changes things.  Now prayer has become something of an unequally yoked partner with the medical profession.  In some hospitals, prayer’s always on the agenda.  At Baptist and Methodist Hospitals in particlar, you can find wooden boxes on the walls of every floor into which visitors may drop in prayer requests.  The requests are then collected and prayed over every single day.

 

Pray ONE

   Most people, religious or not, consider prayer a good thing.  What some know of prayer is what they hear out loud in church services or at great meetings like presidential inaugurations.  Some people’ve acquired a tremendous gift for praying aloud.  But for many others, praying aloud is something they’ll never do.  And because they know they never can be so demonstrative, they don’t pray at all.  It’s primarily to these private souls that I want to address the rest of this message.

   The greatest evangelists have been interior souls, souls of prayer: they’ve always found time for prolonged meditation.  Maybe they’re not known by name or ever prayed out loud.  Maybe they didn’t get the prayer spirit easily.  They learned to pray, and to pray effectively.  After time, these quiet prayer warriors moved mountains.

   We don’t know whether Dr. Benson ever learned to pray, but he certainly can teach something of how it’s done.  He taught pros to start with one word or two: “Our father” … “Have mercy” … “Echad” … “Hail Mary” … “One.”  Someone might say, “These words aren’t prayers, especially “Hail Mary.”  But, in fact, they all are Scriptural prayers.  Take the words “Have Mercy.”  This is one of the oldest and simplest prayers of all.  We still hear it in it’s original tongue, and often.  “Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison.”  For you who’d learn to pray, a good way to start might be “Yahweh (LØRD), have mercy.  Savior (Christ), have mercy.” 

   These prayers are simple –but they’re powerful, and they’re heard because they’re directed to the great, benevolent power, Yahweh, Yahshua, Yah – have mercy!  And you can start right there too; pray –then listen for the response.

 

ONE

   Again, take the simple prayer – ONE - or, in Hebrew, Echad (unity).  The word, spoken as a prayer, draws our hearts close to the very kernel of our faith, the Shema:

Deuteronomy 6:4.  “Hear, O Israel: Yahweh our Elohim, Yahweh is One;  5. and you shall love Yahweh your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.”    

Observant Jews recite the Shema twice a day, reminding themselves to whom they belong: to the ONE, the GREAT I AM. 

   “One” also reminds us Yahshua’s garden prayer spoken prior to the Passion (John 17).  In the last sentence of the prayer (John 17:26), Yahshua prays the Father, “I have declared unto my disciples your name so that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.” The concept of AT-ONE-NESS comes in here because the disciple, plus Yahshua, plus the Father in Heaven may become ONE in the name of the Father, which is Yahweh.  “I have declared unto them your name that we might become one,” he prayed. 

   I’ve composed a simple prayer based on this verse that anyone can memorize.  It’s enough to simply pray this prayer and mean it; see? 

“Good father Yah - grant the ability - to love your son

as you love him - till he be in me - totally.  Amen.”

When this prayer is answered in you, you’ll find yourself “praying without ceasing,” because the answer requires a never-ending work for the Holy Spirit.  If you pray it for others, you can know that whatever their need, it will be met, because the answer to absolutely any petition comes down to ONE – that we be one with the Father and Son.  All prayers are answered in that kind of Unity.

 

The Model Prayer

   When Yahshua taught, he gave his students a very simple model prayer to get them started.  I doubt that what we call “The Lord’s Prayer” was meant to be recited as we do in a church service; though it can only be a good thing to do it.  Rather, it’s a foundation upon which to build the kind of prayer that flies like a dove through a closed window and into Heaven.  There’re a thousand books on the “Lord’s Prayer”; still, let’s look at it just once more.

   Our Father – this gives us a direction for our prayer: we’re speaking to Yahweh, the Father of Yahshua, claiming him as our Father too.  It makes a difference, my friend, to whom you pray.  Prayers don’t automatically fly to Yahweh.  But if he makes you a son through the new birth, then you have as much claim on his patrimony as Yahshua has.

   In Heaven – Yahweh isn’t an idol of wax, wood, flesh and blood or chromed steel.  Yahweh’s a spirit.  His dwelling place is on the other side of a dimensional barrier we can’t physically cross, though we can call out and be heard on his side.  That’s part of the miracle of prayer.  Yahweh may hear you through the barrier, yet what’s a barrier to you has no power to keep Him out.   Though we may not sojourn in Heaven in the present state, Heaven may always come to us.

   Hallowed be thy name – Hallowed means holy or sacred.  How can we hallow his name if we don’t know it?  His name is Yahweh; how many times must I tell you.  I’ve given you the most important piece of information you’ve ever received in your life – and the most valuable.  You’ll thank me someday; for without knowing it, all your hallowing would be but hollow like the first dove.  “What you have freely received, freely give.”  Warn others to keep his name sacred! 

Exodus 20:7.  Thou shalt not take the name of Yahweh thine Elohim in vain; for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

In “Hallowed be thy name” we find the foundation for any praise we might offer.  He’s the I AM – the First Cause; that’s the meaning of his name.  If his name is holy to us —we may then consider praising Him for countless other wonderful attributes and works.

   Thy Kingdom Come – I always thought it strange that we’d pray this, then preach about going up to heaven, as if heaven were on a cloud.  If we’re to think rightly about Heaven and Earth, we’d take this prayer more seriously and realize we’re praying for the Kingdom of Heaven to come down HERE rather than vice-versa.  Remember another line we pray so frequently – “World without end. Amen.”[3]  The world never ends!  The next line confirms this.

   Thy Will Be Done on Earth as in Heaven – Yahshua came to save the Earth, and he’ll return to finish the work.  The will of the Father is to be done here, you’re to do it, with His help, by teaching others, in word or deed, what Kingdom-style living is all about.  One day, it’ll come down here in its fullness, and you’ll need to be ready for THAT rather than flying away to a cloud.  As the hymn teaches, “Jesus who died shall be satisfied, and Heaven and Earth shall be One.”  There’s that prayer ONE again.

   By the way, we sometimes pray, “if it be thy will” when we’re not sure His will.  If what you’re praying is for bringing heavenly conditions of any kind into the earthly realm, then there’s no need to wonder or worry – you’re already praying in his will.  Amen?

   Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread – Literally this reads, “Give us our necessary bread today.”  It can also read, “Give us our necessary bread the next day.”  Sometimes what we think we need isn’t here today; -- but “the check’s in the mail.”  We’re always more thankful when what’s necessary comes a day late, because we’ve had to suffer a little for it.  Then when we receive, we acknowledge who sent our need and give thanks. 
   “Bread” is a type of provision – it prompts us to petition further.  When we ask, let’s be serious; asking out of compassion and in Yahweh’s will.  If we put our desires into his ears, do you think he’ll give back muddy rocks or viperous snakes?  If you, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to yours, how much more good will your Father in Heaven give you?

   And Forgive Us our Debts as We Forgive Our Debtors – The Law of Yahweh has built in forgiveness: every 50^th year is the Jubilee; all debts are to be cancelled and all property is to be returned.  How can we expect to be repaid if we demand payment?  Yahshua says, Don’t lend to anybody; instead, give! 

   Some Bibles have “Forgive us our trespasses.”  That reminds us that we owe the Father: we ask that we be forgiven since we have forgiven.  And we discover that our debt to the Father is written off, especially when we come before the congregation on Communion, for we confess our sins one to another, forgive one another, and receive forgiveness.
   Lead Us Not Into Temptation – This is another way we implore the Father to guide us away from the miry shoulders of the narrow pathway.  However, no matter how we plead, Yahweh will put us to the test.  That’s what we’re here for.  In fact, James says, “Yahweh tempts no one” (James 1:13).  On the contrary, James tells us (vs. 12.)  “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Master hath promised to them that love him.” 

   Heretofore, we’ve been following the Lord’s Prayer from the Gospel of Luke.  Matthew adds one more corollary.

   Deliver Us From the Evil One – You have an enemy out there from whom you need protection.  You might call that enemy disease or bankruptcy or loneliness or depression or bereavement or lust or murder.  But all these are simply monikers for Belial[4] – i.e., the devil.  He’s the evil one who, when you start PRAYER ONE, will strike you with the afflictions of Job; and the closer you come to bringing down Heaven, the more pleased he is to sift you.  He’ll sift you with germs, demons, family members, loved ones, preachers, liars – with anyone he can lead into temptation.  But as you pray, “Deliver Us,” remind yourself, “I can do all things through Him who keeps me strong.”  Amen? 

   For thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory Forever and Ever – This line’s missing from the earliest and best texts.  A scribe wrote it in a margin and it got picked up as Scripture later on.  I think this phrase was popped in by a new scribe who, having copied the Lord’s Prayer for the first time, was so elated at it’s powerful simplicity, that he couldn’t help praising Yahweh with his pen.  The scribe may have been under a vow of silence.  The only way he could shout out was to scribble loudly: loudly enough to still be heard today.

   The fact is, the Power and Glory and Kingdom belong to him forever, and to us too, if we’ll abide in communion until our faith becomes sight. 

 

Wotyla Again

   Finally, let’s consider that monk’s silence for a moment.  Silence can be vital space.  We may devote that space to Yahweh in an attitude of listening for his quiet word and assimilating it.  Quiet isn’t free these days; we must plan for it.  Silence as a sanctuary of prayer may become your warm hearth of reflection and contemplation.  In fact, the secret to remaining fervent in ministry is to be quiet enough to hear the divine inspiration from above and within.  And that’s possible only if one will entertain the divine Teacher, who still teaches us to pray. 

   Yahshua didn’t call the Twelve just to “send them forth to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out devils” but, even more importantly, so that “they should be with him.”  Remember John 15:7:  “If ye abide in me, and my words in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done.”

 

Abiding of Great Importance

   Being with Him – abiding in him – through prayer, through listening, through meditation, through oneness: let this be your greatest desire.  Be with him as the Apostles were and, earlier, in Nazareth, as Mary and Joseph and his brothers and sisters were.  I mean, really with Him.  Speak to him in an intimate, personal way, then listen to him and follow him docilely; become ONE with Him.  As St. Augustine remarked, “He is an empty preacher of the Word who does not first listen within himself to the Word.”

      Before being patriarchs or matriarchs to your families, before being organizers of your community, before sacrificing yourself to success, be firstly models of prayer and spiritual perfection.  If your prayer is just “ONE”; if it’s just “Yahweh be merciful”; if it’s just the Lord’s Prayer at this point, your continued recourse to prayer will build in you the inner strength necessary to overcome all difficulties, conquer all temptations, grow in charity and fidelity to your vocation, family, church or community, and, best of all, allow you to proclaim with full assurance and trust, “Father, through me, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

 

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