As It Is In Heaven

On Earth AS IT IS in Heaven...
That statement sounds simple enough. Right?
Who among us doesn't want to see God's will done on the Earth?
Who doesn't want to see the Kingdom of God fully manifest?
Is this the driving force behind how we pray, how we minister to others, and how we live our lives? It's a question that I continue to ask myself on this Thursday morning.

Jesus' model prayer gives us plenty to think about. First of all, He leads us to pray "Our Father..." Who else, other than Jesus, was praying this way in those times? I mean...what a statement of intimacy. What a term of endearment. What a declaration of oneness. The entire prayer is directed toward a Heavenly Father who is close, who is involved in the life of a Son, and is willing to bend His ear (and heart) on His behalf.

The thought that occurred to me this morning...the thing that really got my attention is that the enemy would love nothing more than to keep us earthbound in our thinking (I probably borrowed this thought from Graham Cooke. It just sounded original in my mind). He would love for us to be focused upon present circumstances, everything that isn't right in our lives, and everything that we haven't seen. Would it be too much for me to think that this prayer that Jesus taught presupposes we actually see/understand/know what God's will is in Heaven? Think about it for a minute. If we do not know what the will of the Father is, then how could we possibly know if He has answered our prayer? How would we recognize the Kingdom of God being manifest in the Earth? What is Jesus REALLY trying to say?

Let us think back to the creation story. In particular, I want you to focus upon the way in which God blessed Adam & Eve. "Be fruitful, multiply, fill the Earth, and possess it." So often we get caught up in the idea of multiplication. We know that it means offspring...right? But what if multiplication means more? What if it carries with it the idea of ADDING to the population and DUPLICATING one's self? Think of it in these terms: Have you ever said "He is definitely his father's son?" What we are saying is that the traits of the father are so evident in the life of the child. The way they carry themselves, the way they look, the way that they speak...all point back to origin. God created Adam & Eve to carry IMAGE & LIKENESS. In other words, they were to be visual representations of God in the Earth. As they multiplied, they would raise their children with this understanding. Thus filling the earth with the glory & knowledge of God.

You need to know that I don't view the will of God that is something contrary to us. I believe the will of God is a part of our original DNA. Much of the preaching about the will of God that I have heard over the course of my lifetime has come from people who ran away from a particular calling. We have glorified Jonah to the degree that we miss out on the 12 year old Jesus saying that He must be about His Father's business. I'm not saying that everything I have done in life has been the will of God. What I am saying is that my life is the will of God. The more I live in relationship to Him, the more my life manifests His will. I did not run away from a calling - I embraced it - because I knew that I was created for more.

What does all of this have to do with the way in which Jesus led us to pray?
First of all, Jesus would make statement like: "That where I AM you may be also."
Secondly, Scripture teaches us that we are ALREADY seated with Christ in Heavenly places.
The point is that Jesus' perspective is not foreign to who we are. It's just foreign to how we think.

Seeing the will of God done in the Earth as it is in Heaven requires a partnership. It requires us looking into the heavens, seeing/understanding/knowing the will of God in particular situations, and agreeing with it. In this way, prayer moves from being a shopping list and becomes a time of fellowship. Prayer becomes a place of agreement. Not a place of bending God's will to mine but a place of bending my will towards His. It's not that ours are so radically different, it's just that in that place of fellowship we can see life from a totally different perspective. Think about this in terms of our relationships. What is true in Heaven should be (and can be) true in the Earth. The relationship that the Father, Son, & Holy Spirit enjoy can be enjoyed in our lives. They way in which they love, relate, and mutually submit to one another can be "fleshed out" in us. In fact, these qualities should be fleshed out.

The implications of praying in this way are so far reaching that my vocabulary fails me. However, I want you to see what is possible. I want you to see that Jesus is leading us to pray from IMAGE & LIKENESS. He is leading us back to the original us - the one seated in heavenly places - the one that is secure in the life, love, and community that is Father, Son, & Holy Spirit - so that we will always carry His image & His likeness. AND...as we carry His image & likeness in the Earth, we will multiply. We will fill the Earth with the glory of God. We will see the Kingdom of God manifest. This is our right & privilege. This is who we are & who we were created to become.

Enjoy the journey!!!