Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:10
“Last Thursday night I was listening to a phonograph in Lumbatan and allowing my heart to commune, when something broke within me, and I longed not only to lift my own will up and give it completely to God, but also to lift all the wills in the world up and offer them all in utter surrender to His will. To feel this great longing as I felt it then with all my being, to desire to put one’s shoulder under all the world’s hunger and need, and to carry it all to God, is not this the highest longing one can ever feel? Probably not, but it is the climax of my spiritual experience to this date. God, be the thought within my brain, and be the thought in every brain in the world, so that no thought save the thoughts of God shall take birth in any human mind. And this will be heaven!”
Frank C. Laubach (1884-1970) in Letters By A Modern Mystic (Feedbooks: 2009) letter entitled, “Meeting God soul to soul and face to face.”
I confess, the first time I read this I thought, “What were you listening to on the phonograph?” Then I pondered and something profound came to my awareness. Ponder with me.
What Laubach did that day basically matches what Jesus wants all of us praying every day: “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” That’s the heart of the Lord’s prayer. So the giving that comes into view today relates to lifting my own will up and giving it completely to God.
Hang with me a little longer. The implications are huge.
A will of a person is the decision-making part. It’s the part that decides whether we will choose to live generously and serve as a conduit of blessing or not. Jesus gives us insight along these lines. “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of Him who sent me.” John 6:38
The will drives everything for you and me, including our generosity. This leads me to pray with Laubach.
Father in heaven, I lift all the wills in the world up and offer them all in utter surrender to Your will. I want each one to follow the example of Jesus and do Your will, nothing more, nothing less, and nothing else. In your mercy, hear this prayer for the world, in Jesus name. Amen.
And pray for safe travel with my wife Jenni to Poland today and Ukraine by Saturday. Details to follow. Thanks.