Matthew 6:
9 You, therefore, pray
like this: `Our Father in heaven! May your Name be kept holy. 10
May Your Kingdom come, Your
will be done on earth as in heaven.
11
Give us the food we need today. 12
Forgive us what we have done wrong, as we too have forgiven those who
have wronged us. 13
And do not lead us into hard testing, but keep us safe from the Evil
One. For kingship, power and glory are yours forever. Amen.'
How many times in my life
have I said the Avinu Prayer and really felt like I understood all I
knew about what I was saying? How many? I couldn’t tell you. It
would be a guess. Just as my understanding of the words Yahshua told
us to say as a prayer were
just a guess. In the days when I learned the Our Father I was a very
young child and to be honest, it had no impact on me that I can
remember, except that I was talking to God (YHVH). Now, a little
older and a little wiser, I take a deeper interest in what I say to
my Creator. I want to be absolutely certain that I am not using a
vocabulary that would not be listened to. Yeah, there are those who
say “He knows your heart and that is what counts.” I too have
said that. But if He knows my heart and He knows I want to do right
by Him, then He knows I seek to present truth and understanding. I
have no desire to present rote memory without the understanding of what I am
saying.
The portion of the Prayer
that says, “Your
will be done” is the critical
part for me. I can understand praising Him by stating may His name be
kept Holy and His Kingdom be on earth as it is above. I also can
understand asking Him to keep me fed and forgive me for my wrongs
with the stipulation that I forgive others too. Why should I be
forgiven if I am not willing to reciprocate? As for Him not leading
me into hard testing through temptations, I want the Adversary (Evil
One) to stay away from me. I am easily misled and need a lot of help
in this area. So I am not embarrassed to remind YHVH that He is the
King and He has the power to do the things I ask, if He is willing.
I do believe I understand that should anything be truly glorified,
it must Him. He created everything and that is awesome. So who else
deserves glory but Him?
It’s the willing
part that is difficult. What is our Father’s will? What does He
want from us? For someone Who has the ability to create an entire
universe, what does He want from me? Why didn’t He make it perfect
in the beginning and then there would be no need for anyone
interfering. Trying to grasp just what His Will really is, I
stumbled upon (Hold on…I realize what I said. I stumbled! Lets say
“He stumbled me upon….) Anyhow, there appeared before me a brief
discussion concerning human will and Divine Will. Simplifying, human
will is limited as in "finite" where Divine Will is unlimited as in
"infinite". So, YHVH created heaven perfect and earth less than
perfect. He could have arranged things so there would be nothing for
us to do but enjoy the garden. But However Comma (BHC), that would
eliminate a need for us to even exist! Man apparently was created
“to do” rather than “to be”. YHVH wants us to do things for
Him in His Kingdom. It’s like if you don’t work you don’t eat.
So what’s to do? Torah is to do. Torah does not present itself
as a book to read about interesting things that “are” or “were”,
Torah presents itself as a guideline of what to do in various
situations. We live Torah. So, His Will must be for us to follow
the guidelines in Torah in serving Him and He in turn will do as He
says and take care of us.
Look at Ephesians
2:4-10 4
But YHVH is so rich in mercy and loves us with such intense love 5
that, even when we were dead because of our acts of disobedience, He
brought us to life along with the Messiah - it is by grace that you
have been delivered. 6 That is, Elohim raised us up with the Messiah
Yahshua and seated us with Him in heaven, 7 in order to exhibit in
the ages to come how infinitely
rich is His grace, how great is His kindness toward us who are united
with the Messiah Yahshua. 8 For you have been delivered by grace
through trusting, and even this is not your accomplishment but
Elohim's gift. 9 You were not delivered by your own actions;
therefore no one should boast. 10 For we are of YHVH's making,
created in union with the Messiah Yahshua for a life of good actions
already prepared by Elohim for us to do.
Nothing we have done has
gotten us where we are. In fact, reading between the lines it seems
that we don’t deserve Him. BHC
in order to show future generations how infinitely
rich is His grace, He has taken us under His wings and united us with
the Messiah Yahshua. What grace and kindness He bestows upon us. And
all He wants to do is proclaim the greatness of His name throughout
the world. He has made it so easy for us. He has gifted us with a
life of good actions that He alone prepared. We do not have to wring
our hands and cradle our heads trying to think of what does my Father
want from me. It is written. Follow Torah…. Do acts of kindness
to everyone…that will please Him. Written another way; love your
neighbor as yourself. This is how the finite (us) and the infinite
(YHVH) come together.
Now when I pray to YHVH I
don’t casually tell Him how good He is and then ask for a favor or
two. I praise Him for Who He is and thank Him for all He does; not
just for me, for everyone!
I know just a little bit
more of what His
Will is for us while on this earth.
With that knowledge, I know a little more of how His Will is being
followed in the Heavens. One day, Yah
willing, I pray, I’ll take my place at
His side with Yahshua, and in that day, I will rest in His Glory.
Scripture tells me that I am a citizen of Heaven.
(Philippians
3:20 20
But we are citizens of heaven, and it is from there that we expect a
Deliverer, the Lord Yahshua the Messiah.)
It is time for me to act
like it! I must stop waiting to “get ready”. I must “be
ready” for Him. My bags are packed. Time to move on. Until then, I
pray to always show acts of kindness and not as a negotiation. The
acts of kindness are what YHVH wants so His name can be proclaimed
throughout all the earth. This I must always remember; it is not for
me, it is for Him. Random and purposeful acts of kindness are part
of YHVH’s Will. Let’s imitate Him. Amein!
Much love and
appreciation, Shalom shalom!
Pinchas,
a/k/a Frankly
Speaking all the time.
