The Sermon on the Mount 15 - Matt 6:10-12

Jesus continues praying, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” I used to think that this was a command for us to pray for the second coming to hurry up and get here, but the IM indicates that it might mean more than that. It says, “Jesus Christ taught that we should pray for thekingdom of God to come. As President of the Church, President Thomas S. Monson called upon the Saints to peteition the Lord in prayer to open those areas of the world where the gospel is not currently allowed to be preached: ‘the Church is steadily growing; it has since its organization over 178 years ago… There remain, however, areas of the world where our influence is limited and where we are not allowed to share the gospel freely. As did President Spencer W. Kimball over 32 years ago, I urge you to pray for the opening of those area, that we might share with them the joy of the gospel. As we prayed then in response to President Kimball’s pleadings, we saw miracles unfold as country after country, formerly closed to the Church, was opened. Such will transpire again as we pray with faith.’” Again, I struggled with this concept because I know that God loves the people in closed countries as much as he loves those in open countries, so He wants to bring the gospel to those people more than we do. I’ve always felt that he will open those countries as soon as he can, and me asking him to hurry up won’t help matters. Why am I wrong? Let’s think about this. I see God as getting annoyed at my “hurry up and open these places” prayer, but he’s not like that, he doesn’t get irritated with our prayers. I think the very fact that we are praying to him gives him an infinite amount of patience with our pleadings. Plus, he commands us to pray for this specific thing, so he won’t get irritated at us for being obedient, even if I don’t understand.

 

There is a difference between basically saying in prayers, “just do whatever you want, my input doesn’t matter,” and “please help these people receive the gospel.” The first statement disconnects us from God, it implies that we don’t matter to him and that a relationship with him is completely one sided, with him holding all the power over our heads. Who wants to be in a relationship with a guy who has power over you and treats you like you don’t matter? Nobody wants to be involved with someone like that, and if you convince yourself that that’s who God is, then you wouldn’t want a relationship with him either. I think that’s what I did for so long, believed that he was just like every other man, my way or the highway, and not even disinterested but openly hostile towards me. I believed that everything that happened to me that was out of my control was his way of saying, “I don’t care if you suffer.” It wasn’t until I made a small amount of effort to try to come closer to him that he truly showed me who he was and who I was to him and that was a very beautiful and life changing moment.

 

All of that is going to illustrate the point that our input does matter to God. He does take that into account when running the affairs of the universe. Will our prayers change the will of God? No, but we learned earlier that prayer isn’t meant to change God’s mind, but to change our hearts. When we pray for the gospel to be taken to those who don’t have it, we recognize the life changing power in accepting Jesus Christ, and we are a little bit more grateful for it in our lives. When we pray for the gospel to be given to others, we look closer at our own circumstances and ask if there aren’t people close to us who we could share the gospel with more earnestly. When we pray for the gospel to be taken to places that are no open to it now, we can watch as the hand of God comes through and little by little, the door is opened through means that are miraculous in nature. Our own testimony grows of the importance of the gospel in our lives, our love of other people grows as we look for ways to bring the gospel to those around us, and we are privileged to behold miracles as they unfold in ways no one has ever imagined.

 

There is an excellent devotional by President Russell M. Nelson about his call by President Ezra Taft Benson to open up Eastern Europe for the preaching of the gospel in……. 1985. Why is that a big deal? Because in 1985Eastern Europe was literally walled off under the crushing and dominant boot of communism, very isolated, very impenetrable, and very hostile to religion. In the devotional President Nelson said, “Expect and prepare to accomplish the impossible… I had been a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for only 19 months when President Spencer W. Kimball passed away. In the first meeting of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles following President Ezra Taft Benson’s ordination, he gave specific assignments to the Twelve. His instructions to me included: ‘Elder Nelson, you are to open the countries of Eastern Europefor the preaching of the gospel.’ That was 1985. During those politically frigid years that we refer to as the Cold War, not only did a literal wall divide the city of Berlin, but all of Eastern Europe was under the oppressive yoke of communism. Churches were closed, and religious worship was strictly limited.” It was literally impossible to preach the gospel in this area, and even though Elder Nelson accepted the assignment didn’t mean that it was smooth sailing. He continues, “From the outset, obstacles were placed in my way… But the Lord is able to do His own work, and I was privileged to watch the unfolding of one miracle after another- always, and only, after I had brought my best thinking, my most courageous efforts, and my most fervent prayers to the task.”

 

Jesus continues praying, “Give us this day our daily bread.” This is a short phrase but there are a couple of points that I think make this a valuable statement. First is that Jesus is the “bread of life” and I feel that asking for daily bread is similar to asking for a portion of the Holy Spirit to be with us. It’s very similar to a sacrament prayer. “Give us this day our daily bread,” might be another way to ask for the Spirit to accompany us throughout our day as our constant companion. Second, is that this statement acknowledges our complete dependence on God for our lives. We can’t supply our own oxygen, we can’t force food to grow, we can’t produce rain. As humans we can think high and mighty about ourselves all day long, but once rain doesn’t come for a while we are completely screwed. We are so dependent on so many different factors to be able just to survive, then if we try to thrive, that is the hand of God all the way.

 

JTC comments, “food is indispensable to life. As we need it we should ask for it. True, the Father knows our need before we ask, but by asking we acknowledge Him as the Giver, and are made humble, grateful, contrite, and reliant by the request. Though the sun shines and the rain falls alike upon the just and the unjust, the righteous man is grateful for these blessings; the ungodly man received the benefits as a matter of course with a soul incapable of gratitude. The capacity to be grateful is a blessing, for the possession of which we should be further grateful. We are taught to pray day by day for the food we need, not for a great store to be laid by for a distance future. Israel in the desert received manna as a daily supply, and were kept in mind of their reliance upon Him who gave. The man with much finds it easier to forget his dependence than he who must ask with each succeeding day of need.”

 

Jesus continues, “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” I think that the debt discussed here isn’t anything of monetary value because God doesn’t have a bank where he literally loans our money. But instead this is about forgiving us of our sins. I think it’s really important to note that Jesus doesn’t just say “please forgive me for my sins,” but he also puts on the caveat of forgiving those who have sinned against us. Please forgive me at the same rate in which I forgive others. We are also reminded that in life we are all both victim and perpetrator in many ways and that as we forgive what others have done to us, that are often the object needing forgiveness for what we do to others. It’s easy to get stuck in the role of victim, and it happens to me all the time, I feel sorry for myself, and feel that everything has been done wrong to me and that I haven’t done anything wrong. Of course I’ve done things wrong; of course I have a need to repent. JTC says, “In this specification of personal supplication we are taught to expect only as we deserve. The selfish and sinful would rejoice in exemption from their lawful debts, but being selfish and sinful would exact the last farthing form those who owe them. Forgiveness is too precious a pearl to be cast at the feet of the unforgiving, and, without the sincerity that springs form a contrite heart, no man may justly claim mercy.”