"Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.."

The most well-known prayer ever heard; The Lord's Prayer.

Before I was adopted and even before I went into foster care, I remember and reciting this prayer as a stereotypical 5 year old girl, on my knees with my hands together at the side of my bed just before Mommy Melissa read to me my favorite Winnie the Pooh and Piglet story book. I had no idea what it meant, I didn't even know what half of the words were. Who ever said, "art," and "thy," and "hallowed"? I just figured it was "big people stuff" and only recited it to be the perfect little angel I thought I was and wanted everyone to think I was.

Years later I learned that Jesus actually said that prayer. Really? That guy that everyone told me about, that everyone told me He loved me is the One who came up with those words? I relearned the passage of scripture in a Bible Club we attended every week on our cul-de-sac so I could win an extra prize.

Now as I've gotten older, I've heard a few different people telling their point of view and wisdom on it. And I think there could be several ways you could interpret it. Tonight as I was washing the many dishes after dinner, I had a thought..

What if He meant for there not to be people going to bed every night with a rumbling tummy? What if those of us who have been given much learned to give and actually fed, clothed, and took care of the people who are in real need? What if there would never be people with empty tummies and the people currently without homes with a home to call their own? What if world poverty vaporized and people lived equally without unfair deaths and illness and suffering simply because they didn't have the basic necessities for life such as water, clothing, a roof over their head, sanitation, and money for even simple medical care?

What if we learned to love our Jesus more than life, more than these material things we get ourselves attached to? What if that love came in us and consumed us and overtook our thoughts and actions? What if we learned to love with a love that even we don't understand, the love He gives us unconditionally?

But what if while we vaporized the poverty and that love we were given splashed out onto others as we serve, and what if we taught them to worship Jesus and give him the praise and glory He deserves? What if we all together praised Jesus all the time for everything because we are so in love with Him that nothing else matters? What if this earth got turned upside down because of the defeat of the enemy and his lies because the author of LOVE itself defeated him a long time ago? What if we always clung tightly to His name, trusting Him in every circumstance, loving with His love, serving with His passion, giving with His heart, and surrendering and following with reckless abandon? What if God was brought all the glory and honor He actually deserves because even the rocks cry out to Him? Would that be 'His will done on earth as it is in Heaven'?
What if we sang in one giant chorus the song we were made to sing, bringing the glory we were made to bring to the Beautiful name of our Jesus?
What if we sang the words,

"Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God Almighty,
who was, and is, and is to come."

and,

"You are wrthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being."

and,

"To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power
for ever and ever!"

from the moment we opened our eyes in the morning until we close them at night as we fall back asleep because we reccognize that He is all we need?
What do you think the earth would look like then?

Could we actually make that happen?

Are you ready to try?

I know I am.

God, may Your name be brought all the glory and the honor and the praise forever and ever. May You be exalted high above every other name, may You be the fortress we cling to and look to in times of distress. May we take refuge in Your love and mercy and may we never let go. Help us to radically love you more and help it to spill out to others as we go and make disciples for You, Lord! You are good and there is nothing that we could ever offer you that would come close to what you deserve. We desire You and only You. Come and fill us and don't stop filling us until there is nothing left inside but You. May YOUR will be done here on earth as it is in Heaven. Amen.