DJ’s Records

Jesus invited us to pray the prayer that included: “Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.”

There is a principle that informs our praying; this can be stated as follows: If I am able to answer the prayer I am praying, or be part of that answer, it makes good sense for me to do so. In fact, integrity demands that I do. It might sound oh so pious to pray for God to show mercy to the poor in my area, and then to sit comfortably and do nothing about the plight of the poor widow and her five children, who live in a shack within easy reach of my easy-chair.

The Lord’s prayer that suggests that it is possible for the culture of Heaven to come to earth carries with it the suggestion, that I need to gain some perspective on the atmosphere and culture that prevails in Heaven, if I am going to be able to be part of the answer to this amazing prayer.

The Apostle Paul gives a helpful suggestion to help me get this perspective: “…. Set your hearts on things above …. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” [Colossians 3:1 & 2 NIV]. This Heavenly focus will unlock the culture of this other world to me. This then, will enable me to be part of creating the culture of this other world here in my world. You and I have the God-given potential to be part of answering this prayer we may have prayed hundreds of times.

This act of changing our pre-occupation from this present material world, to a world that has power to fill us with wonder, will empower us to inspire an enormous change for the better in our world.

You may ask, as has been suggested many times: “Will this not make you so Heavenly minded that you will be of no earthly good?” or “Is this not a form of escapism and wishful thinking that will make you irrelevant?”

On the contrary, I agree with C.S. Lewis who wrote: “It does not mean that we are to leave the present world as it is. If you read history you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next.” And: “English Evangelicals, who abolished the slave trade, left their mark on earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven.