The Most Dangerous Prayer You'll Ever Pray

You know this prayer. You could probably pray it with your eyes closed. (Little joke there. We were always taught to "bow your head and close your eyes" when we prayed.) It is, perhaps, the most well-known prayer there is. You probably know it best in King James English. It begins like this:

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. (Matt 6:9-10)

You recognize it, I'm sure. Most people do, even if they're not Christians. It's what we've come to call "the Lord's Prayer."

Most of the prayer is "reasonable". I mean, it's what you might expect. "Give us our daily bread." Yes, indeed. "Forgive us our debts." Amen! Okay, that caveat, "as we forgive our debtors," gets a little sticky, but we're pretty sure we want/need forgiveness. "Lead us not into temptation." Of course not. We don't want temptation. "Deliver us from evil." Absolutely! We're even okay with that first request, "Hallowed be Thy name." We would certainly like everyone to regard Him as holy. Oh, and, hey, we often pray for His kingdom to come in many ways. We're good with all that. So, what's difficult about any of this?

It's that prayer I skipped over. "Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven." Do you hear what's built into that request? "Not my will ... Yours." It is a prayer for the abnegation of what most of us consider nearly divine -- Human Free Will. It is a reprioritization of the authority structure. Not Satan. Not me. The Father would be Supreme.

Maybe that doesn't seem very dangerous to you. Maybe there is no sense of cost with that prayer. I would suggest you're not thinking it through. Ask yourself, "What if?" What if it's God's will that you lose your job? Your spouse? A child? What if, as Joni Earickson Tada believes, it is God's will that you become a quadriplegic for His glory? The real question is not in the details. The real question is in the extent. How much of you and your will and wishes are you willing to surrender to God and His will and wishes? The hymn says, "I surrender all." Really? All?

I have heard this prayer a lot. I've heard it coming from unbelievers. Sure, sure, it's generally by rote, but when you think about it it's a huge prayer. "Father, do Your will here perfectly and completely, just like you do in Heaven." Is that your prayer?