“All religion is of life; and the life of religion is to do good.” - Doctrine of Life §1
Kempton New Church

Week 2
Day 4

    Listen:

The Lord’s Prayer

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so upon the earth. —Matthew 6:10, Luke 11:2

The Lord’s will

Not everyone that says unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but he that does the will of My Father who is in the heavens. Matthew 7:21

AE 295:3. Because man’s will is his love, and God’s will is the Divine love, it can be seen what is meant in the spiritual sense by “doing the will of God” and “the will of the Father,” namely, that it is to love God above all things, and the neighbor as oneself. And as to love is to will, so it is also to do; for what a man loves, that he wills, and what he wills he also does. Therefore “doing the will of God” or “of the Father” means doing His commandments, or living according to them from the affection of love or charity. This is what is meant by “the will of God” and “of the Father” in the following passages:

In Matthew, that the one who does the will of the Father who is in the heavens shall enter into the kingdom of the heavens (Matt. 7:21).

In the same: “Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, as in heaven so upon the earth” (Matt. 6:10).

In John: “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you may ask whatever you will, and it shall be done to you” (John 15:7).

Whatever they will and ask shall be done for those who abide in the Lord and in whom His words abide, because then they will nothing except what the Lord gives them to will, and that is good, and good is from Him. [See also AR 749:2.]

AE 683:4. That the Lord’s kingdom is that which proceeds from Him and is received can be seen from passages in the Word where “the kingdom of God” is mentioned, as in the Lord’s Prayer:

Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, as in heaven so also upon the earth (Matt. 6:10).

“Kingdom” evidently means here the reception of Divine good and Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, and in which the Lord is with the angels of heaven and the men of the church, for it is added, “Thy will be done, as in heaven so also upon the earth,” and the will of God is done when these are received in heart and soul, that is, in love and faith.

AC 8179. As to there being no need of intercession, the case is this. They who are in temptations usually slacken their hands and betake themselves solely to prayers, which they then ardently pour forth, not knowing that prayers will not avail, but that they must fight against the falsities and evils which are being injected by the hells. This fight is performed by means of the truths of faith, which help because they confirm goods and truths against falsities and evils.

Moreover, in the combats of temptations, the man ought to fight as of himself, but yet acknowledge and believe that it is of the Lord (see above n. 8176). If man does not fight as of himself, the good and truth which flow in through heaven from the Lord are not appropriated to him. But when he fights as of himself, and still believes that it is of the Lord, then they are appropriated to him. From this he has a proprium that is new, which is called the heavenly proprium, and which is a new will....

For the Lord wills the end, which is the salvation of the man, and He knows this end, but not the man; and the Lord does not heed prayers that are contrary to the end, which is salvation. He who conquers in temptations is also confirmed in the truth stated above....

From all this it can be seen what is meant by there being no need of intercession, namely, that prayer is not to be relied upon. For in prayer from the Divine it is always thought and believed that the Lord alone knows whether it is profitable or not; and therefore, the suppliant submits the hearing to the Lord, and immediately afterward prays that the will of the Lord, and not his own, may be done, according to the Lord’s words in His own most grievous temptation at Gethsemane (Matt. 26:39, 42, 44).

Questions and Comments
  1. In the readings for the second day, we read from AE 48, “’Thy kingdom come’ is a prayer that truth may be received; ‘Thy will be done,’ that it may be received by those who do God’s will.” What then should we be thinking of in relation to our life when we say these words: “Thy will be done”?
  2. Why is it so important to do the Lord’s will, and not simply will what the Lord wills?
  3. How does this relate to the well-known teaching, “Act precedes, man’s willing follows” (AC 4353:3)?
  4. Why does the prayer, “Thy kingdom come,” come before the prayer, “Thy will be done?” (See again what is taught in AE 48 above, and in AE 683:4 in today’s readings.)
  5. The last reading teaches us that in temptation many tend “to slacken their hands and betake themselves solely to prayers... not knowing that prayers will not avail.” Does this mean that prayers will not help us in temptation? Or rather that prayers alone will be of no avail?
  6. If we pray in temptation, which prayers will be heard and which prayers will not? What should we always remember when we pray, and how does the Lord’s Prayer bring this to remembrance?
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