Sure, nice taking with you, too!



 

“May Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
 

Don’t you hate it when you are with someone and they never let you get a word in edgewise? They ask you a question and then go on to tell you what they think. That one thought leads to another, and ten minutes later they take a breath and say, “Got to run. Great talking with you!”
 

Talking WITH me? More like talking AT me.
 

When someone says to me, “I don’t know how to pray,” I say, “Prayer is a conversation. Just talk to God the way you talk with a friend.” If I look at my prayers, I realize that they more often than not resemble the dynamic I described above. I can imagine God standing there as I rush off, mumbling, “Sure, nice talking with you, too.”
 

I may pray, ”May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” But I rarely ask, “What is your will today?” And even more rarely do I close my mouth and let God answer. I am too busy telling God what my will is and asking Him to make my will happen.
 

God is polite and patient. He doesn’t put His hand over my mouth and get in my face and say, “Now shut up and listen if you really want to know!”
 

If I am honest, I am more interested in God’s will for the big picture – the world, my country, my friends and family, my purpose in life – and much less interested in His daily will for my life - unless, of course, it happens to line up completely with my will.
 

But how would I even know when I don’t pause long enough to hear?
 

Today I will choose to shut my mouth and listen as I wander the straight crooked path.