It can be hard to find hope these days. Too many things fight against it. The ongoing pandemic, a new virus, climate change, wars, political and social chaos— Stop CJ, we get the point. Okay. Anyway, I found some hope, without even looking for it. Or, maybe I was looking.
I’ve been thinking about something Jesus once said, when He began to teach His disciples how to pray. “This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors’” (Matthew 6:9-12).
Well, since Jesus told us to pray for that stuff, it must be important. But it’s that first part that kept pulling me deeper into my thoughts. I think Jesus is asking us to pray that God be glorified—that’s how I interpret “hallowed be your name.” So I’ve been thinking a lot about God being glorified on earth as He is in heaven. Though I’m not sure what that would look like, I don’t think we see much of it in the world these days.
Also, I noticed that Jesus taught us to pray first for God’s glory, kingdom, and will. The priority is God, which I think is as it should be. And in speaking about prayer, Jesus also said, “I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13). Again, our prayers should be for God’s glory, not only for our needs. And Paul said, “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). But again, what would such glory look like?
Well, something that happened recently gave me an image to visualize. With the death of Queen Elizabeth, it seems like much of the world is thinking of her with fondness and even love. What if most of the world thought of God in the same way? I’ve been picturing that, where it’s God who’s getting all the attention. Can you conjure up an image in your mind? How might such glory for God influence our experiences here on earth? I mean, could we experience a life on earth as it is in heaven?
This morning I again found myself thinking about a world where God is glorified, where His kingdom reigns, and His will is done. I found myself imagining a worldwide revival of God’s love, truth, His kingdom, and His glory. And I got excited. And I found hope, a deep, energizing, love-infused, tear-inducing hope.
Maybe you can find the same hope too.
CJ Penn's Online Writing Hangout 
September 16, 2022 at 7:34 am
Thank you! So much of what we are experiencing this past decade has the feel of the beginning of the end times. I was born in a time when most people went to church, when there was prayer in the schools and at home and being a Christian was the norm. So much has changed in the space of 70 years I don’t see how we are ever going to return to that time except by the return of Christ. God bless you and keep you in the palm of His hand.
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September 16, 2022 at 7:53 am
Hi Kasi, I totally agree. In fact I’m reading Isaiah right now as I received your comment, and where I’m reading, he’s referring to the end times. But again I find hope, because I’m reading in chapter 26 about trusting God. When I can filter out all the noise and chaos of the world around me and put all my trust in God, and actually FEEL that trust, I also feel such a sense of peace. No matter what happens in this crazy world, I choose to surrender my self to God and trust Him with whatever I do and whatever happens to me.
That’s something else I’ve been thinking about. I think the original sin that got Adam and Eve kicked out of the garden was trusting Satan rather than God, trusting their newly born prideful Self–the fruit of Satan–rather than God. But by denying my prideful Self, as Jesus calls me to do (Luke 9:23), and trusting God, I think in a way I atone for that original sin, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, am set free from captivity to my Self and that original sin.
Anyway, sorry if that begins to feel like a sermon. You just happened to catch me with my mind deep in the middle of this stuff. Thanks for your comment and I hope you have a great day. All the best to you,
CJ
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September 16, 2022 at 8:59 am
Finding WordPress has helped me find so many people wanting a deeper relationship with Christ. What it must have been like in the early days of the Church. I read a much simpler more vibrant faith in Acts and the Letters than what is touted today as Christianity. I have come to identify more as a disciple of The Way than the term Christianity because of all the distortions of the teachings of our Savior.
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September 16, 2022 at 9:05 am
Disciple of The Way–I like that. Thanks Kasi. Yes, thanks to how it’s been distorted by 2000 years of human influence (especially the influence of recent decades as you mentioned earlier), the term Christianity carries a lot of negative images for many people.
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