I ended my recent series on prayer by teaching a personal pattern of prayer that we find in Matthew 6. “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father, who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven’” (Matthew 6:9-10 NASB2020).
Remember, God‘s will and what God wants for you is always better than what you want for you. “May His will be done on earth, as it is in heaven” is “heaven on earth”.
No matter how discouraged you are with the circumstances of your life right now, no matter how many disappointments you have experienced, you can do big things with what you have, because God has a perfect plan for your life… a plan for success, not failure. Everything God created you to be, your future, your destiny, your success, is waiting to be released into all of its fullness.
How do you define success? I believe there’s one true definition. Success is becoming the person YOU were meant to be! It is what God created you to be, your true self. When you find that, you will begin to experience heaven on earth.
Pauls says to the Roman believers, “So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you” (Romans 12:1-2 MSG).
I am intrigued by the concept of heaven and as I was reading Matthew 6:10, I discovered that heaven wanted to come to me. I don’t want to wait to go to heaven for all the good things, but I believe we have the ability to release the will of God, as it is in heaven, right here on the earth.
In the beginning, God made Eden, which duplicated heaven on earth for Man to dwell in. Then God gave Man dominion over the property with its perfect environment. When Man disobeyed God, he lost his ability to see things correctly and his right to a heavenly life. God removed Adam & Eve from Eden. But being just and good, God couldn’t bear to leave Man outside of the heavenly realm that He created for them, so God sent his son, Jesus, to reveal and restore heaven to Man. I guess you can put it this way; a portion of heaven came to earth through Jesus Christ. Jesus was the manifestation of God, the Father. When He came to earth, He demonstrated the will of God through healing, wholeness, and peace of mind.
“Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6 NLT). Truth came to earth through Jesus. That is why you need to turn your attention to the Bible, which tells the truth about God’s will for your life. If you know the word of God, you will know the will of God. You will not have to pray “if it be your will” because if it’s in His word, we know it’s His will. That's why it’s so powerful when you pray the Word. Knowledge is information and the right kind of information gives you the ability to see things correctly and places you in agreement with the truth. You can’t always trust what you see or hear or the way you feel. But, you can always trust the Source of all life. You can learn how to live life to the fullest from the Bible. The will of God is that you would know what to do in every situation.
Joshua 1:8 explains, “Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.”.
- Study this book of instruction continually.
The book of instruction is the Bible. Things are not always as they appear, but the Bible presents things as they actually are. It presents truth, information, and instructions for your life.
- Meditate on it day and night.
Think seriously about God’s word, study, ponder, and reflect on it 24 hours a day. You will find what you need in the word of God.
- Obey everything written in it.
Be obedient to act upon the word of God, not just a hearer, but a doer. Abide by its principles.
- Then you will prosper.
“Proper” is not a bad word. It means to do well. To do well includes needs supplied, health strong, and family whole.
- Succeed in all you do.
You’ll become the person you were meant to be, reaching your God-given potential in every area, and fulfilled in what you do…heaven on earth.
Please notice, the scripture says you must do these things and then God will supply the reward or blessing that is a result of your actions. Do your part and God does His part. Your actions have to come into agreement with His truth. This is how you build a strong foundation for right living.
Experiencing heaven on earth is in proportion to your application of the truth and wisdom of God in your life. It begins with God’s word, your heavenly prescription for right living, right thinking, and right action. When you feed God’s Word into your mind, it settles in your heart and becomes a successful way of life.
