Episode 12 - The Lord’s Prayer - We’re Not in Kansas Anymore

If God is in heaven and God is everywhere then heaven must be everywhere. In other words, heaven has no zip code.

Heaven is the world we don’t see. This invisible world is what the Bible means here by “heaven.” To paraphrase: “Our Father, in the unseen but ever present reality that surrounds me.”

Three implications:

First, “In heaven” invites us to exercise faith. Faith is our way of “getting a handle on what we can’t see.” To say the opening words of this prayer and mean them is a declaration of faith.

The veil that that keeps the realm of heaven invisible to us is thin, like gossamer fabric and very permeable. This allows for many comings and goings between our visible world and the invisible world of heaven.

Heaven invades our zip code - reaches into our world with regularity. In this prayer we are reaching back.

When these words are sincerely prayed we instantly transition from our zip code to the supra-dimensional reality that is all around us…from our room to God’s room…from our limitations to God’s unlimited potentiality. These two words can be a portal to another world and as Dorothy said in the Wizard of Oz, “We’re not in Kansas anymore.”

Second, “In heaven” invites us to humble ourselves. In the presence of God…there can be ONLY one initial reaction - to fall to our knees in humility. It’s not the posture of our body. It’s the posture of our heart. This is a time to bow low… very low..

Our happiness before God as our Father and our sense of humility in his presence are not at odds. The opening “Our Father” invites us to be happy and comfortable in his presence and the next modifying phrase “in heaven” invites us to humble ourselves.

Third, “In heaven” invites us to worship him. J.I. Packer wrote, “The real test of being in the presence of God is that you either see yourself as nothing or you lose all thought of yourself in worship and praise.”

Our adoration does not add anything to the Grand Canyon. It does not add anything to the beauty of a Bird of Paradise or to a coral reef. And it certainly does not add anything to the goodness and glory of God. He does not need our praise so that he can feel better about himself. Our worship is not for him but for us. If we fail to admire the God of all creation, it’s not him who is diminished…It’s us! Every time we fail to acknowledge something of worth, we lose the opportunity to grow into something better - and we are incrementally diminished. But every time we admire something of worth, a little bit of that virtue becomes ours - and we become incrementally better.

 An extended version of this part of the prayer could go something like this:

• Hello, Dad…I have faith that even though I can’t see you, I know you are very close to me. I now reach through the thinnest of veils and enter your unseen presence - the invisible dimension of Heaven.
• Hello, Dad…I am humbled. I acknowledge that in every way you exceed the limits of my own understanding. Your ways are as high above mine as the heavens are above the earth. I bow low before you.
• Hello, Dad…I worship you. You are the fountain-head of all life and all that is good - the source of all that is praiseworthy - perfect love, perfect joy, perfect peace, perfect wisdom. You don’t have to travel to outer space to find God. You don’t have to move an inch from where you are right now. Heaven is as close to you now as the air you are breathing.