An Unusual Thanksgiving Prayer

Heavenly Father, it is the time of year when thoughts of
Thanksgiving, lights, feasting and merriment come to the fore…
But also a time in which…on the edges of our minds,
We cannot totally forget that in this world there is also
Bitterness, darkness, hunger and sadness…
We know these things are not of your powerful Kingdom…
They are of our impotent, yet harmful fiefdoms…
And though they are only temporary,
They are devastating for those who must endure them…even for a time.
It is at this time that we pray this prayer:

Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name-
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,
On earth…as it is in heaven…

Our Father, we stop now, mid-recitation…
And we recognize that we’ve been saying the words without paying attention

to how provocative they are…
Without fully understanding how terribly devastating

those words might be if we prayed them in truth.
Help us to remember that these words…when prayed in earnest…
Mean that we are willing to give up our own fiefdoms in favor of

Your Kingdom…

We ask that you pour your Spirit into our hearts,

so that we might be awake to the words of this prayer.
That we might be fully aware of their implications…
That we would ask of ourselves these important questions:

“What would suddenly happen

if Thy Kingdom DID come…on earth?

What would happen to the things that I stand for…

that I throw myself into and live for daily?

Would those things stand or fall

in the face of this beautiful and devastating prayer?

Help us to recognize that to pray these words…
To actually mean these powerful words…Is to pray the Lion out of His cage…
Heavenly Father, we pray in earnest for you to answer this question of our perplexed hearts…

What would happen if those of us who enjoy

abundance, privilege and of power…
What would happen if we sincerely prayed and lived this prayer:
“THY kingdom come, THY will be done…?”

And now Dear Father, we return to your prayer~

Give us…
Forgive us…
Don’t test us…
Deliver us…
For the Kingdom, Power and Glory are yours, and Yours alone…

You are omnipotent and without you,

we are completely impotent…

without you we are nothing…
For it is only Your name…Father…that makes this prayer bearable.
Because it is only in the role of a

helpless child we can even bear to approach your throne…
Knowing if we ask you for bread-

you will not disappoint us by giving us a stone,
Knowing that when we ask that your heavenly kingdom be unleashed on earth

that it will be… So very, very good…

in fact, it will be so pleasant and so full of splendor, that…
Our desire to maintain our shabby fiefdoms will be no more.
And so we pray…

those of us who sit in positions of earthly abundance and authority…
We pray in Spirit and in Truth…We come to you as small children…
And we ask You to make us the conduits of your Kingdom here on earth…

We pray: Thy Kingdom come…Thy will be done…

We pray the Lion out of His cage…AMEN!