' Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven ' (Matthew 6: 10)

'Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth' (Luke 11, 2)

our prayer continues from our Father's Kingdom to our Father's will. 'Thy will be done.' What is our Father's will? It is that all people should receive His love and come into the life of eternal happiness. It is His will that every lost child of His should be found and healed; that not one of them should perish. It is His will to forgive all of us and prepare homes for us in heaven.

It is His will that we should keep His commandments. For He says they that do so, live in His love and are His friends. It is His will that we should love one another, and forgive, and go on forgiving. And it is His will that we should open the door of our hearts, and let Him in to share life with us.

We pray for His will to be done. But we also pray that it may be done, as in heaven, so in earth. If we think of this carefully we may perhaps remember that heaven represents our inmost life, and the earth our outside life. It is sometimes much easier to intend well in our inner life than it is to bring our good intentions down into our earthly concerns. So the prayer is that as we do our Father's will in our spiritual life, we may also do it in our natural life. In all its busy daily activities.

To pray for the Lord's will to be done is to pray for a life of useful service, in which is the greatest possible happiness.

' Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.' (Luke 12, 32).