Part Four:  

Lord, Teach Us To Pray

Third Petition: 

“

Thy Will Be Done on Earth as It Is in Heaven”

Why do we have a free will? In order to do the will of God. Unlike the irrational creation that surrounds us, we can choose either to conform our wills to God or refuse to do so.

The scope of this petition is the prayer that human beings on earth might do God’s will as the angels and saints are doing in heaven. We therefore ask that everyone on earth may do God’s will, even as everyone in heaven does. There are no exceptions in heaven. We pray that there will be fewer and fewer exceptions in doing God’s will on earth.

We further ask that, as in heaven, people may do God’s will out of love and not through fear. In heaven there is no danger of not doing God’s will, and therefore no fear of the consequences.

We further pray that we on earth, like those in heaven, may do God’s will spontaneously. We ask that the divine will be done without hesitation, with no aversion or reluctance. On earth we know how slow we can be in responding to the known will of God. Our plea is to become more ready to fulfill the will of God the moment we know what He wants.

We also pray to do God’s will with selfless generosity. There is no envy in heaven among the elect, because they see others also doing God’s will. There is no jealousy but perfect cooperation in performing the divine will, not only individually but collectively.

We finally pray that, as in heaven, those on earth may enjoy doing the will of God. There is a mysterious relationship between our doing what pleases God, and God’s doing what pleases us. In heaven everyone does only what pleases God. He, in turn, does everything to please the elect. They are supremely happy. Why? Because they are perfectly conformed to the will of the Most High. We pray to discover, already on earth, a foretaste of the joys of heaven, reserved for those who do the divine will. In fact, the measure of true happiness this side of heaven is the degree of our fidelity in doing the divine will.