“Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven.”

What does it mean to pray the Lord’s Prayer in these days?

The COVID-19 pandemic now shares the stage with visible and often violent social unrest. One could argue that both were inevitable; the signs were there. Scientists declared that the U.S. was vulnerable to a pandemic. Sisters and brothers of color have long declared the reality of prejudice to be present – even in the most ordinary aspects of American life. Yet have we been listening?

Protest and pandemic, of course, bring out the demons. Anger, injustice, economic upheaval, and fear are dancing on the lawn. But perhaps the most dangerous demon is the temptation to align Christian faith with political power.

And so we pray: Thy kingdom come. One of the great values that America holds is the separation of church and state. Secular people like it; if you don’t believe in mystery then you don’t want the Divine messing up your parade. But for people of faith this separation reinforces what the Christian faith, in its finer moments, has affirmed. Namely, God is Sovereign and God’s way of life and flourishing is what Christians seek. Christian people, of all of America’s citizens, ought to be the clearest in articulating a certain distance between political power and the source of true transforming power.

And so we pray: Thy will be done. God’s transforming power is always directed toward the margins. If you want to find God’s presence then you need to be in hospital rooms or the city streets. As a God of healing, mercy, and grace, God’s will is bent toward transformation and hope. Christian people praying the Lord’s Prayer will be found wherever there is sickness, upheaval, social unrest, and injustice. God is relentlessly pursuing transformation in the lives of people, congregations, cities, and nations. And God’s presence will be found in broken and dark places of the world – not places of earthly power or in photo opportunities or in pious posts on Facebook.

And so we pray: On earth, as it is in heaven. Yes, right here. On my street and in my community. Most of us will have little sway or influence on the nation or upon the states where we reside. We reflect on this and we sigh with discontent. Yet every one of us has a local community – our place on this earth. I live in a neighborhood that is marked by the margins. What does it mean for me to pay attention to the life and community and politics of my neighborhood? And what does it mean for me to pray for and to partner with God for the sake of my neighborhood, my town? And what leveraging power might be found when congregations love, pray, and act on behalf of their neighborhoods and communities?

I am no predictor of the future. But the coming days in American life appear to be stormy. Yet in those storms, God’s people are praying that God’s will come to pass. Such prayer prompts God’s people to seek out justice and pursue the well-being of humankind. All in all, such reflections leave me with haunting questions. Do I have the courage to pray the Lord’s Prayer? What might happen in our churches if we prayed with sacrificial conviction the Lord’s Prayer? As haunting as the questions might be, the answer resounds throughout history. Whenever God’s people align themselves first and foremost with God’s agenda, transformation occurs.

Pandemic. Protests calling for structural change so that sisters and brothers of color might be heard. Political upheaval. Now is the time for us to pray the Lord’s Prayer. And it is time for that prayer to call us into action with God in the margins of our own places on this earth.