Not so with God, because God's attributes are captured in the words omnipotent (all power), omniscient (all knowing) and omnipresent (present in all places at the same time). And by the way, what sense would prayer make if these three things were not true? Why would we bother to pray to a God who did not have the power to do what we were asking? Why waste time praying to a God who was unable to be with us at that time and place of our greatest need? If God cannot be with us in our hospital room, or by the graveside of a loved one, or when our lives appear to be in danger from some imminent threat, then why pray at all? If God's knowledge is as limited as mine then why would I ask God to help me understand the things that puzzle my mind and vex my spirit?

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I love that image of God that is found in Isaiah 6 when the prophet says that he was suddenly standing in the presence of God. The temple in Jerusalem was filled with smoke. The doors of the temple were shaking as the presence of God moved in. God was so big that only the train of his robe (the part of a king's robe that trails behind him on the gown) filled that great temple. Then Isaiah said that he saw angels flying above his head and he heard them crying one to another, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory." The Lord's Prayer reminds us that the God we serve is holy.

Now comes a part of the prayer that might give some of us some trouble; Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We say those words, but we really mean them? Do we really want God's kingdom to be established on earth and do we really want God's will to be done on earth? If we say those words with truth and sincerity, then there are some things about the world as it is that we must be ready to see thrown out. When God's kingdom is established on the earth, I do not think we have the Supreme Court of Massachusetts calling for same-sex marriage. I believe that the direction in which our society is moving is fundamentally contrary to a place where people are praying for God's kingdom to come and for God's will to be done.

When God's kingdom is established on earth I do not think we see U.S. corporations that are trying to maximize their profits on the backs of their workers and shut down factories and out source jobs to China and India and Central America. And while families in this country suffer from loss of jobs, people in the countries where the jobs have gone suffer from slave wages and horrific environmental damage. Our economic policy in America is still designed for the rich to get richer while the poor get poorer, and that is not what the kingdom of God is all about.

When God's kingdom comes and when God's will is being done, nations are not constantly involved in wars and the building of bigger and more lethal weapons. It is probably safe to say that the world is awash in guns and bombs and rockets because that is where we place our faith. None of that would be happening if we really wanted to have God's kingdom come and have God's will to be done on the earth. We may be saying the words but I wonder if we are really considering their meaning.