As Christians our go to prayer is the Lord’s Prayer. It’s always being recited whether corporately during church services, in the home amongst family, or individually. It’s recited on television, written on post cards, it’s all over the place! We used to say it in the locker room before games for whatever reason like it was going to enable us to win as if our opposing team wasn’t also saying it in their locker room to help them win. Memorizing the Lord’s prayer is like the first thing we do after we accept Jesus, and some people know it even before they know Jesus. It’s like the password phrase to unlock Jesus. I remember a time when my mom got so mad at my brother as he stumbled through the words while praying it over our family that she cut him off mid prayer and eyed him like he was a blaspheme who on his best day didn’t know Jesus.
In all seriousness, Jesus used this prayer to teach His disciples to pray but the message of the prayer is rooted in action, not just words. The prayer was meant to solicit a response from heaven based on our willful acts of submission and obedience to the Lord’s will here on earth. “Our Father, who’s in heaven, hallowed (or greatly honored and revered which can only be done through willful submission and obedience) be thy name. Thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. I will stop right here because the last line is what I want to focus on.
One of the main things we think about once we get to heaven is perfect health especially individuals who live their lives with disease. But as the Lord’s Prayer says, He wants His will to be done on earth just as it is in heaven, so He’s made healing just as attainable as any other promise if not more right down to the air we breathe. I know a lot of times when we think of air, we think of toxicity, but we also consume oxygen from air which is an essential nutrient that fuels the heart. The Lord in His infinite knowledge and wisdom created an environment for humanity to live in perfect health. When we think about all the healing agents of the “good” foods we consume and the wonderful benefits of physical activity, exercise and stress-free living (Paul hit the nail on the head when he said it’s better for people to stay single because he saw how much a lot of married folks stressed each other out), we should think of how we were created and how everything was created for us not by us. When we think of advancements is medicine, we should think of God’s grace and mercy and how He created an environment for us to thrive and heal. Nothing God created is man made its only discovered and true enough man had to be smart enough to discover it, but man’s intellect is not absent of God’s omniscience. So yes! Medicine has rapidly advanced, along with knowledge of how to care of our physical health. It’s all tied to God’s will being done on earth as it is in heaven but it’s not absent of His will being done via our willful submission and obedience.
Well how do I submit to His will so His will of physical health and wholeness can be made available to me here on earth? Good question. Submission requires knowledge and understanding before anything. The bible tells us that if we seek Him, we will find Him but knowing where to look for Him sometimes seems to elude us. God is in His creation. His imprint, trademark, and patent are all over it. Since we are His created beings, learning you and your body is the first step to submission. Here are some steps:
· Know your current health status. The thing with most disease is they can lie dormant and go undetected for years and years before your body tells you something is wrong and by that time, minor has turned to major and reversible has turned to irreversible.
· Know your family health history. Knowing your family health history allows you to take steps to reduce your risk of developing disease and can improve medical treatment if needed.
There are plenty others points I can give but those two often go neglected. They provide a solid foundation because if don’t know how we are or were disobedient we won’t know to obey.