Many of us pray this prayer on a regular basis and feel very familiar with it, but notice the last sentence: “Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”

We have authority on earth and it is our domain. I suggest this statement is an official invitation for God to intervene in our domain and do his will here. He gave us free will, authority and our domain, so he will not invade our turf, but intervenes only when we specifically ask him or allow him to do so. It’s been said that God will do nothing on earth unless someone first prays; this is why.

What does this suggest about people who simply trust God’s sovereignty and wait for him to take care of them without asking? They may wait a long time or may even displease him.

I suggest this pertains to everything you do: your job, family responsibilities, everything. Including the things you do well, your area of expertise or specialty, or something you’re comfortable doing because you’ve had lots of experience. Do you suppose God knows more about those things than you do? Do you think he can take care of things in that area that are a challenge for you? Can he take care of problems you’re not even aware of or provide resources you don’t even know exist? Here’s a bizarre question: If God were to do your job for a day, how would his results compare with yours? Do you think God is interested in helping with everything you do? Even when you don’t have problems?

God will not impose himself on you. He allows you to act on your own if you choose, but is eager to help you to the extent you’ll allow him. Consider giving him an official invitation to get involved in everything you do.

“Heart” is from the Greek word kardia, which refers to the innermost part of something. It might be translated soul or spirit, but because “soul” is also listed in the verse, kardia refers to spirit. Based on scripture, our spirits’ functions include our character, will, discernment and courage, among others. This is the essence of who we are.

“Soul” is translated from psyche, which is equivalent to our English word “psyche.” Scripture indicates the psyche provides our awareness, mind, intellect, reasoning, feelings, memory, decisiveness (in contrast to will) and imagination, among other functions. While our heart or spirit generally is stable and doesn’t change much, our psyche is very dynamic. It’s constantly processing what’s going on, how we’re reacting to it and deciding what to do about it. The psyche controls how we live our lives.

“Mind” (dianoia) represents our disposition, temperament or way of thinking, and probably includes our biases, the way we process information or typically respond. The mind is considered a function of the psyche, yet it seems distinct from and affects the other functions. The fact that it’s listed with the psyche suggests they’re different, though they overlap. So dianoia refers to how we generally express ourselves.

“Strength” is from ischus, which represents our ability, potential, power or strength; what we’re able to do.

So Jesus was saying the most important thing for us to do is to love God with our most fundamental nature, with every reaction and decision, every way we express ourselves and everything we’re able to do.

Simply put, love God with everything you are and do.

The Greek word translated “reign” in this verse is a verb which means to be a king, reign as king or control something completely. That is, we Christians are to reign as kings in life as a result of Jesus’ death for our sin, burial and resurrection. There are several verses that state we will reign with Jesus on earth when he returns in the future to set up his kingdom (2 Ti 2:12; Rev 5:10; 20:4, 6; 22:5), but we’re to begin reigning now according to Romans 5:17.

Obviously, a king has dominion or sovereignty over a specific domain. I consider my domain to consist of myself, my family, work and property. I have greatest authority over and therefore responsibility for myself. In fact, I’m fully responsible for myself but have less authority over others in my domain due to their personal authority.

Because sin has perverted humanity and all of creation, the world’s idea of reigning is entirely different from God’s. Jesus described it this way: “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves” (Lk 22:25-26). Jesus used himself as an example by explaining, “I am among you as one who serves” (v 27).

So how must I reign in life, specifically by exercising authority over my domain? By serving those in my charge. By using my spiritual authority to protect, care for, provide for and influence them for their benefit. This includes, but is not limited to, using my authority to command spiritual beings trying to harm someone in my domain. I’m not to use my authority to oppress people or assert myself. Instead, I’m to emulate Jesus by serving them as he would.

Early in Jesus’ ministry, he gave his disciples “power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick” (Lk 9:1-2). He also gave them “authority to trample on snakes and scorpions, and to overcome all the power of the enemy, so that nothing would harm” them (Lk 10:19). These statements also apply to Christians today. In both of these verses, power (dynamis) is the strength or ability to do something and authority (exousia) is the right to exercise power.

It’s significant that Jesus gave them — and us — authority over the enemy’s power, even before he defeated Satan at Calvary. He didn’t just give them — and us — more power than the enemy has so we can overpower him. Instead, Jesus gave us authority, which always prevails over power. It doesn’t matter how mean, stubborn, frightening or intimidating an evil spiritual being seems to us, our spiritual authority is what matters.

All we need to do is speak in the authority Jesus gave us. We don’t need to shout, jump up and down, threaten or foam at the mouth; simply acknowledge the authority Jesus gave us, speak the desired result and expect it to happen. It’s not up to us to produce the results; only to speak in and with authority.

By the way, after Jesus rose from the dead, he met with his disciples and announced he had received all authority in heaven and on earth (Mt 28:18). That means Satan now has no authority on earth; none, zero. Jesus is now head over every power and authority because he disarmed all powers and authorities by the cross (Col 2:10, 15). He delegated authority to us and we can expect it to be effective against any evil spiritual forces or beings.

This was not an isolated thought, because Jesus made similar statements at other times. Most of us are familiar with the withered fig tree incident, when Jesus told his disciples they could do the same thing, even command a mountain to move. Then he made the statement we all love: “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins” (Mk 11:24-25). Actually, we love the first part and usually ignore the second. The “whatever you ask for in prayer” has very broad application, but it clearly includes asking God to forgive us once we have forgiven someone else. We’re to forgive others so that our Father in heaven may forgive us.

It’s natural — that is, sinful or worldly — to get angry, hold grudges and even retaliate. But Jesus taught that we’re to be like God, not like the world. He talked about turning the other cheek, doing more than someone requires of us, loving our enemies, praying for those who persecute us and becoming like our heavenly Father (see Mt 5:38-48). Quite frankly, we’re to do the opposite of what the world would do; maybe what comes naturally to us. Forgiving those who hurt, impose on or offend us will not be easy, but that isn’t the point.

Is it important to forgive others? Only if you want God to forgive you. This doesn’t mean you won’t go to heaven if you hold a grudge, because you’re saved by God’s grace and your faith, not by your performance. The issue is developing godly character, which then enables you to forgive. If you’re unwilling to forgive, then you’re unwilling to become spiritually mature and that’s a serious problem.

If you redeem something, you recognize that it has more potential than it’s currently experiencing. In fact, that’s why God redeems you; you’re not currently experiencing your potential.

Let’s apply this to your character. Sin corrupted or perverted your character, primarily by making you self-centered. God can redeem your character with your cooperation and as you do your part, he produces the results. What is your part? Repenting.

The Greek word translated “repent” in the New Testament is metanoio. It’s a compound word; the first part (meta) refers to transformation and the second part (noio) refers to your mind — what or how you think. Repentance literally means changing the way you think or transforming your mind. It requires you to reprogram your mind and make it conform to what the Bible says.

I’ve heard it said that repentance is believers’ territory and that’s absolutely true! The New Testament was written to Christians and it tells us to repent. Read it; the vast majority of what it says requires us to change our minds about something.

One of the biggest problems Christians have is trying to change behavior while ignoring attitudes. Not only is that ineffective, it’s terribly frustrating! What we think determines what we do. We need to focus on changing our minds and our behavior will follow.

Repentance includes recognizing old attitudes and behaviors we developed when we were sinners — ungodly habits, lifestyle choices, mannerisms, language, attitudes, perspectives, priorities, values, standards and such. Yes, we’re new creations in Christ, but we also brought a lot of old baggage into our new lives. Now repentance requires us to identify those things that don’t bring honor to God, that don’t reflect his nature, that no longer are appropriate for us. Then, having identified those things that must go, we consciously and deliberately transform our minds.

God will help us change our thinking, but it’s primarily our responsibility.

As I explained in “It All Began in the Garden of Eden,” self-centeredness motivated the first act of disobedience and it’s the basis of all other sin.

Sin has perverted your character, motivating you to focus on yourself. It makes you more concerned about your own thoughts, feelings and desires than those of other people and value your own opinion more highly than others’. Self-centeredness causes you to defend yourself, protect yourself, justify yourself and shift the blame to others.

Self-centeredness affects everything you do. For example, God designed us to be fulfilled and satisfied when we do well. At each stage of creation, God looked at what he had done and said, “That is good.” He was satisfied with his work. He made you like himself, so you feel good about your work, too. However, self-centeredness causes those good feelings to become the goal. You like feeling good, so you want to do things that make you feel good! So what God intended as a reward or fringe benefit becomes the goal. As a result, since you are most effective and feel most fulfilled when using your natural abilities, you use those abilities for the good feelings they produce instead of the benefit they provide others.

Sin perverted God’s design. God’s intent was for each of us to use our abilities to serve others. Self-centeredness causes each of us to use our abilities to make ourselves feel good; that is, to serve ourselves.

I’m not suggesting it’s wrong to be satisfied or fulfilled in what you do, because that is a result of being God’s image. However, sin motivates us to do whatever makes us feel good about ourselves, so the focus shifts and that is the problem.

Self-centeredness is so deeply ingrained in us, we usually have difficulty seeing it as a sin, but it is. It’s the exact opposite of godly character.

Why did Eve eat the forbidden fruit? Because she thought it would be good for her. Self-centeredness was the issue — pride, concern for her own well-being.

Self-centeredness motivated the first act of disobedience. In my opinion, self-centeredness was the first sin and is the basis for all other sin. If we examine any sin, ultimately we’ll find it’s motivated by self-centeredness. The person sinned because he believed it somehow would benefit him, make him feel better about himself or accomplish something he wants.

Self-centeredness is self-focus. It makes us more concerned about our own thoughts, feelings and desires than those of other people. It causes us to defend ourselves, protect ourselves and justify ourselves.

So, what’s the solution? Humility, the exact opposite of self-centeredness. It causes us to consider ourselves relatively unimportant compared to others. Humility is essential to agape love, because we must first humble ourselves before we can serve others. In humility, we step down from our pedestals of importance; in agape, we lift others up.

Jesus said, “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 18:4). We need to be aware of our inherent self-centeredness and allow God to help us develop true humility.

Humility is not one desirable attribute among many; instead, it’s the foundation of godly character.

The original language reads in part, “God works together all things for good to the ones called . . . .” The Greek word translated “work together” is synergeo, from which we get our English word, “synergy.” Both words refer to a combining of various things and processing them to produce a unified result and both words allow for a compounded result; a result greater than the sum of its parts, such as 1 + 1 = 10. In fact, this 5-to-1 compounding ratio is biblical (Lev 26:8, a covenant blessing; Deut 32:30, a covenant curse).

In the New Testament we have such verses as Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” This states that when two or three believers come together — suggesting unity, not just a gathering — God also shows up, which means the results will be far greater than mere humans can produce. Other New Testament verses also describe the results of unity among believers and the synergistic results.

A final thought on Romans 8:28 deals with the “good” God produces. The next verse states, “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” The first word, “for,” means the author is about to tell us what God has in mind when he synergistically works everything together for us: he’s conforming us to the likeness of his Son, Jesus.

That is, God combines everything we experience — the good, the bad, the wonderful, the traumatic, the blessing, the trial — and works them all together synergistically for our ultimate good, which is for us to become like Jesus. Only when we understand this can we give thanks to God the Father for everything (Eph 5:20).