Day Twenty
”...LET IT BE RATIFIED IN HEAVEN.”
Today’s Scripture Reading
The mountains may shift,
and the hills may be shaken,
but my faithful love won’t shift from you,
and my covenant of peace won’t be shaken,
says the LORD, the one who pities you.
Suffering one, storm-tossed, uncomforted,
look, I am setting your gemstones in silvery metal
and your foundations with sapphires.
I will make your towers of rubies,
and your gates of beryl,
and all your walls of precious jewels.
All your children will be disciples of the LORD—
I will make peace abound for your children.
You will be firmly founded in righteousness.
You will stay far from oppression because you won’t fear,
far from terror because it won’t come near you.
If anyone attacks you, it’s none of my doing.
Whoever attacks you will fall because of you.
Look, I myself created the metalworker who blows the fire of coal and
who produces a tool for his work.
And I myself created the looter to destroy.
No weapon fashioned against you will succeed,
and you may condemn every tongue that disputes with you.
This is the heritage of the LORD’s servants,
whose righteousness comes from me, says the LORD.
Isaiah 54:10-17
Reflection
As we have seen, the majority of the phrases in the Wesley Covenant Prayer necessitate that they be tied to either the preceding or succeeding statement in order to fully show the context and to identify the main idea. “Let it be ratified in heaven” is explicitly tied to its preceding phrase, “And the covenant which I have made on earth,” and can’t be isolated in its main idea, which is that, while the covenant is made on earth, it requires God’s blessing to be wholly authorized.
God’s blessing is simply God’s approval or God’s sanctification. This means, to pray, “let it be ratified in heaven,” is to prayerfully seek God’s satisfactory agreement that consists of mutuality and relevance. The Bible is full of places where people are soliciting God’s blessing. The following show a number of places, just within the Psalms, in which God’s blessing is pursued or mentioned:
Because you, LORD, bless the righteous.
You cover them with favor [blessing] like a shield.
Psalm 5:12
Yes, goodness [blessing] and faithful love
will pursue me all the days of my life,
and I will live in the LORD’s house
as long as I live.
Psalm 23:6
His anger lasts for only a second,
but his favor [blessing] lasts a lifetime.
Weeping may stay all night,
but by morning, joy!
Psalm 30:5
How great is the goodness [blessing]
that you’ve reserved for those who honor you,
that you commit to those who take refuge in you—
in the sight of everyone!
Psalm 31:19
The LORD is a sun and shield;
God is favor [blessing] and glory.
The LORD gives—doesn’t withhold!—good things
to those who walk with integrity.
Psalm 84:11
because you are the splendor of their strength.
By your favor [blessing] you make us strong
Psalm 89:17
Let the kindness [blessing] of the Lord our God be over us.
Make the work of our hands last.
Make the work of our hands last!
Psalm 90:17
When we pray, “let it be ratified in heaven,” alongside Wesley—and countless other Christians past, present, and future—we are making certain to communicate that we know God is the one who sanctions any covenant that we might make, and we ask for God’s blessing to make it so. We are one party in the contract, so to speak, and while our covenant might be genuine and sincere, it is only half of the needed equation in order for the treaty to be confirmed.
This understanding, of God being the confirmer of the covenant, is important for several reasons. First, it makes certain that we understand where authority dwells. We have a particular purpose and acquire meaning from our participation in God’s mission, but it is God’s mission and God reigns over our stated promises and God prompts our daily actions.
Second, praying, “let it be ratified in heaven,” accounts for the supernatural and mysterious nature of God. God does the ratifying, but God does so from heaven—our future paradise. The kingdom of God is both already and not yet. This notion is a key linkage to the Wesley prayer as it takes into account that Jesus inaugurated the kingdom of God and that one day, the kingdom of God will be fully consummated. Consequently, the Kingdom is already here, but not all here yet. We await all things being made new, or whole, and while we wait, we do the redemptive work of God in the world through the power of the Holy Spirit so that earth looks like heaven.
Finally, when we pray, “let it be ratified in heaven,” we do so realizing that God is not only the sending one who empowers us to do God’s work, but also the one who evaluates the faithfulness with which we do the work. Our work, while meant to be a witness to the world, is not evaluated by the ones around us; it is evaluated by God. Others may help us in our attempts to do the work by coming alongside of us for accountability, support, encouragement, and critique. Ultimately, though, God determines and measures the faithfulness in which we serve.
Our work, while meant to be a witness to the world, is not evaluated by the ones around us; it is evaluated by God.
To pray, “let it be ratified in heaven,” then, is to pray knowing that the full authority for authorizing the covenant resides with God. It is also to pray knowing that, as we await a world made new—our future paradise—we do God’s redemptive work. We know that God is the one who determines and measures the degree of our commitment or faithfulness in doing the work.
Today’s Challenge:
PARADISE RESTORED
Read the passage below from the Book of Revelation. Circle or underline the words or phrases that strike you or mean the most to you.
After you have read the verses, write a sentence or two describing what you are most looking forward to when paradise is restored.
Personal Reflection
•Do I live as though God reigns, as though God is the king of my life?
•If I am half of the equation, how must I live to have a treaty with God?
Discussion Questions
•In what ways does God prompt our actions?
•Describe how the kingdom of God is already, but not yet.
•What grade do you think God would give you for your efforts?
•Describe how you imagine a future paradise with God.
•What would you say is the main idea of this part of the prayer?
Departing Prayer
We long for a new world in which we will dwell with you, God. We wait patiently but expectantly. In hope, we live with anticipation for a world where there is no darkness, death, or despair. Amen.
Then the angel showed me the river of life-giving water, shining like crystal, flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb through the middle of the city’s main street. On each side of the river is the tree of life, which produces twelve crops of fruit, bearing its fruit each month. The tree’s leaves are for the healing of the nations. There will no longer be any curse. The throne of God and the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. Night will be no more. They won’t need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will shine on them, and they will rule forever and always.
Revelation 22:1-5