The plot involves a wager between two educated men regarding solitary confinement. A wealthy, middle-aged banker believed the death penalty was a more humane penalty than solitary confinement because “an executioner kills at once, solitary confinement kills gradually.” One of his guests at a party, a young lawyer of twenty-five, disagreed, saying, “To live under any conditions is better than not to live at all.”
Angered, the banker impulsively responded with a bet of two million rubles that the younger man could not last five years in solitary confinement. The lawyer was so convinced of his endurance that he announced he would stay fifteen years alone instead of only five.
The arrangements were made, and the young man moved into a separate building on the grounds of the banker’s large estate. He was allowed no visitors or newspapers. He could write letters but receive none. There were guards watching to make sure he never violated the agreement, but they were placed so that he could never see another human being from his windows. He received his food in silence through a small opening where he could not see those who served him. Everything else he wanted—books, certain foods, musical instruments, etc.—was granted by special written request.
During the first year the piano could be heard at almost any hour, and he asked for many books, mostly novels and other light reading. The next year the music ceased and the works of various classical authors were requested. In the sixth year of his isolation he began to study languages and soon had mastered six. After the tenth year of his confinement, the prisoner sat motionless at the table and read the New Testament. After more than a year’s saturation of the Bible, he began to study the history of religion and works on theology.
The second half of the story focuses on the night before the noon deadline when the lawyer would win the bet. The banker was now at the end of his career. His risky speculations and impetuosity had gradually undermined his business. The once self-confident millionaire was now a second-rate banker, and it would destroy him to pay off the wager. Angry at his foolishness and jealous of the soon-to-be-wealthy lawyer who was now only forty, the old banker determined to kill his opponent and frame the guard with the murder. Slipping into the man’s room, he found him asleep at the table and noticed a letter the lawyer had written to him. He picked it up and read the following:
'Tomorrow at twelve o’clock I shall be free . . . but before leaving this room .
. . I find it necessary to say a few words to you. With a clear conscience, and
before God, who sees me, I declare to you that I despise freedom and life and
health and all that your books call the joys of this world. . . . I know I am
wiser than you all. . . . And I despise all your books, I despise all earthly
blessings and wisdom. All is worthless and false, hollow and deceiving like the
mirage. You may be proud, wise and beautiful, but death will wipe you away from
the face of the earth, as it does the mice that live beneath your floor; and
your heirs, your history, your immortal geniuses will freeze or burn with the
destruction of the earth. You have gone mad and are not following the right
path. You take falsehood for truth, and deformity for beauty. To prove to you
how I despise all that you value I renounce the two million on which I looked,
at one time, as the opening of paradise for me, and which I now scorn. To
deprive myself of the right to receive them, I will leave my prison five hours
before the appointed time, and by so doing break the terms of our compact.'
The banker read the lines, replaced the paper on the table, kissed the
strange, sleeping man and with tears in his eyes, quietly left the house.
Chekhov writes, “Never before, not even after sustaining serious losses on
change, had he despised himself as he did at that moment.” His tears kept him
awake the rest of the night. And at seven the next morning he was informed by
the watchmen that they had seen the man crawl through a window, go to the gate,
and then disappear.
Some people have to learn the hard way what is of value,
and there are some who never learn."
MacArthur, John: Alone With God. Wheaton, Ill. : Victor Books, 1995
I have been studying and meditating and reading through Matthew 6:9-11. This model prayer or the world calls it "The Lord's Prayer" is a true model of how we as followers of Christ should pray. Yet, how meaningless we have lifted up prayers on a daily basis. Our prayer are full of all our wants from financial security, to health beyond any-ones dreams, to a large house, to a car, to more and more and more stuff. Why is it that after years and years we have ever figured out that our prayer life is all about God and not about us. This is the time to spend verbalizing what God wants us to declare from our hearts that is in one accord with His heart. When Jesus said "ask and you shall receive" He was not saying to ask for all the worldly junk that has no place in the Kingdom of God. If it is not from the heart and mind of Christ then do not ask for it. Most of us can understand at least this minimal amount of our prayer life.
Who is our Father in heaven? Is He an old white bearded man on dusty throne pointing His golden staff in the air sentencing some to death, some to prosperity, some to judgement, some to prison, some to starvation, etc.? This is what has been pictured for centuries and is not even closely accurate. Our Father in heaven, who is God Almighty, one part of the Trinity, is our glorious God, most loving Father, protecting Lord, and reigning King! He is the parent that all of us wish we could be towards our children. He is the most perfect parent of all.
In Heaven is the abode of God. This is an eternal place that exist in continuance and is where God the Father resides. This is the most royal realms we could ever imagine and I doubt our imagination could even come close to understand what it is like where God lives. However, we can only catch a small glimpse from scripture of where the future abode of God will be and we will be a part of it.
Revelation 21:10-27 (NIV):
10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed
me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. 11 It shone
with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious
jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall with twelve
gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names
of the twelve tribes of Israel. 13 There were three gates on the east, three on
the north, three on the south and three on the west. 14 The wall of the city had
twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the
Lamb.
15 The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure
the city, its gates and its walls. 16 The city was laid out like a square, as
long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000
stadiaa in length,
and as wide and high as it is long. 17 He measured its wall and it was 144
cubitsb thick,c
by man’s measurement, which the angel was using. 18 The wall was made of jasper,
and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. 19 The foundations of the city
walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was
jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, 20 the
fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl,
the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth
amethyst.d 21 The twelve
gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of
the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass.
22 I did not see a temple
in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The
city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God
gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light,
and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. 25 On no day will
its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26 The glory and honor
of the nations will be brought into it. 27 Nothing impure will ever enter it,
nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose
names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
a That is, about 1,400 miles (about 2,200 kilometers)
b That is, about 200 feet (about 65 meters)
c Or high
d The precise identification of some of these precious stones is uncertain.
The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Re 21:10-27
Just think this description does not even come close to the splendor of our future eternal home. For now, we are living in a trash heap compared to the Holy City or New Jerusalem to come. However, in our prayer life we can prepare ourselves for this future home in heaven. Jesus left us with this model prayer in order to prepare us, not so that we can dump our laundry list on God everyday and then blame Him because nothing came true on our wish list. This is juvenile praying.
Some might ask, "What is hallowed be thy name"? That sounds like a foreign term for movie flick, yet, it is profound. "Hallowed" means holy and "thy name" is God Almighty. It is the "Holiest Name of All". There is no other name in heaven or on earth that is more holy than Elohim and Adonai and Jehovah and any other name that is strictly reserved for our God. When we enter into prayer we are speaking to the holiest person that will ever exist or has ever existed. As a believer in Christ Jesus we have access to the most important being ever. Do you understand the meaning of this? You do not have to go through a priest on earth or any other person on this earth....Jesus Christ is our high priest and it is through Him that we go before our heavenly Father. He wants to hear directly from His people, not from another fallible man on earth.
As the prayer goes on to ask that God's will be done. This is the key to the entire prayer. This is the key to our prayer life. We must pray that God's will be done and not our own. One of the difficulties that most of us struggle with in our prayer life is getting to the point to where we desire God's will over our own. This is a huge nail in the coffin of our Free Will over God's Free Will. Our prayer life will go no where as we exercise our will, but rather once we understand that our prayers are to be reflecting the will of our heavenly Father, then our prayer life takes on new meaning that experiences results. As men we are so result oriented anyway...we have a drive that compels us to get results. This is a God-given drive. However, Jesus is telling us how results are achieved here...the achievement is not in ourselves nor is it about ourselves. The achievement is getting to the point that we prefer God's will to reign above our own desires and will. In short, God's will becomes our will and God's will becomes the desire of our heart. It is at this moment we stop bleeding selfishly and start bleeding righteously for the glory of our heavenly Father. To further the Kingdom of God, our prayers need to reach a higher place that is high above the earthly mindset.
We should set our minds on heavenly things in order to be of some earthly good. The wrong saying is "Don't be so heavenly minded that you become no earthly good". That is incorrect! If this earth is to improve, believers must become more heavenly minded to be of some earthly good.
What is truly valuable to you? In your prayer life, what is it that you pray for the most, yourself, your family, happiness, joy, money, job security, groceries, devine revelation, safe travel, an easy life, and so on? I know that none of us pray for a car accident tomorrow, marrital troubles in June '08, to loose our job in the Fall! That would be crazy, but why do we pray in defense of these types events in our lives? All we need to focus on is God in our lives at any given moment regardless of the circumstance. Come to grips with the fact that the only thing secure for us on this earth as believers is our salvation in Christ Jesus....nothing else is secure. We must live the remainder of our life outside of that committment in total faith that God will see us through to the other side into eternity.
-Scott Bailey 2008
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