4.20.2026 - Lisa Liou
Lisa Liou is the founder and executive director of All Gen Movement, a Christian ministry dedicated to healing the generations and renewing the Church. She previously served over 20 years with InterVarsity, most recently as Regional Director in the Western US. She is married to Jeff, an ordained CRC minister, and together they live in Monrovia, CA with their two teenagers.
Monday, April 20, 2026
Matthew 6:10
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Have you ever been in a season when you felt like you were straining to discern the will of God?
For years I worked with college students who were trying to discern God’s will, especially in the areas of career and relationships. In conversation, they often seemed to be straining—trying to figure out if God wanted them to date a particular person or choose one major over another.
It often felt like a crisis to them, as if God’s will were a hidden message we had to go out and find.
While God certainly can guide us in personal ways, Scripture reminds us that most of what we need to know about God’s will has already been clearly revealed. We don’t need to grasp for it or try to discern it by flipping open our Bibles at random (a method I experimented with in middle school).
In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus gives us a different starting point. When he teaches us to pray, “your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” he shows us two important things:
1) We are invited to pray for God’s will to be done on earth
2) God’s will is already being perfectly carried out in heaven
Often, we start with earth and wonder what God’s kingdom might look like here. But Jesus invites us to begin with heaven—and to pray for that reality to take root on earth.
When we consider heaven, we see a place where there is no sin, no injustice, no suffering, no death. Instead, there is worship, peace, justice, and the full flourishing of all God has made.
Earth, of course, is not like this.
This means that every day, we encounter things that are contrary to God’s will. And yet, we trust that even in a broken world, nothing falls outside of God’s sovereign care and rule.
So what do we do with this?
We pray for alignment—for the realities of heaven to increasingly take shape on earth.
Rather than straining to uncover God’s hidden will, we can anchor ourselves in what God has already made clear. We know that in heaven there is unceasing worship. We know that the lowly are lifted up. We know there is peace, justice, and joy.
So we pray—and we live—in light of those realities.
Let’s practice together.
When you look at your life, your family, or your community, what is out of alignment with heaven? Take a moment and imagine how a picture of heaven transforms that reality.
And then, let us pray. I’ll go first.
God, I pray for peace in the world and for wars to cease. On earth as it is in heaven.
God, I pray for all children in our community to have a bright future. On earth as it is in heaven.
God, I pray for my family members to be swept up by your love and know you as their salvation. On earth as it is in heaven.
Feel free to fill in with your own prayers. On earth as it is in heaven.
Amen