The Campaign Prayer of Jesus
Jesus was a campaigner, recruiting and leading a campaign team. In this prayer he distills the essence of his campaign into a form that team members can use to stay focused and motivated.
When people realize what his campaign is really about--connecting, healing, and blessing the world--and when they start appreciating how complex, surprising, and brilliant his actual campaign strategy is, many want to get on board by praying this prayer. It is a prayer that God's campaign will succeed.
The whole purpose of the SYNC site is to help people pray this prayer authentically, welcome heaven to earth, and discover a new life in the process. Instead of managing life as best we can in our own interests, we invite our Father in heaven to integrate our lives into his campaign to connect, heal, and bless the world.
The paraphrase of the Lord's Prayer (or "Campaign Prayer") below is simply a 21st century way of praying exactly what Jesus taught his followers to pray in the 1st century--"As in heaven, so on earth" (Matthew 6.10). "Father, SYNC earth with heaven," could be a five-word distillation of the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6.9-13). And "SYNC me" distills that to two words.
"SYNC me"
"SYNC me" means, "OK, King Jesus. I trust you. Sign me up for your campaign team and start giving me my campaign assignments. SYNC me with what you intended when you did those game-changing events we read about in the Bible. SYNC me with the rhythm you put into the story of the world."
As a campaign team member, use that prayer often, leaving out the "Sign me up" phrase after the first time. Also use the "Campaign Prayer" in the box below to keep you moving forward.
Besides those two prayers, you may want to adopt the habit of saying "SYNC me!" to Jesus every chance you get--first thing in the morning, last thing at night, going out the door to work, before any other SYNC activity you may do, with family, friends, team, etc.
Treat "SYNC me!" as your new best friend and companion. Discover what it means and how it feels to be part of a campaign that is so ancient, so futuristic, so fulfilling, so gentle, and so good.
The Campaign Prayer
a.k.a. the Lord's Prayer or the SYNC Prayer
Matthew 6.9-13, paraphrase by Stan Nussbaum
Our Father in heaven,
Please take over and SYNC earth with heaven,
Where everyone totally respects you,
Experiences your liberating control,
And does what you want.
Please give us all enough to eat today,
And don't make us pay for wronging you
Like we don't make people pay for wronging us.
Don't put us into situations that will test our limits,
But set us free from evil inside and out.
Yes, come King Jesus!
You are the Messiah, the leader of God's campaign to connect, heal and bless the world.
You have the power. You get the glory now and forever.
Bring it on!
"As in heaven, so on earth"
Everything that is wrong with the world is wrong because it is out of SYNC with God. Jesus brings everything back into SYNC. That is what he teaches us to focus on and pray for--"As in heaven, so on earth."
The way the Campaign Prayer is usually prayed in English, "on earth as it is in heaven" seems to be a minor phrase about where God's will should be done. Actually it is a summary phrase that ties together all three of the requests that come before it--that God's name be honored, that his reign ("kingdom") would begin, and his will would be done.
If we move it to the beginning, its importance as the central idea of the prayer pops out better. "SYNC earth with heaven."
Jesus's prayer also shows us how simple this is. Earth would be perfectly re-SYNCed if only three heavenly things were true on earth:
1. Everyone on earth respected God's name as much as everyone in heaven does
2. Everyone on earth experienced God's liberating control (or felt in their bones that they are citizens of his "kingdom,") as everyone in heaven feels it
3. Everyone on earth did what God wants, just as everyone in heaven does all the time
The campaign will succeed when these three things become true on earth. Everyone will be reconnected to Jesus, the campaign leader. All wounds and scars will be healed, and God's blessing will flow everywhere without interruption.
In the first half of the prayer we invite God to do his campaign work, to "make earth like heaven". In the second half we ask for three things we still need because the work is not finished yet--food, forgiveness, and protection. All three arrive as we get back into SYNC with God.
Other prayers that keep us in SYNC
Almost anything that is in SYNC can get out of SYNC, and that includes us. "SYNC me!" is not a one and done prayer. We keep praying it.
We also pray in other ways, talking to God and listening for his voice. For example, the Jubilee Cards (see under "Activities") have very short prayers based on the verses quoted on the cards. Four prayers are built into the weekly guide for Just Do It Groups. Other prayers are sprinkled through this site.
Prayer is not "one-size-fits-all." Experiment using your own words, some of ours, or some you find elsewhere. Just keep coming back to the core idea, "As in heaven, so on earth," whether you use those exact words or not. Pray in order to SYNC with God's intentions and relax into his will. Life doesn't get any better than that.