Perhaps the disciples jealously watched as Jesus prayed regularly and wished they could be like Him. These poor disciples from a religious background wished they could pray like Jesus. And in the middle of the prayer that He taught them was a profound sentence. “Thy Kingdom come.” You know the account.
Possibly, their pastors and priests prayed for them and they had never learned how to pray on their own. You may identify with that since your pastor writes out prayer points for you to repeat until the next time. Some even publish annual prayer books for members and others. Anyway, they came to Jesus and asked Him to teach them to pray and He gladly taught them.
You see, conversation with anyone is how you develop an intimate relationship. Without ongoing conversation, you may be a bride in an arranged marriage. And you don’t have to be from India to know the risks in such a relationship. Similarly, an ongoing conversation is how you develop a relationship with God after knowing Him through Jesus Christ.
The more conversations, the greater the intimacy. And so, Jesus, knowing the importance of such a conversation, immediately granted their request. The prayer He taught them included worship and personal requests. But it also included a portion that many of us, perhaps like they, simply ignore. We don’t know what to make of “thy Kingdom come.”
Thy Will Be Done On Earth
Most of us ignore that “thy kingdom come” portion for one of two reasons. The first is a lack of understanding. The second is that even with understanding, we are unwilling to do enough to bring God’s kingdom into our lives. My suspicion is that many believers do understand what ‘thy kingdom come’ means. And that is because Jesus did not leave His disciples (and us) in the dark. Immediately following that sentence, He gave us its meaning.
We should pray thus: “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Ouch! We know enough about heaven to know that holiness and righteousness prevail there. Of course, in heaven, there is beauty, with streets of gold. And there is no sorrow or hunger or pain. We love that aspect of heaven very much. But to do His will on earth exactly as it is done in heaven? That is a real problem for most believers. The need for holiness – which is total obedience to God – sticks in our craw. That is another way of saying we find total obedience to God impossible.
So, we rush past “thy Kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Fortunately for most of us, the next sentence is about bread and we simply love that!
Thy Kingdom Come In my Life
But I doubt that Jesus would have put thy kingdom come into His prayer unless it was important. By rushing past it into daily bread and other provisions, we hurt ourselves. Of course, God’s kingdom will come whether we are totally obedient or not. But the question for you and me is, will we personally experience it?
Will God’s kingdom come in my life? In yours? That depends. Because the sweet part of heaven about which we always pray depends on the part we ignore. The reason heaven is so sweet is that God’s will reigns there. And until God’s will reigns in an individual life, there can be no sweetness in that life.
Total obedience to the will of God will bring God’s kingdom to you. So, next time you pray “thy kingdom come,” don’t rush over it. What you are saying is that you want to allow God’s will to reign in your life. Do you know that there is no need for prayer in heaven? If we can be totally obedient to God, we should have less need for prayer vigils. Let thy kingdom come in my life, Oh Lord.
Maranatha!
