Pray then in this way . . . Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Matthew 6: 9-10
The words above come from the most famous prayer in Christendom, The Lord's Prayer. Millions of people across the world will collectively pray the Lord's Prayer ever Sunday. But how many will stop to consider what it really means? Do we really understand the words we speak when we ask God to let his will be done on earth as it is in heaven? The word kingdom gives us a key to this verse. Kingdom is a political term referring to the way society is governed. This verse has several implications.
1. First it could be looking forward to that time when Jesus will come and establish his kingdom fully on earth. So the prayer is a vision of the future. Jesus was reminding his disciples that he would return and set things right in this world. It was a promise to hold on in the difficult times.
2. At a second level it is a vision of how a Christian should live his life. Jesus gives us direction in the sermon on the mount as to how we should live. In 1896 Charles Sheldon published his classic "In His Steps" in which a pastor challenged his congregation not to do anything Jesus wouldn't do. He asked the newspaper to report only what Jesus would report and leave out the gossip. He challenged the stores to sell only what Jesus would sell, etc. In a short time the entire town was in an upheaval because they realized how many of their daily activities went against "what Jesus would do." It is worth thinking about.
3. On a third level, I see the prayer as a petition for God to intervene in the lives of men. Often we find ourselves in situations that we feel powerless to change. As much as we know would like our situations to be different, we don't see how they could be. This part of the prayer reminds us that God is a king. If we ask him to, He will come into our situations and make changes that we can not make. When we pray for God to be King in our situation there is nothing that can stand in the way. He is a King and He will show his power when one of His children asks him too. The only stipulation is that we must be willing to surrender control to Him. If he asks us to make some changes so He can work, we have to obey. If you have a problem you can't fix, start by asking Jesus to be King. You might be surprised how quickly your situation turns around.
God is a King, but He is also a gentleman. One day Jesus will come back and set everything right in this world. But I am convinced that He wants us to allow Him to be King our individual lives now. None of us can right all the world's wrong but we can start with ourselves by praying,
Matthew 6: 9-10
The words above come from the most famous prayer in Christendom, The Lord's Prayer. Millions of people across the world will collectively pray the Lord's Prayer ever Sunday. But how many will stop to consider what it really means? Do we really understand the words we speak when we ask God to let his will be done on earth as it is in heaven? The word kingdom gives us a key to this verse. Kingdom is a political term referring to the way society is governed. This verse has several implications.
1. First it could be looking forward to that time when Jesus will come and establish his kingdom fully on earth. So the prayer is a vision of the future. Jesus was reminding his disciples that he would return and set things right in this world. It was a promise to hold on in the difficult times.
2. At a second level it is a vision of how a Christian should live his life. Jesus gives us direction in the sermon on the mount as to how we should live. In 1896 Charles Sheldon published his classic "In His Steps" in which a pastor challenged his congregation not to do anything Jesus wouldn't do. He asked the newspaper to report only what Jesus would report and leave out the gossip. He challenged the stores to sell only what Jesus would sell, etc. In a short time the entire town was in an upheaval because they realized how many of their daily activities went against "what Jesus would do." It is worth thinking about.
3. On a third level, I see the prayer as a petition for God to intervene in the lives of men. Often we find ourselves in situations that we feel powerless to change. As much as we know would like our situations to be different, we don't see how they could be. This part of the prayer reminds us that God is a king. If we ask him to, He will come into our situations and make changes that we can not make. When we pray for God to be King in our situation there is nothing that can stand in the way. He is a King and He will show his power when one of His children asks him too. The only stipulation is that we must be willing to surrender control to Him. If he asks us to make some changes so He can work, we have to obey. If you have a problem you can't fix, start by asking Jesus to be King. You might be surprised how quickly your situation turns around.
God is a King, but He is also a gentleman. One day Jesus will come back and set everything right in this world. But I am convinced that He wants us to allow Him to be King our individual lives now. None of us can right all the world's wrong but we can start with ourselves by praying,
"Let your will be done in me as it is in heaven."
Blessings,
Sullivan Jones
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