Prayer is vital; it’s to the Christian what breathing is to the human being.
We continue our understanding of the pattern of prayer that Jesus gave us to pray and the phrase for today’s meditation is
Your Kingdom come
Matthew 6:10
Matthew 6:10
Astronaut James Erwin is one of but a few men to walk on the moon. As he stood upon the lunar landscape and looked up at the earth, he prayed for the first time in his life. He thought about the strife among nations, poverty, hunger, and rampant evil; and he thought to himself: "What is more important than man walking on the moon is that God should walk on earth."
Simply stated this is the desire we express when we pray, "Your Kingdom come."
“Your kingdom come,” is expressed to the one who has a right to rule and a right to reign, who is none other than the King Himself, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ.
We are not to be concerned much about our own plans, desires and program. Praying right is not letting God in on our plans; it is calling for God to fulfill His own. To pray “Your kingdom come” it takes quite a transformation in the life of a believer to come to the place where instead of saying, “My kingdom come,” we say, “Your kingdom come.”
We may say, “Your kingdom come,” in words, but aren’t our prayers literally filled with our own kingdom, our own plan, our own rule, our own reign, our own causes.
Now then, these three words introduce to us three questions
a. whose is the kingdom? It’s God’s kingdom; it’s not a human kingdom, it’s God’s kingdom. We’re not involved in a human kingdom; that’s not our priority. We are not of this world. We have been translated out of this world. Our citizenship is not here. We are sojourners and pilgrims. Our citizenship is there. We look for a city whose builder and maker is God.
b. what is the kingdom? And that’s an important question; what is it? What are we talking about when we’re talking about the rule of Christ, the reign of Christ? Jesus spoke of the kingdom in three ways, past, present, and future. He spoke of the kingdom as past, for it embodied Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in Matthew 8:11. It was already around. He spoke of the kingdom present, because in Luke 17:21, He said, “The kingdom of God is in your midst. It’s right here,” He said. And He spoke of the future, because here He says, “Pray Thy kingdom come.”
c. how does it come? The Greek version of this prayer says, “let it come, and let it come now.” That would be the way to translate it. How do we let it come? How do we do it? How do we bring the kingdom? How do we get after this? How is this prayer to be answered? God literally mediates His kingdom through the believer; He reigns in my life and yours. And so to say, “Thy kingdom come,” is to pray that He may take up His reigning residence in the hearts and lives of those who yet are in rebellion.
This Lenten season may dominion of God and the success of the gospel be our priority.
May the Lord Almighty help us to set our lives accordingly. God bless you.
a. whose is the kingdom? It’s God’s kingdom; it’s not a human kingdom, it’s God’s kingdom. We’re not involved in a human kingdom; that’s not our priority. We are not of this world. We have been translated out of this world. Our citizenship is not here. We are sojourners and pilgrims. Our citizenship is there. We look for a city whose builder and maker is God.
b. what is the kingdom? And that’s an important question; what is it? What are we talking about when we’re talking about the rule of Christ, the reign of Christ? Jesus spoke of the kingdom in three ways, past, present, and future. He spoke of the kingdom as past, for it embodied Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in Matthew 8:11. It was already around. He spoke of the kingdom present, because in Luke 17:21, He said, “The kingdom of God is in your midst. It’s right here,” He said. And He spoke of the future, because here He says, “Pray Thy kingdom come.”
c. how does it come? The Greek version of this prayer says, “let it come, and let it come now.” That would be the way to translate it. How do we let it come? How do we do it? How do we bring the kingdom? How do we get after this? How is this prayer to be answered? God literally mediates His kingdom through the believer; He reigns in my life and yours. And so to say, “Thy kingdom come,” is to pray that He may take up His reigning residence in the hearts and lives of those who yet are in rebellion.
This Lenten season may dominion of God and the success of the gospel be our priority.
May the Lord Almighty help us to set our lives accordingly. God bless you.
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