Week Five
The next petition exhorts us to pray for the kingdom of God to come. Jesus said to Pilate during His trial that “My kingdom is not of this world.” (John 18:36). God’s kingdom is not an earthly physical kingdom that the Jews had expected it to be. As you probably already know, God’s kingdom is a spiritual kingdom in which all the people who have placed their faith in Jesus have become a part of. This includes people from the past, like Abraham and his descendants, whom God promised to make a great nation as countless as the stars in heaven. It includes the people during Jesus’ time when our Lord and John the Baptist declared “Repent and believe for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”. In Luke 17:20-21, we read “Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” In this part of The Lord’s Prayer, Jesus is teaching us to pray that God’s kingdom continues to come to include people in our day and the days to come.
Jesus said in Luke 4:43, “But he said, “I must proclaim the good news of the
kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.”
God’s kingdom is at the heart of his redemptive plan throughout history. It’s the establishment and continued fulfillment of God’s salvation plan throughout history.
A kingdom has a king who rules over his domain. Without doubt, Jesus is the Ruler of the whole universe. But in the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus is referring in particular to the realm of His spiritual kingdom in which only true believers are a part of. Christ is the ruler of His kingdom in which we are all citizens of. So to pray “Your Kingdom come” is to acknowledge. Christ’s rule in our lives and that more people will come under his reign.
The implications of this are profound!
- “Your kingdom come” happens when people are converted. Does personal evangelism and mission work dominate our prayer agenda? Do we pray enough for God to raise up missionaries to continue to usher people into His kingdom? Do we pray enough for our missionaries in our private and corporate prayers?
- “Your kingdom come” happens when people are committed to the reign of Christ in their lives, evidenced by their obedience to His commandments. In other words, we are praying for Christians everywhere to open their hearts to the lordship of Christ. Jesus is both saviour and lord. We can’t have one without the other as some people might think! Christ’s lordship is not an optional extra that you choose after becoming a Christian. It’s a packaged deal.
- “Your kingdom come” gives us cause to hope that one day, Christ will indeed return and reign forever more. And that any suffering and trials are but momentary afflictions. Paul says in Romans 8:18, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”
- And finally, if God’s kingdom is Jesus’ top priority and his’ primary mission on earth, what does that mean for our own priorities? Shouldn’t God’s kingdom work also be our foremost priority and pre-occupation? Yet when i examined my prayer life, I often find that I’m preoccupied in building my own kingdom and focused on things other than God’s kingdom work! when we pray, how often do we fill our petitions with things related to our own ambitions., our careers, our children’s studies, health, healing, our needs, our wants, etc. Aren’t most prayers we hear often about me, my and I?
Prayer:
Dear heavenly Father, help us to establish the right priorities in our lives.
Teach us to seek first Your Kingdom and Your righteousness, having the assurance that all other things will be added to us as well. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
(This article is adapted from a series of sharing on the subject of Prayer by Yew Lum to his Lifegroup members.)