Mar. 3 | The Lord’s Prayer Pt. 2, Thy Kingdom Come
Matthew 6:10, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
The second exercise of “The Lord’s Prayer Workout” is to ask for God’s kingdom and His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. God’s Kingdom or the Kingdom of God is the active rule and reign of Jesus Christ as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Psalm 2:6). God’s will is for things on earth to be done His way, just like everything is done in heaven for His glory.
Jesus taught the people of His day that wherever He was, the Kingdom of God was present in their midst because He was both the King and the perfect representation of what the Kingdom of God looks like (Luke 17:21). Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:3 that by being born again, everyone can spiritually see the Kingdom of God and participate in it. After His resurrection, Jesus commanded His newly reborn disciples to go into the entire world to display the Kingdom of God and preach for others to enter in (Acts 1:3-7).
As a result, today’s portion of the Lord’s Prayer teaches us to earnestly seek God for people to be born again and receive all that God has for them. When people enter into God’s Kingdom, they get to participate in the will of God.
It is God’s will for no one to perish. It is His will for His people to prosper. It is His will for the sick to be healed. God’s will is for heaven to come to earth through His people!
That is why, in God’s Kingdom, sinners are set free from the power of sin and made holy. The broken hearted are mended. The past is overcome. The captives are set free. People dwell together in perfect unity. There is fullness of joy, peace beyond understanding and life is lived to the fullest! Everything we need comes to us through the Kingdom of God. Yet, Jesus taught in Matthew 6:33, that we don’t get our needs met by seeking them or striving to build our own kingdom; we receive everything God has for us by seeking first His Kingdom and righteousness (“His will”).
When praying this section, we shouldn't be asking for our earthly kingdom to come and our fleshly will to be done; we should be praying for God’s Kingdom to come and for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Without God's Kingdom power and blessings, we will only experience, “hell on earth;” which is the result of Satan’s kingdom and will. William Law once said, “If you have not chosen the Kingdom of God first, it will in the end make no difference what you have chosen instead.”
Choose God over Satan and heaven over hell. With that in mind, can you imagine what it will be like to see Jesus’ prayer answered in your life; to see the fullness of God’s Kingdom upon the earth, as it is in heaven and for people everywhere obeying His perfect will? This will truly be “heaven on earth!”
Reflection
Do you believe God can replace, “hell on earth” with His Kingdom and bring, “heaven on earth?”
Action
- Remove your needs and wants from being your first priority in prayer and make God’s Kingdom the first priority of all your prayers.
- Every time you pray, seek God’s Kingdom first.
- After you pray for God’s Kingdom to come, praise Him for letting you be in it.