Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Pray then like this... (pt2)
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Pray then like this... (pt2)
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil".
(Matt 6:9-13 ESV)
Often when this prayer is recited the phrases, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” are said as if they are two or three distinct thoughts. This is understandable because this prayer is often recited together and this phrasing helps everyone stay together. But there is a down side to this custom, these three phrases are actually just one thought and breaking it up can sometimes obscure the thing we are asking for.
What are we really asking for here?
I have heard this topic discussed many times and the answer to this question generally runs in three directions.
* In this petition we are asking for Jesus to return and usher in the kingdom of God in its fullest form.
* In this petition we are praying that all would repent and follow the true king Jesus.
* In this petition we are praying for this present age to be changed, to be conformed more closely to the principles of the kingdom of God.
To me if you take any one of those ideas as complete you are missing something in this prayer. We are praying that the kingdom of God would come. This to me is hard to imagine if the king is still absent. To me, the full realization of the kingdom comes with the return of our king, Jesus.
However, the second half of this petition speaks of a change on the earth. And yes the final and ultimate transformation will come with the return of Jesus and the abolition of evil. Nevertheless, we are to be salt and light, we are to be agents of change, and the kingdom of God was compared to a mustard seed by Jesus. A tiny seed that grew into a plant, a plant large enough for birds to nest in. Or in Daniel we see it described as a stone that grew to fill the earth. In these metaphors and prophecies we see the kingdom of God starting small and growing tremendously.
So I think all three of these ideas are correct as long as they are taken together and not separately. Without an ultimate hope of our king’s return there is little motivation to try and change the hot mess that is this present age. And without actively engaging this age through the gospel and action motivated by the love of Christ, we become part of the problem rather than part of the solution.
If we did nothing but sit and wait for our kings return the temptation would be to check out of this life in a vain attempt to find some safe place to hide and wait out the storm. But there is much to do while we wait.
Consider this story Jesus told about the time of waiting for his return:
Therefore you also must be ready,
for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time?
Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.
Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions.
But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards,
the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites.
In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
(Matt 24:44-51 ESV)
Get full access to On walking the Way at tompossin.substack.com/subscribe
Jesus understood the tendencies of humanity very well. He knew that a failure to maintain faith in his imminent return would result in moral corrosion and ultimately destruction. A vital faith in Jesus seems contingent on a vital faith in his return in this passage. This story also implies that his return is going to take much longer than many expect, making faith in his return all the more important to us today. But having faith also means we must be actively serving our master until he comes.
How do we respond to this petition today?
So how do we respond to this beyond just remembering that Jesus is going to return? I think this is where we really need to think through how our faith effects every area of our lives.
We say and think all kinds of things, but more often than not, we do what we truly believe. Over time our actions describe our beliefs better than our words. (Not always the happiest thought I have to admit) Nevertheless, to pray for the kingdom to come will have its first effect in us and in the relative value we place on everything we do. Much like having your house on fire makes you reevaluate which things are really important in your house, and which things you are going to attend to first.
But this is not primarily a self improvement prayer, it is a radical world changing prayer. A prayer that reaches into the very core of why this world is the way it is and attacks its rebellious and thoroughly selfish heart. It is a prayer of revolution and rejection of the current world order, and a focused effort to prepare the way for the coming king.
My kingdom is not of this world
When Jesus was on trial Pilot asked him if he was a king, Jesus replied, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.”
As we ponder how to be faithful servants of Jesus while we wait for his return it is tempting to forget that the kingdom of God is not something that springs from this world. It is the kingdom of God. It belongs to Him and it comes from Him, it is not the product of human effort and certainly not the product of human conflict. It is a gift that is either received with joy or rejected with contempt.
Our job is to announce the good news of the coming kingdom of God and to demonstrate this kingdom everyday in our interactions with each other. This will not result in us bringing the kingdom of God into being, it is His kingdom not ours after all. But it is the fruit of the kingdom of God in us that will in turn bear fruit that is worthy of the kingdom, and we will be rewarded for our labors when the king returns.
Our hope is not in the kingdoms of this world, our hope is in the kingdom of God. The answer is not to be found in the wisdom of this world but the wisdom of God.
Today we pray for God’s kingdom to come, and we work as faithful servants of the king to proclaim the freedom that is found only in this kingdom, demonstrating that the kingdom of God is truly coming by our love for one another.
Have a great week!
Get full access to On walking the Way at tompossin.substack.com/subscribe
View all episodes
By Tom Possin“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil".
(Matt 6:9-13 ESV)
Often when this prayer is recited the phrases, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” are said as if they are two or three distinct thoughts. This is understandable because this prayer is often recited together and this phrasing helps everyone stay together. But there is a down side to this custom, these three phrases are actually just one thought and breaking it up can sometimes obscure the thing we are asking for.
What are we really asking for here?
I have heard this topic discussed many times and the answer to this question generally runs in three directions.
* In this petition we are asking for Jesus to return and usher in the kingdom of God in its fullest form.
* In this petition we are praying that all would repent and follow the true king Jesus.
* In this petition we are praying for this present age to be changed, to be conformed more closely to the principles of the kingdom of God.
To me if you take any one of those ideas as complete you are missing something in this prayer. We are praying that the kingdom of God would come. This to me is hard to imagine if the king is still absent. To me, the full realization of the kingdom comes with the return of our king, Jesus.
However, the second half of this petition speaks of a change on the earth. And yes the final and ultimate transformation will come with the return of Jesus and the abolition of evil. Nevertheless, we are to be salt and light, we are to be agents of change, and the kingdom of God was compared to a mustard seed by Jesus. A tiny seed that grew into a plant, a plant large enough for birds to nest in. Or in Daniel we see it described as a stone that grew to fill the earth. In these metaphors and prophecies we see the kingdom of God starting small and growing tremendously.
So I think all three of these ideas are correct as long as they are taken together and not separately. Without an ultimate hope of our king’s return there is little motivation to try and change the hot mess that is this present age. And without actively engaging this age through the gospel and action motivated by the love of Christ, we become part of the problem rather than part of the solution.
If we did nothing but sit and wait for our kings return the temptation would be to check out of this life in a vain attempt to find some safe place to hide and wait out the storm. But there is much to do while we wait.
Consider this story Jesus told about the time of waiting for his return:
Therefore you also must be ready,
for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time?
Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.
Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions.
But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards,
the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites.
In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
(Matt 24:44-51 ESV)
Get full access to On walking the Way at tompossin.substack.com/subscribe
Jesus understood the tendencies of humanity very well. He knew that a failure to maintain faith in his imminent return would result in moral corrosion and ultimately destruction. A vital faith in Jesus seems contingent on a vital faith in his return in this passage. This story also implies that his return is going to take much longer than many expect, making faith in his return all the more important to us today. But having faith also means we must be actively serving our master until he comes.
How do we respond to this petition today?
So how do we respond to this beyond just remembering that Jesus is going to return? I think this is where we really need to think through how our faith effects every area of our lives.
We say and think all kinds of things, but more often than not, we do what we truly believe. Over time our actions describe our beliefs better than our words. (Not always the happiest thought I have to admit) Nevertheless, to pray for the kingdom to come will have its first effect in us and in the relative value we place on everything we do. Much like having your house on fire makes you reevaluate which things are really important in your house, and which things you are going to attend to first.
But this is not primarily a self improvement prayer, it is a radical world changing prayer. A prayer that reaches into the very core of why this world is the way it is and attacks its rebellious and thoroughly selfish heart. It is a prayer of revolution and rejection of the current world order, and a focused effort to prepare the way for the coming king.
My kingdom is not of this world
When Jesus was on trial Pilot asked him if he was a king, Jesus replied, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.”
As we ponder how to be faithful servants of Jesus while we wait for his return it is tempting to forget that the kingdom of God is not something that springs from this world. It is the kingdom of God. It belongs to Him and it comes from Him, it is not the product of human effort and certainly not the product of human conflict. It is a gift that is either received with joy or rejected with contempt.
Our job is to announce the good news of the coming kingdom of God and to demonstrate this kingdom everyday in our interactions with each other. This will not result in us bringing the kingdom of God into being, it is His kingdom not ours after all. But it is the fruit of the kingdom of God in us that will in turn bear fruit that is worthy of the kingdom, and we will be rewarded for our labors when the king returns.
Our hope is not in the kingdoms of this world, our hope is in the kingdom of God. The answer is not to be found in the wisdom of this world but the wisdom of God.
Today we pray for God’s kingdom to come, and we work as faithful servants of the king to proclaim the freedom that is found only in this kingdom, demonstrating that the kingdom of God is truly coming by our love for one another.
Have a great week!
Get full access to On walking the Way at tompossin.substack.com/subscribe