Jesus Said To Pray Like This – Part 3 of 7
A Deeper Look At The Lord’s Prayer Series
After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,for ever. Amen.
His Kingdom Come
Matthew 6:9-10
After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
When Christ’s disciples or even the other Jews would have heard this phrase they no doubt would have immediately thought of a physical, literal, political reign of the King. We see evidence of this throughout the scriptures.
Acts 1:6
So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
Matthew 2:1-4
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.
Matthew 2:12-16
And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way. And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son. Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men.
Herod thought his reign as King was being threatened so he wanted to kill the future king.
So is this what Jesus was talking about when he said to pray that God’s kingdom come, or did he mean something else?
In hindsight we look back and realize that Jesus did not establish a political reign on the earth, so what did he mean?
What is the Kingdom of God?
John 18:36
Jesus answered, “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. “
We no what his kingdom is not “it is not of this world” whatever it is.
The Kingdom that is to come – The Not Yet
I think when we hear this phrase in this passage most of us probably think of the coming of Jesus, the time when he will return and establish his kingdom of the new heaven and new earth.
Matthew 25 and the book of Revelation talk about the very real establishing of a physical Kingdom.
2 Peter 3:13
But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Revelation 11:15
Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. “
Revelation 21:1-5
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.
Sounds great doesn’t it, who wouldn’t want this kingdom to be established, who wouldn’t want the Lord to return as quickly as possible, who wouldn’t pray for this?
I can actually think of a couple reasons we might hesitate in looking forward to this. And both of these reasons are also part of this very petition.
The 1st reason we may not look forward to that physical kingdom being established is that we have loved ones that don’t know the Lord and would not be part of that kingdom if he was to return today.
The Coming Kingdom Should Cause Evangelism
John 3:3
Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. “
2 things I want you to understand about this
1. We are to be about the work of evangelism
Mark 16:15
And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.
Romans 10:14-15
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
The bible is very clear that every believer should be about the work of evangelism.
We should go to our family, our co-workers, our friends, our neighbors, even to those we don’t know and share with them the good news of the kingdom.
2. We don’t need to worry about somebody not getting saved before Christ returns.
What do I mean by that?
John 6:37
All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
John 6:39
And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.
I mean that everyone that the Father is going to save, He will save, and He will do it by sending His people out to share the gospel with them.
It is the Lord that saves. It is your responsibility to take his good news to all the world.
There is a 2nd reason why you may not be ready for the Lord to return and that is that you yourself may not know Christ as your savior.
Which brings us to another meaning of this petition.
Pray God’s Kingdom Come- The Already
Not only is the Kingdom of God something that is to come, it is something that is already here.
Luke 17:20-21
And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, Lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
The Kingdom of God is a present reality manifested in the lives of believers.
Romans 14:17
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
The Kingdom coming into us is the change that takes place in the life of the believer.
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Ephesians 4:22-24
to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
This is the change in you, this is you saying “Lord your will be done in my life, not my will but yours” And we pray God’s will is done perfectly in our lives the way it is done in heaven.
None of God’s holy Angels obey only part of the time, they obey the will of the Lord all the time.
When we pray this we are asking God to place his kingdom within us and cause us to walk in his ways.
And that is exactly what his word says to believers.
Ezekiel 36:26-27
A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
Praying Like This Leads To Action
If you already know the Lord as your Savior, Jesus is telling you to pray that the kingdom would come into the hearts of those who don’t know him so they will be ready for the Physical return of the Lord as his Literal, Physical kingdom is established.
He is also telling you to pray for that return to come soon.
When we look around at all the bad things happening in this world, we should want that.
But if you’re reading this here today and you don’t know Jesus as your Lord and Savior he is telling you that today is the day.
Mark 1:15
‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel. ‘
Mark 13:31-32
Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.
Don’t put it off, the day of the physical establishment of the kingdom of God is coming but you can have the kingdom of God dwelling in you today.