Lord's Prayer Series: "Thy Kingdom Come"
Matthew 6:9-13 (ESV):
9 "Pray then like this:
‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,
12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.’"
Our church is holding "21 Days of Prayer" from January 6th to January 26th, and I encourage as many of you as possible to participate. This is an opportunity for us to deepen our relationship with God and ignite our prayer lives. My prayer is that during this time, walls would be broken down, breakthroughs would occur, and we would witness the glory of the Lord in both our personal lives and in the church.
Since last week, we have been studying the Lord’s Prayer, and today we continue to reflect on its powerful message.
Review from Last Week
The Lord's Prayer was not intended to be simply repeated as a daily ritual. Rather, it serves as a model for how we should pray—teaching us both the how and the what of prayer.
Structure of the Lord's Prayer
The Lord’s Prayer can be divided into two parts: the first half focuses on God and His glory, while the second part addresses our personal needs. This order is significant. Jesus instructed us that when we pray, we should first focus on God’s glory. Regardless of our circumstances, it is crucial to approach God with worship, gratitude, and a heart that seeks to magnify His name.
What We Learned Last Week
In verse 9, we learned two important truths:
The focus of our prayer is God, our Father in heaven. As His children, we have the incredible privilege of coming before Him in prayer.
"May your name be hallowed." This is a plea that God’s name would be treated as holy and revered by all—within our hearts, in our relationships with others, and throughout the world. It is a prayer for reverence and worship to rise up toward God everywhere.
Today, let's look at the next verse, verse 10. We can see that it is a prayer that should naturally follow verse 9.
“Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done, On Earth As It Is in Heaven”
First, what kind of prayer is “Thy kingdom come”?
The coming of God’s kingdom is ultimately tied to the return of Jesus Christ and the fulfillment of God's eternal reign. It is the moment when the Lord will defeat all evil and establish His rule with perfect justice. We see this longing for the Lord’s return throughout the New Testament, especially in the writings of the apostles and the early church. They eagerly anticipated the arrival and completion of God’s kingdom.
In Philippians 3:20-21, Paul writes:
“But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”
The early Christians, like Paul, understood that their true citizenship was in heaven. They were waiting for the Savior to return and complete the work of God’s kingdom. Paul refers to the second coming of Christ as the “blessed hope,” a time when all things will be made new, and the kingdom of God will be fully realized.
This expectation of the kingdom is not just an ancient longing; it is also our prayer today. As Christians, we too are citizens of God's kingdom, and we are called to wait, watch, and pray for the day when Christ will return and complete the kingdom of God.
What is the Kingdom of God?
The kingdom of God is both present and future. It is not only something we anticipate in the distant future, but it is also a present reality, where God's rule and reign are being established in our hearts and in the world. To put it simply, the kingdom of God is "the rule and reign of the sovereign God."
Therefore, when we pray, “Thy kingdom come,” we are essentially praying, “May God’s rule come.”
Broadening the Meaning of "Thy Kingdom Come"
If we expand the meaning of this prayer, it becomes more than just an anticipation of the future. It becomes a plea for God’s sovereign reign to extend into every corner of our lives.
What a heart-searching prayer this is!
How Does This Prayer Search Our Hearts?
When we pray, “Thy kingdom come,” we are first asked to examine ourselves and ask: Are we placing ourselves under the rule and authority of Jesus Christ? No matter our position or status in the world, we are reminded that as believers, we are called to live under the Lordship of Christ.
This prayer calls us to evaluate whether we have surrendered all areas of our lives to Jesus. Are we allowing Jesus to reign as King over our hearts, our families, our marriages, our work, our possessions, and our relationships? If there is any area of our life where we have not invited the Lord to be King, this prayer prompts us to confess and ask, “Lord, be my Master. Be my King” over that area.
In truth, when we came to faith in Christ, we were brought into the rule of the light of Jesus, the King of Kings. This is the essence of being a Christian: acknowledging Jesus not just as Savior, but as Lord and King over all.
Colossians 1:13
“He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.”
How grateful we are to have been transferred into the kingdom of our beloved Lord! Once, we were in spiritual darkness, under the rule of sin and the devil. But through the redemption of Jesus Christ on the cross, we have been set free and brought into the glorious kingdom of God’s beloved Son. This transformation is not just a change of location; it is a change of rule and reign in our hearts and lives. We now live under the rule of love, grace, and truth, where Christ is our King.
This prayer, “Thy kingdom come,” is not only for ourselves but also for those around us. It is a prayer for those who have not yet believed in Jesus as their personal Savior—those still living in the domain of darkness. We pray that they too may be set free from the power of sin and that the light of Christ would shine into their hearts, bringing them into His kingdom.
Since we now live in St. Louis, we pray that the rule of the Lord Jesus may come to those who live in St. Louis and in America. It is also a prayer that the rule of the loving Lord Jesus may spread to Japan and the world.
The Rev. Martin Lloyd Jones, who was the pastor of Westminster Chapel, described this prayer "Thy kingdom come" as "a comprehensive missionary prayer." In other words, it includes a prayer for missions, that the gospel will spread and many people will be led to believe. It is a prayer for the kingdom of God to come all over the world.
“Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done, On Earth As It Is in Heaven”
This prayer for God’s kingdom to come naturally leads us to pray that His will be done. If we long for God’s rule to spread in our lives, we must also desire that His will, not our own, be done. This petition goes beyond our own lives and extends to those around us, to our nation, and to the entire world. It is a plea that God’s purposes would be fulfilled everywhere, just as they are in heaven.
As I mentioned at the beginning, the order in which Jesus taught us to pray is significant. Later in the Lord’s Prayer, we pray for our specific needs, but before we bring our own concerns before God, we are reminded to first desire that His will be done. Our prayers must be rooted in the desire for God’s glory, His kingdom, and His will, before we focus on our own needs.
The Priority of God’s Will
We must remember that when we pray, we are approaching God as His children. We honor Him as a holy, sovereign, and loving Father. We begin by worshiping Him, giving thanks, and desiring that His will be done in our lives and in the lives of others. This is the heart of the Lord’s Prayer—to prioritize God’s will above all else.
For instance, when someone asks for prayer for something specific, such as entering a certain school or getting a job, we pray with them, but our foremost desire is that God’s will be done in that situation. We trust that God’s plan is always best, even if it is different from our own plans. As we reflected on New Year’s Day, God has a plan for our lives—a plan to give us hope, a future, and peace. This plan may not always align with our personal wishes or expectations, but it is always good, perfect, and designed to bring Him glory. When God’s will is fulfilled, it is for our ultimate good.
