Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Once again
this prayer teaches us how to orient our souls by thinking about heaven. As we move forward in our reflection of these
amazing words from the most famous prayer, we find ourselves considering
heaven. The world is so intoxicating—the
good and bad aspects of it—that we often overly focus on and dismiss the unseen
reality of heaven. Jesus left heaven so that
He could bring heaven to us.
Praying for
God’s Kingdom to come and His will to be done is in fact, praying for heaven to
intersect with our lives beginning in our hearts. When we ask for the Kingdom to be in our
midst, we are inviting the virtues and justice of heaven to govern our hearts
and lives. The best way to make sure
that you receive everything you really need for each day on earth is to keep
your focus on heaven. Matthew 6:33
says: But seek first his kingdom and his
righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
So what
does seeking first his kingdom entail?
It is about looking at this world’s daily encounters in the context of
God’s will and rule. It is about living
out the kingdom of God in the midst of a broken and unruly world. It is about thinking of how each decision we
make, each conversation we have, each path we take is undertaken with the
notion of God’s will and God’s Kingdom in mind.
It is living out God’s wisdom about everything you do. It is living each day with awareness that
heaven is real and that everything I do and say is being noticed in the
heavenlies.
Asking for
God’s kingdom to come and God’s will to be done on earth is the same request as
asking for a heart that is ready for heaven.
There is one main reason we are not in heaven. That reason is that we are not ready. Heaven is the place that God most wants
us. He wants us to be with Him. We were created to live in a kingdom of love,
justice and peace. Our sin separates us
from that kingdom, but God has overcome our sin through the blood of Jesus
Christ.
Jesus
preached about the Kingdom of God. He
went on to demonstrate how to live in God’s Kingdom by every step He took on
this earth. It did not make Him immune
from the horrors of sin that has so corrupted the world. He faced death, interacted with people who
were controlled by evil, touched lepers and took the brunt of the corruption in
the church. Still He never lowered Himself to human ways of dealing with these realities;
rather He yielded Himself to the Kingdom of God, making decisions after prayer,
being led by His Father, receiving strength from angels, opening His mouth to
proclaim God’s truth.
Do you want
to live as a citizen of the heavenly kingdom where all injustice is righted,
where all needs are met, where peace fills the atmosphere? You begin by yielding to the will of God and
living out His kingdom—battling the devil and the world and reigning with Him
in a peace that passes understanding on earth.
The kingdom
starts now.
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