Lord's Prayer: Thy Kingdom ComeNäide

When Jesus teaches us to pray, He tells us to pray, “Thy kingdom come.” It’s actually part of a longer phrase: “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” All of it is interrelated and one big request. But for the purpose of these weekly reading plans, we’re going to break it down into parts. This week we look at what it means to cry out to God to bring about His kingdom.

What is Jesus getting at here? God has a kingdom. Or maybe better, a reign. God has a reign. God does reign, but God’s reign is not yet realized over all people and places. Things are still happening counter to His kingdom and reign. The world is not right, nor as God wants it to be. People are not right, not as God wants them to be. The one in control does not see all things happening according to His will and wishes.

Jesus assumes something greater is coming. That there is a greater purpose and hope. God is up to something. He’s got a plan. He’s playing the long-game of history and bringing about something He’s intended. A kingdom.

Some people assume that this is all there is. That what we experience now is all there ever was or all there ever will be. No sense of objective truth or standard. No ideal. No transcendent hope. Nothing qualitatively different. Jesus has a different idea. He says this world is going somewhere. So we assume it’s going somewhere. And in this prayer Jesus tells us to pray with urgency. “God, get on with it!” Your kingdom come.

Consider this today…

How do you imagine God’s kingdom? What are some examples of it in the Bible? What parts of it are you hoping for?