The Prayer That Turns The World Upside DownSýnishorn

     We long for revolution. Something within us cries out that the world is horribly   broken and must be fixed. For centuries, the word revolution was scarcely heard, buried under ages of oppression. The word itself was feared and speaking it was treason. And then, revolutions seemed to appear almost everywhere.
 

    Some historians have gone so far as to identify our modern epoch as “The Age of Revolution.” Is it? Perhaps it is more accurate to refer to our times as “The Age of Failed Revolution.” Looking across the landscape it becomes clear that very few revolutions produce what they promise. Arguably, most revolutions lead to a worse set of conditions than they replaced.
 

    And yet, we still yearn for radical change, for things to be made right. We rightly long to see righteousness and truth and justice prevail. We are actually desperate for what no earthly revolution can produce. We long for the kingdom of God, and for Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords. We are looking for a kingdom that will never end and a King whose rule is perfect.
 

    This is why Christians pray the Lord’s Prayer. As we will see, this is the very prayer that Jesus taught his own disciples to pray. So Christians pray this prayer as a way of learning how to pray and what to pray—as Jesus teaches us to pray.
 

    The Lord’s Prayer is the prayer that turns the world upside down. Are you looking for revolution? There is no clearer call to revolution than when we pray “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” But this is a revolution only God can bring . . . and he will.
 

    This short prayer turns the world upside down. Principalities and powers hear their fall. Dictators are told their time is up. Might will indeed be made right, and truth and justice will prevail. The kingdoms of this world will all pass, giving way to the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ.
 

    It all comes down to one of the shortest prayers found in the Bible. The Lord’s Prayer takes less than twenty seconds to read aloud, but it takes a lifetime to learn. Sadly, most Christians rush through the prayer without learning it—but that is to miss the point completely.