The Lord's Prayer: The PatternSample

It’s About Saying Yes

The word kingdom comes from two words–king and dominion–so a kingdom is literally a domain under a king or queen’s dominion. All the different monarchies in the world govern isolated territories, but God’s Kingdom extends beyond the realms of human rule and authority. It’s an astonishing privilege that we’re invited to pray for the extension of God’s reign on Earth as it is in heaven: Your Kingdom come; Your will be done!

In the prayer pattern Jesus gives His disciples, He first emphasizes the Father and His glory, and then He points to God’s Kingdom. As it was for Jesus, building God’s Kingdom should be central to our lives, and central to our conversations with God. This is because not only are we His beloved children, but we also represent His authority in the world. In His parables, Jesus compares God’s Kingdom to wheat, a mustard seed, or leaven–things that grow–and as we grow in our conversations with God, we’ll grow in our understanding and practice of surrendering to the King’s dominion.

Throughout His time on Earth, Jesus relentlessly surrendered Himself to His Father’s authority. After "Your Kingdom come," Jesus prayed, "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." A more literal translation of the original Greek would read, "Your will, let it come, let it come." That means, we’re not praying for God to make happen the things we want to happen. We’re not submitting to Him our selfish agenda. Rather, we’re praying, "Let it happen in my world as it happens in Yours." A. W. Tozer expressed this truth by saying, "Outside the will of God, there’s nothing I want. Inside the will of God, there’s nothing I fear." Towards the end of His life, Jesus asked His Father to alleviate His imminent, excruciating suffering. But then He said, "Yet I want Your will to be done, not Mine." (Luke 22:42) To pray as He prayed–so we can live as He lived–we need to guard against rebellion, resentment, and unhealthy independence. We need to guard against saying, "I won’t!" Rather, let’s be known as people who pray, "I will–whatever Your will is."

May you live with a growing awareness of God’s Kingdom and your role in seeing His Kingdom come in the lives of those around you. And as Jesus teaches you how to pray and the habit of prayer becomes more deeply entrenched in your life, may He grow in you a desire to do His will, His way, in His strength, and for His glory.