Prayers for the End of the Age

The Bible gives us three prayers connected with the coming end of this age. The first is taken from the Lord’s Prayer. Jesus said, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).

The second prayer is a one-word term I learned early in life because I grew up using the King James Version of the Bible. The apostle Paul closed his first letter to the Corinthians with the word “Maranatha” (16:22 KJV), which is a direct English translation of a Greek word meaning, “O Lord, come!” It was Paul’s exclamatory request to heaven for the soon return of Jesus Christ to set up His kingdom.

Similarly, the third prayer and the final prayer of the Bible is Revelation 22:20: “Even so, come, Lord Jesus!”

How often have you looked toward heaven and offered these three prayers in recent weeks? They should be on our lips as we observe the troubling headlines of earth and come to mind when we face trials and temptations of all kinds. They should sound from our hearts whenever we see a beautiful sunrise and from our mouths as the sky explodes in color with the sun's setting.

We should always make these prayers very personal, especially when we say to the Lord, “Your will be done.” It’s gripping to notice how that phrase appears at the beginning and ending of our Lord’s ministry. In His inaugural sermon in Matthew 6, as we’ve seen, Jesus taught us to pray, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (v. 10). And amid blood and tears, He prayed on the last night of His natural life, “Nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:39).

Because Christ surrendered Himself to the Father’s will in Matthew 26, we can pray with confidence and anticipation these glorious prayers that point toward His coming Golden Age: “Maranatha! Even so, come, Lord Jesus! Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

If you want to start focusing on your future right now—and that of the whole world—then take a moment with me to pray this prayer:

Maranatha! Even so, come, Lord Jesus! Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.