5 Things God Wants You to Know About the Lord’s Prayer Chikamu

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven....

Following the opening line recognizing God’s holiness, Jesus teaches us to pray for the arrival of God’s kingdom: that things on earth go as they do in heaven.

What exactly is Jesus referring to here? What does it mean for God’s kingdom to come to earth?

Throughout the gospel of Matthew, there are more than 50 references to the kingdom of God, also known as the kingdom of heaven. Jesus often explains this kingdom through parables, illustrating how God will ultimately separate good from evil at the end of times.

The kingdom of God is a spiritual domain comprising those who accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. It involves willingly surrendering to the ways of this world and wholeheartedly following the teachings of Jesus, even though that can be difficult at times:

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.– Matthew 7:13-14

By following Jesus, and proclaiming the gospel throughout our lives, others may also follow, and we help build the kingdom of God. This is God’s will for our lives – serving in this way and glorifying Him, just as is proclaimed in both the teachings of Jesus and the Apostle Paul:

Let your light so shine among men that they may see your good deeds and give glory to your Father in heaven. – Matthew 5:16

Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God – 1 Corinthians 10:31

Jesus’s second line of the Lord’s Prayer teaches us to pray for God’s kingdom to come, and work to bring that to earth in our lives.

But some of us have lost the plot on this one too, right?

We think that life is about us, building our “kingdoms” through personal and business success, following some strategy of continuous improvement to “be all that we can be.”

But this is not at all what the Bible teaches, is it? It is about building God’s kingdom, doing His will, glorifying and honoring Him – not ourselves.

Once again, turn to the wise words of Paul:

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. – Romans 12:2

The pattern of this world – looking out for ourselves as #1 – is not at all what God calls us to. The world’s standard of raising ourselves and our families up to “live the good life” is not what Jesus teaches, is it?

Can you identify an area where you may have fallen away from God’s master plan and instead substituted the “pattern of this world”? Make note and pray for forgiveness, and that you would be able to “test and approve what God’s will is” for your life.