ON THE VANGUARD

YOUR KINGDOM AND WILL
“’your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.’”
Matthew 6:10

When I was in college I read a book by Larry Lea titled, Could You Not Tarry One Hour. The book was about the Lord’s Prayer, and how on the night Jesus was betrayed He found His disciples sleeping when He wanted them to be praying. Although it has been over fifteen years since I read the book, one passage still stands out to me each time I read or hear the Lord’s Prayer. He stated that instead of praying, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,” we should pray, “Come! Thy kingdom. Be done! Thy will.” As we look more into this passage today, maybe we will see more so what is meant by these words Jesus prayed, and maybe we will see this thought in the way Lea did.
After addressing God as Father, and praising His name, Jesus then instructs the disciples that the prayer should welcome in God’s kingdom and will, both in heaven and on earth. But is it safe to say we just read over these words without giving them any thought? If we make it a point to focus on these words, we first find the term ‘kingdom’. In the Greek this is BASILEIA, meaning royal power, dominion, or rule. This is not to be confused with an actual physical kingdom, but is more powerful. It is a power to rule over the physical. And the next word is ‘come’, which in the Greek is ERCHOMAI. This word is defined as the coming from one place to another, the arriving. In putting these words together, Jesus is teaching us to pray that this all powerful dominion of God should be welcomed from one place to another; from heaven to earth.
The next few words speak on God’s will being done. The term ‘will’ is the Greek word THELEMA, translated as what one wishes or has determined should be done, and more specifically what God wishes to be done by us. Merge this term with the term ‘be done’ and we get a little deeper understanding. ‘Be done’ is the Greek word GINOMAI, meaning to come into existence, happen, or begin to be. Looking at these words in context again, we read that Jesus was telling the disciples to pray God’s wishes come into existence. These two parts together, mixed with the words on “…earth as it is in heaven” show us that our prayer is for God’s royal power to be welcomed, and His desires come into existence on earth and heaven. In simple terms, these two should be manifest physically and spiritually.
So here is the kicker…are they? Is this our prayer when we pray these words? Are we allowing His kingdom to be welcomed? Are we allowing His power to arrive? And are we allowing His wishes to be moved on in our lives? I am reminded of Ephesians 5:10 where Paul states to find out what pleases the Lord. What pleases the Lord is when we do His will, and in order to do His will we must know His will. And in order to know His will we must ask Him His will. Prayer is the asking. It is not a time when we come only with our list of wants, but where we come to Him and question what He desires of us. Let us no longer get this confused and think of God as a buffet to pick from. Let us instead realize and pray God’s kingdom come, and God’s will be done. It is time our kingdom and our will take a back seat to what God wants to do physically and spiritually in and through us.