Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Introduction
As we come to look at the next phrase in our Lord’s prayer we need to remind ourselves just who it is we are praying to – the topic of last week’s sermon. We are praying to a God who is both intimate and infinite, our father in heaven. A God who knows and loves us intimately as a father loves his child and who at the same time is the mighty creator of all that exists. As we move on in to the prayer we are reminded of this with the first petition – it is not for ourselves or our own needs but that this “father in heaven” might achieve his purposes.
This is important as it sets our own petitions into context. I have often taught that forgiveness lies at the heart of the Lord’s prayer reflecting it’s central role in the Christian life however this opening petition is really at the heart of the prayer – all the other petitions flow from it – we ask for daily supplies, forgiveness, protection from evil so that we might see God’s kingdom come and his will be done. Given the centrality of this petition it is worth spending a bit of time studying it – what do we mean by the Kingdom of God and the will of God?
This could obviously be the topic for a whole series of sermons so we will go for the headlines today. The kingdom of God / Heaven was central to the teaching of Jesus. Virtually all the parables and much of the rest of his teaching focus on the Kingdom and He is central to it – the king of the kingdom.
Judgement
Growth
Present / future
Healing
Justice
Relationship with church
Salvation John 6:35-40
Sanctification 1Thess.4:3, Romans 12:1-2
This prayer is actually a very dangerous prayer – like the “I’ll go anywhere” prayer. If we pray this sincerely it has huge implications for us. If we truly desire to see God’s kingdom come and will be done then what are we doing about it? How are we aligning ourselves with God’s will and purposes.