Your kingdom come

Have you ever wondered why things don’t always work out as they should and why bad things happen to good people? We often find it difficult to understand when we serve a God of love and mercy, who does not will that any man should perish. However, this world is full of influences to distract, delay and derail the will of God.

Jesus instructed us to pray in a very specific way. He said to pray for God’s will to be done on earth in the same way it is done in heaven.

Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.  – Matthew 6:11

This is a wonderful privilege which Jesus gave to those who believe in Him. We get to pray for the kingdom and will of God to come down from heaven and impact the earth. Here now on earth is the kingdom of men, temporarily influenced by Satan. This is the world we live in and why we battle with so many things. But even now, we have the right to call down the kingdom of heaven into any situation on earth.

In praying this, we also acknowledge that there is a kingdom and every kingdom must have a king. Our king has a sovereign will, which is unchanged by our desire to go against it. He does not want us to fall to sin and go against His will for our lives, but He does not force His will on us and is patient toward us.

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. – 2 Peter 3:9

God wants His will to be done as an act of obedience through those who follow Him. How is that done? We need to look at how the angels do Gods will. The angels do the will of His command. He commands the angels and they do it. This is not the sovereign will, it is the command. We humans don’t like obeying commands like the angels do.

Jesus prayed for His fathers will to be done in the garden of Gethsemane, just before He went to the cross.

He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”  – Matthew 26:39

Our prayer should always be that God’s will and purpose is done, no matter how it impacts us now. Jesus had to endure great hardship to bring about the completion of God’s will for mankind. The pain of the cross was so tough that even Christ who understood His purpose, prayed for it to be taken away if it were possible. But He endured the pain of the cross to bring great joy to us, in full obedience to the fathers will.

There is no sin in heaven, so nothing stands in the way of God’s will being done.  There is no doubt or questioning of His will or intention, so it is done swiftly. There are no forces of evil to limit the extent of God’s will or trying to take away the benefits of it, so the fullness of Gods intention is experienced. This is what we look forward to when we pray for God’s will to be done. That here on earth, we would see the will of God without question, with no limitation, without delay and fully protected so that we have all the benefits of His perfect will for our lives.

That’s what we are praying for when we say “your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. We pray that the will of God should be done among us on earth in the exact same way as the commanded will of God is carried out by the angels in heaven. It’s the kind of prayer which God loves to answer.

We get to see a little of the kingdom of heaven here on earth, when we submit to God’s commanded will to be done in our lives today. As we endeavour to walk in total obedience to God, knowing that He has the very best intention for us, then we will see a little of His kingdom and His will being done on earth as it is in heaven.