"Pray then like this: 'Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name. Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven."
What comes to mind when you hear the word "kingdom?" For me, my mind almost immediately envisions the Disney castle, or images of King Arthur and his knights of Camelot begin to gallop through my imagination.
Castles, kings, queens, heroes and dragons are fun, and they indeed speak to some grand story we all know we're a part of, but for the purpose of understanding Jesus's prayer, these pictures might be a hindrance to us. A kingdom may have a castle, would indeed have a king, but it's important that we understand that a kingdom is much more than a castle, or the subjects that live there. A kingdom isn't primarily a place. A kingdom is a realm. A kingdom is a domain. A kingdom is the unrivalled reach of a power's authority. A kingdom is the dominion, the expanse of the rule of a ruler.
Why is it important that we understand the word "kingdom?" Because the heart of the Lord's prayer is that a Kingdom would "come on," or to earth, or in the earth, "as it is in Heaven." The Kingdom Jesus is pointing us to is The Kingdom of God.
According to Jesus, God is a king, who's Kingdom is fully established in Heaven, (it is in Heaven), and his desire is that his Kingdom be established fully on earth the same way.
When we pray "thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven," we are aligning ourselves with the full force and desire of God, the creator and ruler of everything, that His rule and reign be all over the earth, as it is in Heaven. When pray this prayer, it's the cry to bring the order of the Maker into our lived reality.
This prayer is exactly what Jesus came to accomplish. Jesus came to bring God's Kingdom to the earth, to claim His rule and reign back from the enemy forces of Satan, sin and death that contiue to wreak chaos, havoc, dissapointment, destruction and death.
When Jesus calls us to pray "the Kingdom come," we are reconnecting ourselves, and subsequently, everything we come into contact with back to our original union with God that was undone through sin. It is reclaiming Kingdom of God space. It is expanding His dominion back to where it belongs, and back to which it was designed to bring true and fulfilling, everlasting life.
Today, as you pray the Kingdom come, yeild your whole self to God. Pray, "God, may your Kingdom come on earth (every part of the earth that I have dominion over)." May you rule and reign over my body, my mind, my family, my relationships, my business, my past, my present, my future, my community, my church, and everythings else." Pray, "God, your Kingdom invade every part of me."
When we pray this prayer, we are aligning ourselves with an eternal, unstoppable, everlasting, overwhelming, joy-giving, life-bringing, death-defying, sin cleansing, hell destroying force, the rule and reign of King Jesus.
May His Kingdom come in your life today, as it is in Heaven.
"This, then, is how you should pray:
"'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.'" Matthew 6:9-13