Maranatha!

Your kingdom come. Matt 6:10

We are spending some time going through what is known as the “The Lord’s Prayer”. Actually a better title would be “The Disciple’s Prayer,”  as this prayer is Jesus’s model for His disciples to pray. The prayer is broken down into six requests. The last three requests are in regards to our needs (i.e. give us this day our daily bread), but the first three are in regards to God, His glory, and His kingdom. Today we will look at the second request: “Your kingdom come.”

A few days ago I heard another pastor explain that one of the reasons Christians struggle today is because pastors have stopped preaching on Heaven. We have made it all about your “ Your Best Life Now.” This is not in line with Biblical doctrine. The Bible teaches that, though the Lord does bless us in this life, the ultimate hope for the Christian lies in what is ahead.  This is such the case that the Apostle Paul wrote “19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.” (1 Cor. 15:19) So how does removing the hope of Heaven from our teaching cause Christians to struggle? Christians struggle with this because in this life we face many hardships and even endure persecution for the name of Christ. The motivation the Bible gives those Christ Jesus to press on through these trials is ultimately the return of our King.  If you take future glory out of view, and make everything about the here and now, believers can get discouraged and have trouble pressing on. The Apostle Paul was motivated to “run for the prize” That prize was not a new Mercedes, it was an imperishable crown that he would receive in Heaven (1 Cor. 9:24-27).  If we take away “kingdom come”, we take away the finish line and tell believers to just run for the sake of running.

 

When we pray “Your kingdom come”, we are praying come Lord Jesus come!   When we pray this, we set our minds attention and our hearts affection on the return of Jesus. As Christians, we are supposed to be in anticipation of Christ’s return. It is interesting to think that so much of our prayers solely focus on issues that will be irrelevant when Jesus comes back. 

As Christians we should turn our thoughts back to the hope and anticipation of Jesus’s return. Starting your prayer time by praying “Lord Jesus come back and reign! or “Lord Jesus return for your bride!“  is a good way to direct your  heart and focus on His return. Again, this is the focus of the Book. If you don’t believe me turn to the last page where the King says“20 “‘Surely I am coming quickly.” (Rev. 22) Come Lord Jesus come!