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Lord’s Prayer, Part 2
(This study was written by Jason Coker as part of our prayer journeywith Ikon Community)
Yesterday, according to Jesus’ instructions, we learned to begin prayer by honoring God as our good and powerful Father and remembering how he continually cares for us. Today, in Matthew 6:10, Jesus teaches us to pray as revolutionaries:
“Your kingdom come,
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.”This portion of Jesus’ prayer resembles classic Hebrew poetry, where two parallel lines interpret and explain one another other.
“Your kingdom come, your will be done”
Christians talk quite a bit about “The Kingdom of God” and its coming, and for good reason – the “kingdom of God” or the “kingdom of heaven” was Jesus’ central gospel message. This portion of the prayer teaches us what the kingdom of God actually is: the place where his will is being done.“On earth as it is in heaven”
Jesus follows up the theological lesson on the kingdom with this startling line where we are taught to pray for God’s kingdom to come on earth. Jesus is teaching that in prayer we are to think of the ways in which God’s will is not being done on earth, and pray that his powerful rule would come to those situations.This brings up some disturbing questions: Doesn’t God always get His way? Isn’t He in control? If so, why would Jesus teach us to pray that His will would come about and what do our prayers have to do with God’s power coming to earth?
And yet, this is how Jesus teaches us to pray. Take some time to do so now.
Prayer Exercise
Find time to pray alone and uninterrupted for at least 15 minutes. Pray this portion of the Lord’s prayer several times, allowing it to sink into your heart. Meditate on the words. Then, ask yourself: where is God’s will not being done in your life, in your city, in the world? Imagine how those situations would be different if God were getting His way. Pray for that.
Mervin said...
1It’s been said that God’s will is very simple: love God and love your neighbor. If so, then the key to bringing God’s kingdom to bear is to continually ask myself, “How can I do God’s will in this particular situation? Are my actions showing how much I love God? Are my actions demonstrating love to my neighbor.” Easy to say; not so easy to live out. So, maybe the prayer is not to get God to act, but rather to ask for His help so that I can act.
01/5/10 9:38 PM | Comment Link
Jason Coker said...
2Very well said Mervin!
I think such prayers are part of God helping us to act, partly by getting us to engage our imaginations in the task of seeing. When we thoughtfully pray, “Your Kingdom come your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” it requires us to imagine what they can, does, and doesn’t look like. If you can’t see it, you can’t do it.
01/11/10 11:20 AM | Comment Link