Matthew 6:10 CSB “Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.”
How many times have we recited that verse?
What does it actually mean?
How many of you have ever walked along the beach, picked up a seashell, and brought it home? We do that because 1. the shell is beautiful or unique 2. Because we want to have a bit of the beach around us when we leave or 3. The shell is a reminder, or souvenir, of the time we spent there.
Many years ago, I worked with a woman who loved the beach. She didn’t have to tell me she loved the beach, but it was obvious.
She was the receptionist in our Finance Department and her desk sat behind this long half wall that was topped with a wide ledge. You can probably imagine what filled that ledge. Seashells as well as small bottles of sand! She told me one day that she always brought home a shell anytime she went to the beach. She’d write on the bottom the date she picked it up and the beach from where it came.
It was her desire to share her beach souvenirs with those who came into her office so she had them all out on display. Of course, she said her home also had quite the collection, but bringing the seashells to work and sharing them was special to her.
It’s been a long time since I entered Joan’s office to see her sitting behind her array of souvenir seashells and catching a faint smell of salty water, but I still think of her when I see a seashell collection.
When we pray, do you realize that we go to the throne of God? We are transported to His presence. Have you ever thought about the fact that God never wants us to leave His throne empty-handed? He intends that we never end a prayer without a souvenir of our time with Him?
Let me explain.
After spending time with God, we should walk away with something as a reminder of our time with Him. Perhaps it’s a souvenir of peace, grace, patience, understanding, forgiveness, or unconditional love. Maybe it’s an answer, a direction, an assignment, or clarity. The bottom line is that we should never leave His presence without remembering our time with Him.
We’re going to work with our verse today backward. We’ll start at the end and work back to the beginning.
“On earth as it is in heaven.”
Think for a moment of the difference between earth and heaven. What’s the one word that comes to mind? Sin. All of the other differences you can name have their origin in sin. Hatred, idolatry, sickness, death, disobedience, fear, anxiety, selfishness – all go back to the root of sin.
Now, think for a moment about the similarities between earth and heaven. Love, worship of God, thankfulness, obedience, peacefulness, caring for one another, selflessness, grace, and joy. In other words, there are lot of heavenly qualities that we experience here on earth.
What kind of souvenirs would you get from this prayer?
Psalm 51:7 NLT “Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.”
Purification, righteousness, holiness, forgiveness, newness of life. The list goes on.
As a result of these prayer souvenirs, would you agree that God’s will would become more evident in your life here on earth?
I hope that our study in Experiencing God still resonates with you on a daily basis. It does for me. This is one of Dr. Blackaby’s quotes from Experiencing God. “God created you for a love relationship with Himself. He yearns for you to love Him. The call to relationship is also a call to be on mission with Him. If you want to know God’s will, you must respond to His invitation to love Him wholeheartedly. God works through those He loves to carry out His kingdom purposes in the world.”[i]
So, working backwards on this verse, Jesus tells us to pray that things that are done in heaven also be done here on earth. First is God’s will. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Consider this for a moment. Is God’s will in heaven ever disrupted, delayed, or ignored? No! In fact, the entire heavenly realm has God’s will as the only task on their agenda. Anything they set out to do or accomplish is in line with God’s will. They don’t barter, they don’t complain. They don’t question or try to compromise. They don’t cite the reasons why they can’t do what He’s requesting. They simply respond in worshipful obedience.
What Jesus instructs us to pray is that we too would respond to God in worshipful obedience so that His will is carried out to completion. For that to happen, we have to set aside our own agenda, our own preferences, and our selfish desires. Remember: it’s not about you! It’s not about me! It’s about God and His plans, His purposes, and His ways.
Imagine for just a moment, if all of God’s children lived their lives on a daily basis working alongside God in fulfilling His will, how different would this world be?
A lot more like heaven. We would see more of God and His kingdom and less of the enemy and his sinful reign.
Every situation, decision, and choice can be viewed two different ways: its impact on you and its impact on God’s kingdom. That should change our response, but it often doesn’t.
“When all is said and done, most of us from our earliest childhood believe that we are the king of our own castle. We determine our own destinies; we arrange our own affairs; we govern our own lives. We become supreme specialists in selfish, self-centered living where all of life revolves around the epicenter of me, I, mine.”[ii]
Would it surprise to know that Jesus spoke more about the Kingdom of heaven than He did any other topic?[iii]
Just in the Sermon on the Mount, listen to some of the instances where Jesus mentions the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:3 NIV “3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 5:10 NIV “10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 5:19 NIV “19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 6:33 NIV “33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
“The phrase “Kingdom of God” (also “Kingdom of Heaven” or “Kingdom of Light”) appears more than 80 times in the New Testament. Most of these references occur in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. “ “The central theme of Jesus Christ’s preaching was the Kingdom of God.”[iv]
This begs the question: What is the kingdom of God? The answer is two-fold.
Take a look at Acts 1:3 CEV “3 For 40 days after Jesus had suffered and died, he proved in many ways that he had been raised from death. He appeared to his apostles and spoke to them about God’s kingdom.”
This is after the crucifixion, after the resurrection, and Jesus is about to ascend to heaven. What does He speak to them about? Now, look at verse 6 of Acts 1. What do the apostles ask of Him? “Lord, are you restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?” (Acts 1:6 CSB)
“One of the truths the disciples can’t comprehend quite yet (John 16:12) is that the kingdom of God is more than just Israel gaining independence from Rome and being a sovereign nation again. The kingdom of God includes the restoration of the hearts of His followers (Ezekiel 36:26) from every tribe and nation (Revelation 7:9). The disciples are worried about when Jesus’ kingdom will come; Jesus wants them to concern themselves with who will be in that kingdom.”[v]
Christ followers at that time were looking for a physical kingdom. A brick and mortar kingdom. That will come one day.
Revelation 11:15 HCSB “15 The seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying:
The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom
of our Lord and of His Messiah,
and He will reign forever and ever!
16 The 24 elders, who were seated before God on their thrones, fell facedown and worshiped God, 17 saying:
We thank You, Lord God, the Almighty,
who is and who was,[o]
because You have taken Your great power
and have begun to reign.”
‘Thy kingdom come’ is akin to the scripture found in Revelation 22:20 CEV “The one who has spoken these things says, “I am coming soon!” So, Lord Jesus, please come soon!” It’s an urgent petition for Jesus to return and start the process of reigning over the earth.
But another meaning to ‘Thy kingdom comes’ which is relevant to all generations is simply God’s people, doing what God desires, when God chooses, how God instructs it to be done, where God determines and doing it, and the why boils down to the fact that He is our Lord!
Luke 17:20 NRSVUE “20 Once Jesus[a] was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, “The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed, 21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among[b] you.”
So you see, praying “Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven” isn’t merely a passive request. It should be our responsible response to His commission.
Asking for God’s kingdom to come is to pray for God’s authority in your life. Asking for God’s will to be done is submitting to the missions He calls you to join Him in.
This prayer acknowledges our responsibility to represent the kingdom of God to the rest of humankind on the planet earth. God’s kingdom impacts us personally and well as worldwide.
Albert Schweitzer once said, “There can be no Kingdom of God in the world without the Kingdom of God in our hearts.”
“You’re a part of the same adventure—the narrative of God’s kingdom. Wherever you are, the story’s about Him. It’s not about you. And because it’s God’s story, you can be sure He has a plan for where you are right now. He’s doing something in you or through you for His purposes. God is always at work around you. Even if you don’t understand, trust the One who says: “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. ISAIAH 55:9”[vi]
It is fruitless to pray for God’s kingdom to come and His will to be done “unless we fully intend to cooperate with the establishment of God’s government in our lives.”ii
The souvenirs we get from praying this prayer with a willing heart are endless. Obedience, aligning our goals with His, fewer missed opportunities, deepening our relationship with Him. And guess what? Those souvenirs are then evident to those who encounter us. When we give God control of our lives, the blessings overflow. May the souvenirs of our prayers be just as visible and pleasing as Joan’s seashells.
I use AI to generate a lot of my pictures. I don’t know why the word “forgiveness” was displayed twice. Perhaps you, like me, need a reminder to be more forgiving while representing the Kingdom of God. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)
[i] Henry Blackaby, Experiencing God (2006 edition)
[ii] W. Phillip Keller, A Layman Looks at the Lord’s Prayer
[iii] What Did Jesus Preach About The Most? – Christian Website
[iv] What Is the Kingdom of God, According to the Bible?
Beacons of Light 