by Keith
Gardner
Matthew 6:9-13 “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. Forgive us our
debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’”
It has been thirty some years since high school. I played football and
before every game we would recite the Lord’s Prayer. In those days the Lord’s
Prayer was known by just about everyone; the Christian and the un-Christian
alike; today, not so much. For us familiar with these words they roll off of
the tongue with ease. Most of the time, the well-known refrain flies off of our
flapping lips without engaging the brain; it has been memorized. But lately
these often recited words have been bouncing in my head with my mouth shut
tight. There are two phrases in the Lord’s Prayer that have particularly caught
my imagination. Those phrases are: “your kingdom come” and “your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven”. I am gripped by what Jesus might have meant by
these statements.
First, a little perspective; Jesus’ ministry years
were short, about three. There was a lot to be done during this short span of
time, and He did not waste any of it. His time was spent in meaningful
activities, and His words were well chosen. Each day was a new lesson to His
disciples, and each word was an applicable instruction. These few men were the
future of the movement, and there was much to learn.
At the heart of the Lord’s Prayer is our opportunity
to engage the Father in the most meaningful way. We know from the book of
Revelation that a time is coming when the government of men will end and a new
kingdom will be established. Jerusalem
will be the capital and Jesus will be the sole ruler. We, as followers of
Jesus, are the advance men of that kingdom. Jesus in His instructions to His
disciples taught that the kingdom
of God was coming and is
now here. Jesus brought this kingdom with Him, and He left it with His
disciples to continue His work. Within the kingdom are the intentions of the
Father. Jesus said “if you have seen me you have seen the Father”. His time in
prayer was to know the heart of God. It is in that knowing that the kingdom is
advanced. We must know the heart of God to advance His kingdom.
The other phrase, like the last, is about knowing
the heart of the Father. “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” The
ideas of heaven on earth began with Jesus’ ministry. When Jesus read the
scripture in His local synagogue He declared His Fathers intentions; to bring
deliverance and healing. The will of Heaven is to fix what was broken on that
day that Adam and Eve chose to eat from that forbidden tree. When Jesus’
government is established the brokenness will be fixed in mass. Our now
responsibility, is to establish the kingdom
of God ; one life at a
time.
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