These first verses in Luke 11 should remind us of theimportance and necessity of prayer in our lives! What we normally call “TheLord’s Prayer” is actually “The Pattern for Prayer” that the Lord gave to His disciplesin answer to their question, “Lord, teach us to pray…”. As we havealready noted the first thing we learn from it is that our prayers are verymuch connected to our relationship with God. He is not “our Heavenly Father”until we receive His Son, Jesus Christ, as our Lord and Savior.
Jesus Himself makes this very clear in John 14:6 in Hisgreat statement, “I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life! No man comes to theFather except through Me”. The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 2:5-6, “Forthere is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, whogave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time”. That is why weusually end our prayers with, “In Jesus name, I pray, Amen”. We are acknowledgingthe only access and right we have to pray and make our request to the Father,is because of Jesus and His work of redemption on the cross and Hisresurrection!
Our prayers begin with recognizing and honoring God’sposition in heaven as Sovereign Ruler over all things, and His holiness that isreflected and manifest by His name! After we worship God for Who He is, we areready to make our petitions to Him. But we should always remember that we canonly come into His presence by faith according to Hebrews 11:6, “But withoutfaith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe thatHe is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
Psalm 9:10 is a good reminder of this truth also: “Andthose who know Your name will put their trust in You; For You, LORD, have notforsaken those who seek You.” Wemust believe that we have a Heavenly Father Who keeps His promises!
The first petition involves praying “Your kingdom come”.When we pray this, we are recognizing that God is the ruler of our lives and thatHe owns everything. When God created Adam and Eve, He gave them “dominionover everything that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:26-28). This means thatGod gave them the authority to be His ruler under Him over everything on earth.But when Adam disobeyed God and sinned, in a sense, he handed the scepter ofthis rulership over to Satan. And the battle began between the kingdom of darknessand the Kingdom of Light, which is also called the “Kingdom of His dear Son” (Colossians1:13-18).
John the Baptist came “preaching the kingdom of heavenis at hand” as he announced that Jesus had arrived. Jesus first recordedmessage in Matthew 4:17 was, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”.Jesus the King, had arrived on planet Earth to take back His rightfulauthority through the cross and His resurrection. Jesus sent His disciples outpreaching about His kingdom. In the 40 days after His resurrection, in Acts1:3, Jesus spoke to His disciples of the “things pertaining to the Kingdomof God”. The book of Acts ends with the Apostle Paul in Rome “preachingthe kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ…”(Acts 28:31).
My friend, it really is all about the “Kingdom”! We areinvolved in “Kingdom Work” with the authority of Jesus Christ behind us!(Matthew 28:18-20). When we pray “Thy kingdom come,” we are recognizingthat God is the ruler of our lives that we have submitted and yielded to His authorityand ownership over our lives. We have given up the only right we have, and thatis the right to give up the right to ourselves as we surrender our all to theLord!
When we pray “Thy kingdom come” we are playing a vital rolein advancing God’s kingdom into this present world of darkness! I can’t thinkof anything more exciting to be a part of on planet Earth today!
Will you join thousands of others today in this great taskand pray this prayer and petition with us?
God bless!
