Your Kingdom Come

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:9-10)

What I control and where I exert my will is my kingdom.   Our kingdoms take many shapes and forms and represent areas in our lives that have not been surrendered to God.  Some seem harmless enough while others are dark and evil.  We all have them.  

For so many years I often passed by the Lord’s Prayer and the phrase “your kingdom come”.  I was even told in my younger years the Lord’s Prayer wasn’t relevant because the church as God’s kingdom had already come.  Certainly the church is God’s kingdom, yet this prayer speaks to more than the church itself and there is so much more here.  It is a prayer for all of us for all time that recognizes the spiritual battle between my will and God’s will.  When I choose God’s will over my will, God’s kingdom is evidenced in that moment.  As simple as being gentle or harsh with my children, or as sinister as the choice for purity or pornography God’s kingdom and my kingdom are at odds.  

The good news is Jesus knows this battle because he fought it himself.  In the wilderness, in the garden, on the cross he faced the temptation of choosing self rather than God’s will.   The details and description of Jesus in the garden just prior to his death gives us one of the most intimate insights into his human heart.   Knowing what was coming and how awful and terrible it would be, a son to his father, Jesus cries out in grief and agony.  

“My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.”

Whether only a second or many anguished minutes later Jesus recalls and recites the prayer he shared with his disciples early in his ministry “Your kingdom come, Your will be done” and finishes his prayer.

“Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Matthew 26:39

In surrendering his will to the will of God the fierce battle, with our souls in the balance, is won.  God’s kingdom comes. 

I pray the Lord’s Prayer almost every day.  It has become a source of comfort and strength and continues to reveal more there than I will ever comprehend.   In closing his prayer Jesus shows we are to call on God Almighty to fight against Satan’s temptation for us to choose our kingdoms, our power, and our glory over His.

“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one, for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”  Matthew 6:13

What will you choose?

Be the same, be different?
Be the greatest, be the least?
Be first, be last?
Choose self, choose others?
Fight, surrender?
Love friends, love enemies?
What I want, what You want?
Pursue happiness, pursue holiness?
My will, Your will?
Save my life, lose my life?
My kingdom, Your kingdom?

Lord help me hold nothing back from You.  Help me totally surrender everything to You.  In my weakest moments may your prayer come to my lips.  In Jesus name.  Amen. 

Scotty Elston
Shallowater, Texas