“May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10 NLT).
That which is called the “Lord’s Prayer” might rightly be called the Lord’s teaching prayer or model prayer, for He gives it to us to teach us how to pray. Even the order of the prayer should be considered as we learn to pray. Notice He teaches us to begin with God’s Name and holiness (“Our Father in heaven, holy is Your name”), then moves to request God’s will to take place above our own requests.
We tend always to rush to our daily worries, bringing our laundry lists to God before recognizing Him in worship and asking for His will before ours. We see prayer as getting what we want from God, rather than God getting His will with us. Who should be changed by coming into God’s throne room? Do we inform God of needs we have of which He is unaware? No. He knows our deepest needs before we do. Jesus teaches us to pray in order to seek God’s face before seeking His hand. Having seen His face, we may even find our deepest needs already met there.
Have you learned to pray in order to come into God’s presence, to see His face, to hear His voice, to be the one who is changed? Have you learned to pray “Thy” Kingdom come, instead of “my” kingdom come prayers?
PRAYER: Dear Father, we praise Your holy name. For You are our God and we worship You. May Your will be done in this world today. Let it begin in us. Expose to us those places where we are contrary to Your will that we might repent. Forgive us. Strengthen us to both want Your will and to do Your will. In Jesus’ name, amen.