Do We Really Want God's Kingdom?

We are told we should pray and probably feel like we may not pray enough but, did anyone give you a tutorial on prayer when you began your walk with Him? If not, you re not alone. Even the disciples of Rabbi Jesus looked for direction. Even if you think you have prayer down to an art, there are likely some things you can glean from these instructional verses found in Matthew 6. We looked a bit deeper into verse 9 recognizing the balance between God as Abba Father and the holiness of His name. What follows is probably the most difficult aspect of the Lord's instruction on prayer. It seems pretty safe on the surface. However, if we return it to the context of a Jewish rabbi speaking to his Jewish disciples and a whole lot of Jewish people on a hillside, we may find that it takes us where we do not want to go. Maybe it will give us some second thoughts about praying for God's kingdom to come.

Matthew 6:10 is as follows, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven"(KJV). Do you pray for God's kingdom to come? Would you like to be living in that kingdom now? There is a glorious future to be had when the Lord Messiah rules and reigns, but, what about today? Do you really want to be involved in Kingdom living today? The Jewish disciples were certainly interested in the Kingdom of God. They had waited for generations for Messiah, the anointed one of God, to come and establish that kingdom. Their hope was that this rabbi they followed was indeed the long anticipated deliverer. However, their expectation was that of an earthly kingdom where Messiah would rule with power and authority. Israel would have all of their promised land and would never be sub-servant to anyone ever again. They would be free from Roman tyranny and be the unrivaled world power. We also wait in expectation for that kingdom. We know that it will come, in God's time. So we are in agreement with those first century Jews up to this point. "Even so, come Lord Jesus" is a pretty good prayer in the light of the condition of the world today.

Kingdom living does have a few perimeters that the disciples understood as well. "Thy will be done" is a directive we should also place in context. The disciples and the Jews on the hillside know what God's will was. He had written it down for them back at Mount Sinai. It was known as Torah. It's application and consequences were recorded and exemplified in the Writings and the Prophets. God's will for His people was to follow His directions and instructions as to how best to live. These were God's commandments and directives. They were not suggestions or a list of things to pick and choose from. For the disciples to pray, "Thy will be done" was to express their desire to be obedient to Torah and obedient to all God had revealed concerning life and worship. God had not left them in the dark and unlike the gods and goddesses worshiped by the surrounding nations, God's directions were firm and consistent. They knew what God, their Heavenly Father, required of them.

This prayer for the application of God's Word and will was not just for the Jews but "on earth as it is in heaven". It iis to apply to the whole earth. God's will is always done in heaven, there in His dwelling place. His angelic messengers do what He tells them to do. There are times when God takes counsel from those in His heavenly court (see 1 Kings 22:19-22) however, His word is final. The disciples are instructed to pray that the will of God, obedience to His commandments and instructions, become world wide and followed without question. We know that a time is coming when Messiah will reign over all the earth. We also know that, at that time, His Word, meaning Torah, will be universally obeyed as well. Jeremiah 31:31-34 makes that clear. Having Torah written on everyone's hearts and in our minds is an aspect of His coming kingdom.

The question for us is what do we do with this now? Was this prayer just for the Jewish disciples and the Jews who listened to the words of Messiah? Do we really want to pray that God's will, revealed in Torah and God's Word, be obeyed in our lives and the lives of those that inhabit this planet? Perhaps, we can conclude that this is a prayer for life in the coming kingdom. "Thy will be done", as the disciples would have understood it can't possibly apply to believers today, can it? Or maybe God's will has changed. We are told the Law does not apply to those under grace. Now we just need to love God and love people like Jesus said in Matthew22:37-39. You know, where He quoted Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18. But, how do we know how to love God and people? Matthew 22:40 helps us out, these two commandments are a summary of Torah and the Prophets. We can find all the details as how to love God and people there. If it only applied to us.

The reality is we agree with most of those 613 directives the rabbis have found in the Law and the Prophets. Remove those directives given specifically to the Levites and those pesky dietary laws and we, as modern followers of Messiah, are in agreement far more often than we might think. If we applied just the basic Ten Commandments world wide this might be a nicer planet to live on. It might even feel a bit like heaven on earth. Maybe, "Thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" isn't such a bad prayer after all.