A little boy was playing with his French fries, dipping one end of a fry into the ketchup then waving it like a baton in front of an imaginary marching band. Mom was gone for the day and so he and his father were enjoying a special moment together at a near by McDonald’s. The little boy seemed more interested in playing with his French fries than eating them.
“Eat your French fries…” the father coaxed, but the son just kept waving his French fry baton as the band played on. Now there was nothing planned for the afternoon, so the dad decided to just watch his son for a while. Then without even really thinking about it, the dad reached over and took one of the French fries out of its carton to munch on. Suddenly and to his utter astonishment, the little boy shouted “NO!” and slapped at his fathers hand.
With a combination of shock and disbelief, the father said, “that’s not nice; you shouldn’t treat people that way”. Then as if he didn’t even hear it, the little boy went back to leading his make-believe band.
The thoughts going through this father’s mind ranged anywhere from anger to sadness. “Wait a minute” he thought, “I bought those fries and I can have one if I want too!” But the father just sat back pondering and wondering what the future held for he and his son.
We sometimes can be like this little boy when it comes to our Heavenly Father. How often has He reached over to take one of our French fries and we’ve slapped his hand and shouted “No!” only to go on and do that which is most important to us.
The question of the little boy and his father is a question about our Heavenly Father and us, His children.
“Who owns the French fries?”
When we pray, “Thy kingdom come,” as part of the Lord’s Prayer, we are relinquishing more than French fries, we are recognizing that God is the ruler of our lives. That He owns the French fries.
When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we first pray, “our Father who art in heaven.” We’re recognizing that God is our Father who is close and intimate and who cares for us.
However, when we pray, “Thy kingdom come,” we’re taking it a step further to a whole new level of relationship. We’re also recognizing that God is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And as King, He has a plan for our life and desires to rule our life with His Kingdom’s principles for His purpose.
Without this understanding, we cannot rightly pray the Lord’s Prayer, because in order to rightly pray it we need to know several things.
1.God is Our Ruler-King
What do people expect from a king? I know this is hard for those of us who live in a democratic society and vote in our elected leaders. In fact the Constitution of the United States begins with “We the people.” People in a democracy rule themselves. We have:
• The legislative branch of government, (the Congress), that determines the rules we live by.
• The judicial branch, (our courts and judges), who interpret and apply the law to specific cases.
• The executive branch, (the president and his cabinet), who administers government.
But as Christians, we also live under God, who is a King.
David said, You are my King and my God Ps 44:4. And just as our American democracy is ruled by three branches of government, God rules His kingdom.
• He determines the rules on earth and heaven.
• He judges those who break His rules and rewards those who keep them.
• He is the Executive Administer of His Kingdom.
Therefore, when we pray “Thy kingdom come,” we are first and foremost inviting God to rule in our hearts by His principles. Secondly, we are acknowledging and submitting to the fact that we have chosen to live in the kingdom God rules.
2. God rules the kingdom in which we live as Christians
The rule of God on earth is called “The Kingdom of God”. Not everyone is a member of this kingdom, because you must join the kingdom and pledge allegiance to the King. People enter the kingdom when they are “born again”. Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. John 3:3 Spiritual new birth is a prerequisite for admission into the Kingdom of God.
As a result of this new birth, we have become pilgrims, sojourners, which essentially means that we are passing through this world. In that great prayer of Jesus, the ‘real” Lord’s Prayer if you will in John 17, Jesus prayed: 14I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.
As Christians, we live in two worlds, two kingdoms. We are US citizens and subject to the laws of our nation, but we are also citizens of the kingdom of God and we live by God’s rules, His standards and His decrees as articulated by His Word. Our church’s statement of faith for instance say; “The Word of God is our final authority in all matters of faith and practice”. In essence, what that is saying is that we play by God’s Kingdom rules.
When we pray, “Thy Kingdom come” we are saying, I have signed up and intend to the best of my ability to acknowledge God as my King and to follow His rules. However, we must also realize that
3. God’s Kingdom does not fully exist in the present
This concept of the present and yet future Kingdom of God has baffled many believers and has evoked a great deal of doctrinal discussion. So let me attempt to untangle it a bit and give you a cursory look at it.
a. Even in the time of Jesus, His disciples had difficulty comprehending the Kingdom of God. Most of them were sure that it refered to an earthly kingdom that Jesus would establish. Israel was weary of the abuses under rigid Roman rule and they were convinced that Jesus was their new deliverer who would use His supernatural power and might to overthrow their oppressors. With this in mind, it is no wonder that the disciples struggled so deeply with their Deliverer, their Messiah’s criminal death on a cross. How would the Kingdom come?
b. Even John the Baptist, despite his enormous spiritual insight had trouble comprehending the Kingdom of God. From his prison cell in Herod’s dungeon he sent his disciples to discover whether Jesus was the coming King. Luke 7:19 he sent them (his disciples) to the Lord to ask, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" 20When the men came to Jesus, they said, "John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, ’Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?’ "
Again and again, John had fearlessly proclaimed, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." Mt. 3:2
c. There is the understanding that the Kingdom of God is a future, divine dynasty to be established on earth when Jesus returns in all His glory at the Second Coming.
Rev. 11: 15The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ,
All these views have their place in the time continuum of God. Jesus is our deliverer, His Kingdom is here and He is coming again to establish His Kingdom. However, in light of these truths, when Jesus taught His disciples to pray, “Thy Kingdom come”, He was not only thinking of His Messianic Kingdom’s rule, He was thinking of establishing His Kingship and its rule in their lives.
When we pray “Thy Kingdom come”, we are asking God’s Kingdom rule to reign supremely in our lives. And though these three words are prayed by millions of people regularly, there are many who have no intention of having it happen.
To pray “Thy Kingdom come” means that we are abdicating the throne of our wills and desires to the King.
When we pray “Thy Kingdom come” we are surrendering our control, our sovereignty, our independence, and our wants to the expressed will of God.
Therefore, be careful what you pray for. If you pray “Thy Kingdom come” and you have no intention of having that happen, you are actually putting yourself at odds with God.
By praying this, you are asking God to rule in your life. But if you don’t want Him to rule in your life your, you will more than likely experience a tremendous confrontation as His divine sovereignty clashes with you self-will.
The Apostle Paul knew this oh so well when he said;
Rom. 8:6 the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; 7the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law,
The basic difference between a defeated, dismal Christian and a vibrant, victorious Christian lies in whether or not God, by His Spirit, controls our life. If the King reigns in our life, and we relinquish control to Him, the transforming power of the Holy Spirit can work to bring about His goal and purpose to be ever-increasingly more like Christ.
And though God’s Kingdom is not fully in the present,
4. God’s Kingdom can come in the here and now
When we pray “Thy Kingdom come,” we are asking for something that is not yet here to come into existence. We are literally asking God’s kingdom to manifest itself in our lives, through our lives and in the world in which we live. We are asking God’s supernatural presence to display itself in the natural.
Some people pray “Thy Kingdom come” for many reasons:
• Some are racked with pain, are facing the end of life and ask God for a quick and painless death and so they pray “Thy Kingdom come”.
• Some are facing pressures at work. They’re miserable, don’t make enough money, don’t have enough energy or time to make up the difference so they pray “Thy Kingdom come”.
• Some are addicted to drugs, alcohol or some other snare and but they struggle with saying “No” to these and “yes” to the Lord, so they pray, “Thy kingdom come”.
• There are those who want God to rule in their lives. They’ve never been an addict, faced a deadly disease, nor struggled with employment. They just want to know the Lord better and so they pray “Thy Kingdom come.”
• There are some who have walked with Christ, have diligently opened their Bibles and fed on His Word. They have earnestly prayed and sought to apply Kingdom principles to their lives. They want His Kingdom to rule in their lives and so they’ve pray “Thy Kingdom come.”
The Lord’s Prayer encompasses all of us at any stage and in any situation. But it is up to us whether or not it comes to us and whether or not we reside in God’s Kingdom.
Now perhaps, the greatest purpose of the “Thy Kingdom come,” is the role that God has given to be Kingdom Builder.
The Lord tells us that we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works Ephesians 2:10
We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. 2 Cor. 5: 20
When we pray, “Thy Kingdom come”, we are not only sharing our French fries with the Lord, we are inviting Him to sit down and dine with us. We are asking Him to guide us, direct us and teach us. We are asking Him to lead us, coach us and mentor us. And as we continue to pray the Lord’s Prayer we begin to realize that He’s the One who invites us to His table to dine with Him and to share in the abundance that He has. We begin to understand that Our Father is also a benevolent King who desires for us to benefit from all that His Kingdom has to offer. We begin to see that His Kingdom offers us so much more than all we could ever ask or imagine.
Why? Because kingdom of God is within us." Lk. 17:21
