May it come – thy kingdom, Let it be done – thy will. Again we look at a part of the Lord’s Prayer that speaks of God and calls us to fall in with him. Last week I talked (at some length) about the nature of prayer, and reminded us that these are not merely words to be recited but a prayer to be lived. God’s kingdom must come, his will must be done, but Jesus asks us to pray for it. Just as to ask for God’s name to be hallowed calls for us to live holy lives, so if we pray for God’s kingdom and will, we are calling for us to live obedient lives.
Jesus spent his life announcing and bringing in the kingdom of his Father.
At key points Jesus demonstrated that he was utterly determined to do only the will of his Father in heaven Thus he was baptised to fulfil all righteousness, in accordance with his Father’s will. In John 8 we read 28 So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. 29 The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” On one occasion he reveals his own wishes about how a particular situation might turn out, but makes it clear that he is interested only in his Father’s will; thus in Luke 22 he prays: 42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” The writer to the Hebrews explains that Jesus saw himself as fulfilling the prophecy in Psalm 40: Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, my God.’” (Hebrews 10:7). This last is a reference to an obscure piece of Old Testament law, where Jesus seems to echo the words of the servant who is determined not to go free, but to remain in service, obedient to his master’s every wish. It is the undoing of Adam’s fatal desire for independent thought and action.
This is the prayer Jesus lived and breathed, and it is the prayer that he gave to us as well. It is the prayer we utter when we look at a world that seems so far from being under God’s control. Jesus, by his birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension has inaugurated the kingly rule of God on earth. Tom Wright says it is as if the researcher has discovered the wonder drug that will cure all diseases. It is as if the composer has produced the most sublime, transforming work of music. Only he could do this, and he has done it once, in history, and the whole world has been changed. We come along afterwards, as the healers who will dispense the drug and bring healing, as the musicians who will play his music, and bring delight and transformation to others.
We pray also that God’s will and kingly rule will hold sway “on earth as it is in heaven”. This is not to wish for pie in the sky when we die! We Christians believe most firmly that God’s presence is to be felt throughout his creation. Just as the scriptures, the creeds and the tradition all affirm that we will be resurrected bodily in the next life, so they also affirm that God’s spiritual reign suffuses all of our created existence here on earth. Walter Wink calls heaven the transcendent “Within” of material reality. Because of this, we are set free to experience God opening up possibilities and making the impossible possible. We should expect to see God at work here on earth. More than that we long, we yearn to see illnesses cured, people blessed, righteous governments installed, wars ended, everyone with food and clothing and shelter. Jesus came to bring in the kingdom of God, but he also instructed us to pray for it; I believe we are being called to a deeper, more desperate level of prayer: how much does it matter to you that God’s will is done here in Camberley?
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. This is a prayer we can pray when we do not know what to do. There is a choice to be made, each alternative has much to commend it, we are unsure of our motives, and we try to let God know that we will be happy to fall in with whatever he sends us. It is the prayer that Jane and I prayed at the time of our interview before coming here.
This is the prayer that we pray when we are at a loss. We face a tragedy or circumstances so troubling that we cannot rationalise, comprehend or just cope with them. We are reduced to silence and trusting that God, our loving Father, will show us in time how these events are being worked together for good with everything else in his kingdom, and how his will is good and perfect.
This is the prayer that can lead us from the general to the specific. As we continually bring a person or a situation before God, and ask for his kingdom to come and his will to be done in them and for them, so we might feel his Spirit leading us to pray for some specific outcome or answer. We always do this in humility, longing only for our Father’s loving gracious will to be done.
This is the prayer that reminds us that we can never bring the kingdom in by ourselves. How often have well meaning Christian folk set off to transform a situation in their own strength? In nearly every case that we try this, we will at the very least waste our efforts, and most often cause great harm and lead God’s name into disrespect. This is how people have actually started wars in the name of the Prince of Peace.
This is a prayer that we can use as we seek to encounter God and grow in him. I am reading the works of John Burke, who has promoted the 60/60 Experiment. You may be familiar with Paul’s command to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17), and dismissed this as an impossibility. Burke has revisited the writings of Brother Lawrence, a monk in the 17C, and brought the concept up to date. Try to remember God at all times, he says, and of course you will fail; but keep trying and put up post-it notes to remind you, and notes under the fridge magnet. Most imaginatively, he suggests setting your watch or mobile phone to beep every hour, and remember God. Every hour, on the hour, wherever you are, thank God for his love, receive his forgiveness, be open to his leading, and in today’s context – pray for God’s kingdom to come and for his will to be done, right now, where you are. I think of the servant with the pierced ear, hovering by the doorpost (there are notes that explain this concept on the pink supplement).
Next week we turn from the prayers that are Godwards to the first of the prayers that Jesus tells us to pray for our own specific needs. In the meantime I encourage you to join me in praying for God’s kingdom to come and for his will to be done, one earth as it is in heaven.
Discussion Starters
1. Where do you feel closest to the kingdom of God, and where or when do you feel most distant?
2. What experiences have you had of seeking the will of God, and have there been times when you have felt that you have known it?
3. What situations that you are currently aware of, lead you to pray for God’s kingdom to come, his will to be done, here on earth, now?
4. What matters would you like others to join with you in prayer for? Why not join together in prayer right now? (Matthew 18:19,20)
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