Day 3 - Pray for the Success of God’s Kingdom

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

Jesus gave us a model for prayer. It is called the Lord’s Prayer. He taught it as part of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:9-13) and also gave it to the disciples when they asked him to teach them to pray (Luke 11:1-4). One of the important things about the Lord’s Prayer is that it begins with a prayer for God’s kingdom and glory.

It is often said that we ought to begin our prayers with thanksgiving. Before we ask God for what we need, it is appropriate and respectful to thank God for his many blessings. This seems to be the approach of the Lord’s Prayer. Before it turns our thoughts to ourselves, it asks for the success of God’s kingdom first.

Is it possible for God’s will to be done on earth? It sometimes seems doubtful. Evil seems to be relentless and always rearing its head in unexpected places. Secularism seems to expand into any corner where faith in God is weak. We might wonder if the Christian faith is making any progress at all. The Lord’s Prayer commits us to unwavering optimism, however. It commands us to pray that God’s name will be honored, his kingdom come, and his will be done on earth as it is in heaven. These are not prayers that we will one day all go to heaven. They are, rather, prayers for the realization of the will, honor, and kingdom of God on earth. If Jesus had not believed it possible, surely he would not have commanded us to pray in this way!

The fifth-century theologian Augustine noted that when we pray this first part of the Lord’s Prayer, we are asking, first of all, that these be realities in our own lives. May God’s name be honored, God’s kingdom come, and God’s will be done in my life. We also pray for their coming in our world. Because Jesus instructed us to pray in this way, we can never give up working for these ends.

Today pray for the success of God’s kingdom in the world. Pray that it may begin in your own life, family, and relationships.