"Here and Now"

​In Matthew 6, Jesus taught His disciples how to pray and gave us the Lord’s Prayer.  One element of the prayer that I don’t think we pray enough is the second verse:  “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:11). 
 
How often do we pray that God’s kingdom would come to earth?  In my observation, it seems that we often pray the opposite.  We ask God to bless our kingdoms, to preserve our nation, or prosper our country.  While the Bible does tell us to pray for our leaders and nation, our number one prayer should be that God’s kingdom would be established on earth.  We are citizens of an eternal kingdom; therefore, our first priority and greatest desire should be for God to build His kingdom.

The second half of Matthew 6:11 also contains a powerful prayer that we must make sure we’re ready to pray and see fulfilled.  “Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”  God’s will reigns supreme.  He is completely sovereign over all things and always accomplishes His plans and purposes both here on earth and in heaven.  However, the difference between heaven and earth is that in heaven everything and every creature honors and bows in reverence and awe before the Lord, while on earth sinful and evil men shake their fists at God and try to do things their own way.  Even we as believers often struggle with surrendering things into God’s hands and allowing Him to fulfill His purposes in His timeframe. 
 
Therefore, are we truly ready to pray “Let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”?  In heaven, God’s will is perfectly and absolutely fulfilled with no resistance and no push back.  So are we ready to completely surrender and trust God fully to pray this prayer?  Take a moment to ponder how your life would look differently if you prayed this prayer for yourself and sought to allow God’s will to be done in your life as it is in heaven.
 
This was a prayer that Jesus taught His disciples to pray; therefore, it should be a part of our regular prayer life, too.  Awaken Worship recently released a new song that I believe powerfully embodies this prayer and what truly matters in God’s perspective.  This song is truly a prayer—a prayer for revival, a prayer for unity, and first and foremost a prayer for God’s ultimate will to be done.  So as we seek God’s kingdom and humbly surrender ourselves asking for God’s will to be done here on earth as it is in heaven, may this song stir in our hearts and be a prayer that we can sing to the Lord with sincerity.