Jesus taught his disciples and us to pray, ‘Our Father which art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy name, and then, thy Kingdom come’.
When we approach the Creator of our souls, we must come into His Courts with the right understanding, attitude, motive and willingness to obey His directives.
Psalm 100:4, “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving; go into His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His Name.”
The kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God, the kingdom of His beloved Son, the kingdom of our Lord and His Christ, all describe a kingdom that is above this world and desires to come into this world.
If you were given an invitation to visit the Queen of England, or the President of the United States, you also would be given schooling and training in how to conduct yourself in behavior and conversation. You cannot just walk up to the Queen or the President and start a conversation, without protocol.
Yet when approaching the Creator of our souls, we seem to be totally unmindful of who we are conversing with as we behave any old way in His House and Presence. Casual dress in our churches, as far as I am concerned, has gone way too far. Casual dress would never be acceptable before the President or the Queen; why do we think that it is okay in the house of worship and prayer? God’s awesomeness demands not a cheery greeting, but a bowed knee, in wonder.
Jesus is teaching us to pray that the Kingdom of God come to earth as it is manifested in Heaven. Jesus said that His Kingdom was not of this world, or He would have called His angels to fight for it. His Kingdom is righteousness. His kingdom is peace. His kingdom is joy. His kingdom is the manifestation of His Presence through the Power of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of men, women, and children from every nation, tribe, and tongue of the world.
The Kingdom of God bypasses the boundaries of the nations of this world. The Kingdom of God bypasses the languages of this world. The Kingdom of God bypasses the man-made rules of denominations. The Kingdom of God bypasses the chains and bars of bondage, for the Word of God cannot be bound! (II Tim. 2:9)
The Kingdom of God comes to earth and into individual hearts where the Word of God is honored. Jesus was the Kingdom of God walking the earth in a body of flesh; now He walks in a body of Spirit among all who will receive Him.
Jesus is the gate or door to the Kingdom of God. No man can come to Christ unless the Father draws them to Him. (John 6:44) No man can come to the Father except they come through Jesus Christ. He is the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. (John 14:6)
Zacchaeus
Zacchaeus, who was a tax collector, heard of Jesus and desired to see Him, but he was short and could not see over the crowd, so he climbed a sycamore tree so he could see Christ. Jesus looked up and saw Zacchaeus and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today. So he came down at once and welcomed Him gladly. All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner!” But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” Jesus said to him, “Today SALVATION has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
The Kingdom of God is a kingdom of grace and forgiveness, giving each of us a fresh start as citizens of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God changes lives and is received with joy into the hearts of those who accept Him as their Lord.
The Kingdom of God is found among those who believe in Him as they meet together, whether it is in large congregations, or in small home groups of two or three. “Where two or three are gathered together in my Name, I am with them.” (Matthew 18:20)
The Kingdom of God is found when one man, or one woman, or one child, enters into their closet, shuts the door, and prays to their Father who hears in secret, but rewards openly. The Presence of their Father and their Lord is there via the Holy Spirit, together with the guardian angels, which equals two or three gathered together in His Name!
The next time you pray to your Father, think about these truths.
Christianity started out with 12 disciples, grew to 120 on the Day of Pentecost, grew into the thousands, multiplied into the whole world, so that 1/3 of the world’s population today is Christian, but many still do not believe. Not all will believe, but many more will believe.
This is why the Book of Revelation teaches that God will send 144,000 Jewish preachers, and Two Witnesses, and an Angel, to preach the Gospel of Christ to the whole world before the end of time. By the time Christ returns to judge this world, and cast Satan into the Lake of Fire, the world will be filled with His Kingdom. The prayer of “Thy Kingdom Come on earth as it is in Heaven” will have been answered! (John saw a multitude that no one could number. Rev. 7:9-10 & Rev. 11:15, & Rev. Chapters 19-22)
Today the Kingdom of God can be sneered at, ignored and forgotten by the world, but it will not be so when He returns as King of kings and Lord of lords. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is the God of all flesh, the God of all good, and the God of all fallen angels, and the God of all creation!
Our Own Hearts
When we pray for His Kingdom to come, let it first begin in our own hearts by making our words and our actions line up with what is righteous before Him. (Phil. 4:8 teaches us what to think on to please Him)
Hearts of Loved Ones
Then let us ask that His Kingdom will come into the hearts of our loved ones, and all of those we interact with in our lifetime.
Hearts of Government Authorities
Then pray for the leaders of America and the nations of the world, for peace and reverence toward God, allowing the Gospel to be preached freely to all men.
Lord, “Send Laborers!”
Then pray that God will send forth laborers into His harvest: pastors, teachers, and missionaries to all nations, so that His Great Commission can be fulfilled. (Matthew 28:19, as demonstrated in the Book of Acts) Pray for their safety and protection, and that the Word of God will go forth in authority and Truth, convicting hearts to obey Christ.
Ask Christ to open spiritual eyes
Pray that the eyes of unbelievers will be opened, to see the spiritual truths behind the written words of God, so that they can turn their hearts away from the devil’s deceptions and toward the light of Christ, in obedience to His Will for their individual lives.
Ask Christ to Heal the Broken, Bruised and Wounded
Pray the healing oil and wine be poured into the wounds of fallen soldiers of the cross, so that they can be restored and used anew in the Kingdom of God. Pray for those who have been wounded by the church and by their own sinful choices, that Christ will draw them gently back to a faith in Him and not in an organization.
The Final Answered Prayer
“And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; his kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.” (Daniel 7:28)
The Lamb shall lie down with the lion and the swords shall be beaten into plowshares, and nothing shall hurt nor destroy in all of God’s Holy Mountain. Israel will be restored to rule the earth, as God’s people and all nations shall come to Jerusalem to worship their God. All men shall know the Lord, from the least to the greatest, and a child shall lead those who are seeking the way. Eden will cover the earth, as it was intended to at the beginning. Satan and his evil beings will be forever gone from the earth and its heavens. Then God’s third heaven will be joined with earth and The New Jerusalem will be the Capital of the World, with Christ as the Light. There will be no need of a sun or moon anymore. His Kingdom will have come and will operate just as it is in Heaven!