Let Thy kingdom come.
This so-called Lord’s Prayer, as we know, is really the church’s prayer. In other words, our Lord Jesus teaches His church how to pray.
Now, surely it is not the Lord’s will that we should just repeat these words without really having our heart in them. But this prayer that our Lord teaches His church to pray really gives us the substance, or the subjects, which He wants us to pray.
In other words, if our heart is not in it, there is no sense in just repeating the words. But I think the main thing is that, in this prayer, the Lord actually shows us the things, the subjects, that He expects the church to pray.
And one of the subjects that He really wants His church to pray is, “Thy kingdom come.” But I wonder if we have ever heard the church pray that prayer: “Thy kingdom come.”
You know, sometimes we feel that we are weak in prayer. We do not know what to pray and how to pray.
We have two problems: we do not know what to pray, and we do not know how to pray. One is the subject of prayer, and the other is the way to pray.
Now, it is true that the Holy Spirit, as we find in Romans 8, comes to our aid. When we do not know what to pray for and how to pray, then the Holy Spirit will come to help us. He will intercede within us, for us, according to God. That is true. The Holy Spirit will help us.
But then you will find that not only will the Holy Spirit come to our help in this matter of prayer; you will find that the very Word of God gives us, shows us, what we need to pray for.
Actually, the Bible gives us all the principles, and the Holy Spirit applies these principles to specific situations. So one of the things that the church ought to pray is, “Thy kingdom come.”
We know that one day the kingdom of this world will become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. This is in Revelation 11.
There are different versions, but one of the versions, and probably the one closer to the original, is:
The kingdom of the world shall become
The kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ.
One day the kingdom of God will come upon this earth. One day the Lord will take over the world and make it His own kingdom.
Now, what a tremendous thing that must be. Just think of it. Think of what the kingdoms of this world are today. Think of all the countries, all the kingdoms, all the nations of this world. What kind of nation? What kind of country? Even in so-called Christian countries, how Christian are they? Not to speak of the heathen countries.
But one day the kingdom of the world shall become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. His kingdom shall come upon this earth. What a glorious day that must be.
And because of this, the Lord teaches His church to pray for the coming of that kingdom. Now, are we praying for the coming of Thy kingdom?
If He does not want us to pray for the coming of His kingdom, then He would not teach us, “Let Thy kingdom come.” He would not command us to pray in this fashion.
It shows that the heart of our Lord Jesus is in it—how He desires that His kingdom may be manifested upon this earth, that righteousness will rule over this earth, and that the kingdom of the world shall become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.
He longs for it, and therefore He asks His church to pray for it.
You know, we must not only seek the kingdom, but we must also pray for the kingdom.
In Matthew 6, you will find:
Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
That refers to our daily life. In our daily life, we should not always be concerned, “What shall we eat? What shall we drink? What shall we be clothed with?” These are the things that our heavenly Father knows we need.
We should seek the kingdom of God first. We should seek His righteousness first. And if we seek—and seeking is not just casually going along—seeking means we really put ourselves into it and make an effort toward it. We really need to seek the kingdom and His righteousness. If we do not seek, we will not have it.
The kingdom is for the violent, and the violent shall seize upon it. We need to seek the kingdom with all our hearts—His kingdom, His righteousness.
In our daily life, we need to seek that His kingdom and His righteousness will be real to us, that we are really living in His kingdom, and that we are really practicing His righteousness. We need to seek it.
But at the same time, you will find that we must not only seek the kingdom; we must also pray for the kingdom. These two things cannot be separated.
When we are seeking the kingdom, we cannot help but pray for it. And if we pray for it, we will seek it. You cannot separate these two things. If we are not praying for the kingdom, probably we are not seeking it.
But if we are really seeking the kingdom, oh, how we see that the world, the kingdom of this world, is so contrary to the kingdom of God. How difficult it is for us today to really live in the kingdom and practice His righteousness. And we cannot help but pray, “Thy kingdom come.”
These two things must go together. So we must, on the one hand, seek the kingdom of God; on the other hand, we must pray, “Thy kingdom come.”
Now, it is true: this is the prayer of the church. The church ought to offer such prayer.
Whether we are praying for some individuals, whether we are praying for their salvation, whether we are praying for their physical needs, whether we are praying for their sicknesses or their problems, or whether we are praying for a number of things, if we do not have the kingdom in view, our prayers probably will not hit the mark.
Why do we pray for the salvation of souls? That His kingdom may come. Why do we pray that various needs may be supplied? Not just that people may have their needs met; it is that the kingdom may come into their lives.
Whether we are praying for individuals, for the church, for a nation, or for the whole world, there must be behind it that one prayer: “Thy kingdom come.” This should be the prayer of the church.
Now, of course, we know according to the Word of God that His kingdom will come, even though it does not look like it from the outward appearance. But we know His kingdom will come one day.
One day His kingdom will be manifested upon this earth. One day Christ will reign over this earth, and righteousness will reign over this earth. We know it is coming.
That does not mean it just comes suddenly. It does not just come out of the blue, as it were. Yes, when it comes, it may come very quickly; that is true.
But before the public manifestation of the kingdom of God, as we are praying, “Thy kingdom come,” it has to come to us spiritually first.
The kingdom must come spiritually first to His people, and then it will come physically upon this earth.
We are not only saved, but God has planted us here and there all over the world, establishing, as it were, beachheads—strategic points.
And through these people, His kingdom becomes a reality in their midst, and their testimony will affect the unseen world as well as the visible world.
To a point, it is like this: the kingdom today is hidden among God’s people. It is an underground thing, but that underground kingdom is to undermine the kingdom of this world and bring it to the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
This is the way that God would do it. And if this is true, how much we need to pray for this kingdom.
We need to seek for it, and we need to pray for it.
And if the church is faithful in praying for the coming of His kingdom, and also really seeks His kingdom, so that His kingdom becomes a spiritual reality in the church, then I do believe we hasten the coming of the kingdom.
Now, what is the sense of our Lord asking us to pray, “Thy kingdom come,” if our prayer does not affect the timing of the coming of the kingdom? It must be that because we pray, it hastens the coming of the kingdom. If we do not pray that prayer, probably the kingdom will be delayed.
So the church has a very great responsibility.
We must remember: we are not just praying for some souls to be saved. We are not just praying for some sicknesses to be healed. We are not just praying for some problems to be solved. We are not even just praying that the Lord will bless us and use us. We are not just praying for this country or that country. We must have the kingdom in view—His kingdom in view.
When we all pray, the subject of our prayer is universal; it is great. You know, sometimes our prayers get smaller and smaller, and we begin to forget.
When the church gathers to pray, the Lord puts a burden upon the church to pray for something big—even the kingdom of God. And within it, of course, are included all the tiny details. But they are all included there.
So do not lose sight of the kingdom. Our hearts do long, and we do cry out, “Thy kingdom come.”
Now, brothers and sisters, especially when we are entering into the very end of this age, and in view of all the difficult situations, the world is not getting better; it is getting worse. The conflict is not getting smaller; it is getting bigger.
It is more difficult for us today to live as a Christian than it was fifty years ago. And because of this, it should move our hearts to really pray, “Thy kingdom come.” This is our only hope.
God has not called us to reform the world. But God has called us to be such a testimony for Him in this world that one day this world will surrender to the sovereignty, to the kingship, of Christ.
So that should be our testimony. May we, as we pray—whether we are touching various things—not lose sight of that subject that the Lord wants His church to pray: “Thy kingdom come.”
Let Thy kingdom come.
Let Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.
We are considering together this so-called Lord’s Prayer. But, as we mentioned last time, this is actually not the Lord’s Prayer; it is the Lord teaching His church to pray. So it is really a prayer that our Lord wants His church to pray.
And if this is what He wants His church to pray, then His church ought to pray this prayer—not in the sense of just repeating the words, but more in the sense of really taking up the burden and the spirit of this prayer.
Last time we mentioned that the church should pray, “Thy kingdom come.” We know that God’s kingdom is coming, but we are commanded to pray for its coming, as if our prayer will affect the date of its coming.
If His church does not pray, then probably His coming—the coming of the kingdom—will be delayed. But if the church is praying, then the kingdom will be hastened in its coming. So we really need to pray, “Thy kingdom come.”
And as we mentioned last time, no matter what we pray for, it should be in relation to His kingdom.
Now this evening we would like to go into the next one: “Let Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.”
Now, you will notice that “Thy will be done”—the will here is singular in number.
You know, we are often concerned with the many wills of God: What is God’s will for this? What is God’s will for that? What is God’s will for me? What is God’s will for you? We are concerned with the many wills of God.
And yet there is the will of God, which sometimes we forget. And it is because we do not know the will of God that we get confused as to the many wills of God.
Now, if only we know what is the will of God, that will put everything in the right perspective and will help us to really understand and know God’s will concerning this or concerning that.
And then again, you will find that God’s will is something that we need to pray for.
Well, we know that God’s will will be done—no doubt about that. Sooner or later, it will be done. And yet again, you will find how our Lord involves us in this matter of God’s will being done.
If we pray for His will to be done, it will hasten His will to be done. If we do not pray for His will to be done, His will will eventually be done, but it may be delayed, postponed.
Now, what is this will of God that He wants us to pray about? “Thy will be done.” What is this will? What is the will of the Father?
I think it is very clear. The will of the Father actually is only one, and that concerns His only begotten Son.
So if we take Ephesians or Colossians, you will find it may be put in different ways, but it comes to the same thing.
It is God’s will that His Son shall have the first place in all things. He shall have the preeminence in all things.
It is God’s will that one day all things shall be gathered up, summed up, in Christ. It is God’s will that His Son shall be all and in all. His Son shall be glorified. His Son shall inherit all things.
Now, this is God’s will. And we know that this will will be done.
But we also know there is something upon this earth that is opposing that will.
We know not only that there is the arch-enemy of God, Satan, and his kingdom of darkness, that is opposing this will of God to be done on earth as it is in heaven; but we also know that in us—that is, in our flesh—there is that opposition to this will too.
So actually, you find that the will of God to be done on earth as it is in heaven is a tremendous spiritual battle.
Now, if we look at Ephesians 6, you will find that warrior. And, of course, strictly speaking, that warrior is not an individual; that warrior is the church of God. The church of God is like a warrior, fully armed, ready to battle.
And what is the real conflict? Now, if you turn to Ephesians 6, you will find in verse 13:
For this reason take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand.
That you may be able to withstand in the evil day—of course, to withstand the enemy of God—and having accomplished all things. You see, it is not just to withstand, but even to accomplish all things.
And in Darby’s footnote, you will find he says, “Having overcome all things.” It is to carry through and put in execution all that is purposed and called for in spite of opposition.
To carry through and put in execution all that is purposed and called for, in spite of opposition. The enemy is opposing God’s will being done on earth as it is in heaven, and the church is standing with God to withstand the enemy and to carry through and put in execution all that is purposed and called for in spite of opposition.
So you will find that it is not just a passive resistance—to withstand. It is a positive execution. And that is where the spiritual conflict really is.
Now, how are we going to overcome all things? When you turn to 2 Corinthians 10, you will find that our weapons are not fleshly. Our weapons are powerful before God, to cast down all those high thoughts that stand in the way of the knowledge of God, and to bring every thought into subjection, into captivity, to the obedience of Christ.
So, as to this matter of God’s will, it is not just something to fight for, but it is something that we must pray for too.
And it is only by praying that His will be done that we can win the battle. We can carry through and put in execution that which is purposed and called for.
So it is of tremendous importance that, as God’s people, as His church, we really need to take up this matter in prayer.
Now, sometimes we think that we do not know what to pray for, as if we have nothing to pray for. But here you will find we are commanded to pray that His will shall be done on earth as it is in heaven.
That His Son shall have the first place in all things; that all things shall be gathered together unto Him; that He shall be all and in all; that He shall inherit all things. Now, these are the things that we really need to pray for.
Now, sometimes we think, when we talk about God’s will, that we should take a kind of passive resignation. You know, “Oh, well, it is God’s will. May God’s will be done.” That kind of attitude is a passive resignation, and actually it is resigning ourselves to things.
But this is not what the Scripture says. The Lord said we need to pray for it. In other words, it is not just a passive resignation to God’s will: “Well, if this is God’s will, what can you do? You just have to accept it.”
It is a kind of passive attitude, but that is not true. Because here you find the Lord says we need to pray for God’s will. On our part, it must be active. We really need to pray that God’s will will be done.
Now, it is true: we have to resign ourselves to God’s will. That is true. We have to yield ourselves to God, whatever it may be. But it is not a passive resignation.
We have to actively seek and pray for it, and give ourselves to God’s will, that His will may be done. It is a cooperation. It is an active cooperation. And we should pray for it.
Now think of our Lord Jesus. We may remember His time in the Garden of Gethsemane. Now, that is the most holy hour, and it is such a sacred scene that it is almost beyond words.
But here you will find, even in the Garden of Gethsemane, what is the prayer of our Lord?
Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not My will, but Thy will be done.
Here you will find our Lord Jesus actively praying for the Father’s will to be done—not just a passive resignation. You do not need to pray about it and say, “Well, if it is God’s will, it is God’s will.”
But you will find that He really prays earnestly about it and prays with such fervency and earnestness that even His sweat comes down like drops of blood.
In other words, He is seeking desperately, earnestly, for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Why? Because there is a tremendous conflict there—a tremendous conflict over God’s will.
The enemy is trying very hard to dissuade, as it were, our Lord. And even the holy human nature of our Lord Jesus shrinks back from the very thought that He is going to be made sin. He who knew no sin shall be made sin for us.
A tremendous conflict. And yet you find our Lord said, “Not My will. If this be possible, yes; but not My will. Thy will be done.” He positively prayed for God’s will to be done, and it was done.
So I do feel that this is something that we really need to take up: “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
The Holy Spirit will apply God’s will to different matters, to different things. He will do the interpretation as we pray for different things.
Now, sometimes people think that if we say, “Well, if it is Your will, may Your will be done,” it means that you do not have faith. If you have faith, you should say, “Lord, do it. Do this or do that.” Now, that is faith. If you pray and say, “Your will be done,” then it means you have no faith.
Now, what about our Lord Jesus? “Not My will, but Thy will be done.” Did He have no faith?
He had full confidence in His Father, and He wanted His Father’s will to be done.
Now, if we know what God’s will is, yes, we can pray with confidence. We can say, “Lord, this is Your will. Therefore, we stand with You. We want Your will to be done.”
But if we do not know what the will of God is, I do not think it is a lack of faith if we pray and say, “Lord, if it is possible, let this be done; but not my will, Thy will be done.” I do not think it is a lack of faith.
On the contrary, it is faith, because we believe that God’s will shall be done.
And another thing: “Let Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” The degree of God’s will being done is to be no less than it is done in heaven.
We know it is done in heaven one hundred percent, fully. And we want God’s will to be done one hundred percent, fully. Sometimes God’s will may be done thirty percent or sixty percent, but we need to pray that it should be done one hundred percent on earth as it is in heaven.
And this is where we really need to stand with God in prayer.
So when God’s people come together to pray, it is not just that we are asking God to do something for us according to what we would like Him to do. Now, that is not prayer.
But when God’s people come together to pray, actually we are standing with God for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. That is really what prayer is.
And no matter what thing, what subject, we touch upon, this is the basic principle: that we do not come here asking God to do our will; we come here standing with God for His will to be done.
We can express to Him what we would like Him to do according to our understanding. But still, we do not want Him to do just according to what we understand, but according to what He understands.
And this is what we pray for. So may the Lord help us as we begin to pray that the Lord’s will is something that we really pray for, no matter in what area or on what subject we touch upon.
Basically, we are standing with God for His will to be done. And this is where we really need to stand with God in prayer.