Silas
Beloved of All
Thank you for sharing this prayer and for the way you have put the heart of it so clearly, to seek the Father first, His name, His kingdom and His will, and then to bring our own needs to Him. That order is exactly what Jesus taught us and it is the key to understanding what prayer is really for.
Prayer was never meant to be a way to get our own will done on earth. Its first purpose is to see God's will and purpose accomplished. That is why the first requests Jesus gave us are not about ourselves at all. Hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Those three petitions are Godward. They come before anything about us.
When we pray Your kingdom come we are praying for far more than help in our daily circumstances. We are praying for the reign of Jesus Christ Himself, for light to overcome darkness, for the kingdom of God which is life and light to displace the kingdom of darkness and death that came through rebellion against God. Scripture shows that there are two kingdoms, and every person is in one or the other. Through faith in Jesus we are delivered from the power of darkness and brought into the kingdom of light, and we are then able to carry that message of deliverance to others. To pray Your kingdom come is also to look forward with hope to the day when Christ will come and establish His righteous rule fully, when God's will shall be done on earth completely as it is in heaven. That longing is even the final prayer of the Bible, Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
Only after that Godward focus does Jesus teach us to bring our personal needs, and He gathers them into three basic requests that cover our whole life. Give us this day our daily bread for provision, forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors for forgiveness and restored relationship, and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for guidance and protection. Your Father already knows what you need before you ask, but He invites you to ask, to seek and to knock as His child. Prayer begins with relationship. If He is your Father through faith in Jesus, then you can come with confidence that He hears you.
It is also important not to simply repeat these words from memory without thinking. Jesus gave this as a model for prayer, not as empty repetition. There is great value in going through it slowly, phrase by phrase, and meditating on each one. In that model you can see the three forms prayer takes. It is worship as we honor His name and kingdom, it is petition as we ask for our own needs, and it is intercession as we pray for His will to be done in the world around us. It begins with God and it ends with God, for Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
Jesus also taught that if we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, all the other things we need will be added to us. When God and His kingdom are first, life comes into balance. When our own desires are first, we ask amiss to consume things upon ourselves and our lives become out of balance.
So continue to pray in this way. Come as a child to your Father, worship Him, align your heart with His kingdom and His will for this earth and for your own life, and then bring your daily needs for provision, forgiveness and deliverance to Him with trust. The wisest prayer any of us can pray is, Lord, have Your way in my life, accomplish Your perfect will. As you do, you are opening the door for Him to work freely, and you will find that He is faithful to provide, to forgive, to guide and to deliver, and to keep you until His kingdom comes in fullness. I thank God for your desire to pray this way and I join you in praying, Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, and for your daily bread, forgiveness, guidance and protection in Jesus name, amen.
Prayer was never meant to be a way to get our own will done on earth. Its first purpose is to see God's will and purpose accomplished. That is why the first requests Jesus gave us are not about ourselves at all. Hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Those three petitions are Godward. They come before anything about us.
When we pray Your kingdom come we are praying for far more than help in our daily circumstances. We are praying for the reign of Jesus Christ Himself, for light to overcome darkness, for the kingdom of God which is life and light to displace the kingdom of darkness and death that came through rebellion against God. Scripture shows that there are two kingdoms, and every person is in one or the other. Through faith in Jesus we are delivered from the power of darkness and brought into the kingdom of light, and we are then able to carry that message of deliverance to others. To pray Your kingdom come is also to look forward with hope to the day when Christ will come and establish His righteous rule fully, when God's will shall be done on earth completely as it is in heaven. That longing is even the final prayer of the Bible, Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
Only after that Godward focus does Jesus teach us to bring our personal needs, and He gathers them into three basic requests that cover our whole life. Give us this day our daily bread for provision, forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors for forgiveness and restored relationship, and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for guidance and protection. Your Father already knows what you need before you ask, but He invites you to ask, to seek and to knock as His child. Prayer begins with relationship. If He is your Father through faith in Jesus, then you can come with confidence that He hears you.
It is also important not to simply repeat these words from memory without thinking. Jesus gave this as a model for prayer, not as empty repetition. There is great value in going through it slowly, phrase by phrase, and meditating on each one. In that model you can see the three forms prayer takes. It is worship as we honor His name and kingdom, it is petition as we ask for our own needs, and it is intercession as we pray for His will to be done in the world around us. It begins with God and it ends with God, for Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
Jesus also taught that if we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, all the other things we need will be added to us. When God and His kingdom are first, life comes into balance. When our own desires are first, we ask amiss to consume things upon ourselves and our lives become out of balance.
So continue to pray in this way. Come as a child to your Father, worship Him, align your heart with His kingdom and His will for this earth and for your own life, and then bring your daily needs for provision, forgiveness and deliverance to Him with trust. The wisest prayer any of us can pray is, Lord, have Your way in my life, accomplish Your perfect will. As you do, you are opening the door for Him to work freely, and you will find that He is faithful to provide, to forgive, to guide and to deliver, and to keep you until His kingdom comes in fullness. I thank God for your desire to pray this way and I join you in praying, Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, and for your daily bread, forgiveness, guidance and protection in Jesus name, amen.
