THY KINGDOM COME - The Lord's Prayer - Part 4
Venga Tu Reino - La Oración de Nuestro Señor Jesucristo - Parte 4
by
Mary Hunt Webb
Posted Thursday, December 31, 2015
"The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it." - Psalm 24:1 (NIV) [Photographer: Didi Supardi, Photo courtesy of Stockvault.net.]
Our Father, which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day, our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
In the first portion of our study of The Lord's Prayer, we saw that Jesus first addressed the One to whom the prayer is directed by saying, "Our Father." When we state, "Our Father, which art in Heaven", we are acknowledging that Heaven is His domain as well as the destination for our prayer.
Next, the prayer states our intention to always regard God's name as holy. This is important because, in today's society, God's name is frequently used as a common exclamation and even as part of a vulgar swear word. When we declare that God's name is holy, we are letting Him know that we regard Him with reverence and respect. In doing so, we position ourselves among those who honor Him.
That brings us to the request, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
Some people regard this part as a plea for God to bring the structure of Heaven to Earth. Psalm 24:1 states that, "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it." (New International Version) With that in mind, we can pray for Him to bring order and peace to the nations because the earth is His possession.
Others may utter these words with a more personal view for God to establish control over the details of their private lives. Many of our prayerful pleas are for help with our daily problems. Psalm 119:25 reflects such distress as the writer declares to God, "I am laid low in the dust; preserve my life according to your word." All of us have felt that way at one time or another. The foundation for that request is trust in God as our Heavenly Father.
Yet another view of this part of The Lord's Prayer results from the disobedience of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Their sin of not obeying God allowed Satan to have a foothold in this world. The plea for God's kingdom to come and His will to be done here just as in Heaven is for Satan to be evicted from this planet because Satan has no place in God's domain.
The intriguing aspect of this portion of The Lord's Prayer is that it appears to lend itself to the immediate needs of the person praying it. That's what makes it so useful to such a wide audience.
Although I learned this prayer as a seven-year-old and prayed it with the understanding that I possessed at that time, my comprehension of it has increased with time. That's the beauty of The Lord's Prayer. It stretches as we grow in spiritual maturity.
It is our hope that your own insight into The Lord's Prayer will sharpen as we continue to delve into it in the months to come.
"Thy will be done on earth…" [Photographer: A crew member of Apollo 17. Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.]
BIBLE VERSES FOR THIS POSTING
Matthew 6:10 — Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. (King James Version)
Mateo 6:10 — Venga tu reino. Hágase tu voluntad, como en el cielo, así también en la tierra. (Reina-Valera 1960)
Psalm 24:1 — The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. (New International Version)
Salmos 24:1 — De Jehová es la tierra y su plenitud; El mundo, y los que en él habitan. (Reina-Valera 1960)
Psalm 119:25 — I am laid low in the dust; preserve my life according to your word." (New International Version)
Salmos 119: 25 — Abatida hasta el polvo está mi alma; Vivifícame según tu palabra. (Reina-Valera 1960)
"… as it is in heaven." [Photographer: Aka Moraqu. Image courtesy of Stockvault.net.]
