“Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.” – Matthew 6:10 – RSV
Take ten kindergartners outside with some paper and a box of crayons on a sunny day and ask them to draw the sky and you’ll certainly get ten very different pictures. So it is for us when we try to picture God’s Kingdom. From the cartoonish images of heaven as floating on clouds, to the beautiful coastline views on either side of the US, or the majestic mountains out west (my personal favorite) or the rolling, flower covered hills of the Italian countryside, we all have different views of what God’s Kingdom might look like. For some it might be a place of total relaxation, while for others it might mean exploring places beyond our wildest human imaginations. I know a few guys who probably envision endless rounds of golf on courses we’ll probably never get to play in this lifetime (morning round at Augusta followed up with a 4:30 tee time at Pebble Beach? Perfect!) One constant no matter how we picture Heaven is that it is perfect.
Throughout the gospels, Jesus gives many parables that begin with “The Kingdom of God is like…” Whether it’s a wedding banquet or interactions between a master and servants, or a father and his sons, He’s much more focused on what happens there than on the place itself. So in giving us the words “Thy Kingdom come,” I think Jesus is urging us to pray for God’s perfect vision of our relationship with Him, and our relationships with each other. While it’s natural for us to long for Heaven as a place of ultimate peace, joy, and comfort, we shouldn’t spend too much time focusing on that. Rather we should ask Our Father to bring us His Kingdom here in the form of both a closer walk with Him, and better relationships with those around us.
Another thing about God’s Kingdom – it’s a place where the Father’s will is always done, and done perfectly. Jesus teaches us to pray “Thy will be done, On earth as it is in Heaven.” Pondering those words, it seems that He’s urging us to a deeper desire for God’s perfect will to be carried out in our world and our daily lives. The Father has a perfect will for each one of us. Given our human faults and the free will that He gives us, none of us will ever live a life that follows His perfect will step for step. So while His will may not be done here exactly as it is in Heaven, we can still pray for our Father to guide our lives in a way that His perfect will for each of us can still be done in the end.
I struggle in the best of times to trust that God’s will is being done in my day-to-day. The aftermath of losing my job and the daily uncertainty that comes with it has put me on quite a roller coaster. I ride the “ups” believing that God has a purpose for this time of unemployment, leading me to a new calling and a deeper sense of life purpose. Then I careen toward the “downs” thinking that I’ve totally failed as a worker, a partner, a father. That every aspiration I have is just driven by some selfish need for attention or control. That I’ve wandered so far off base from what God intended for me that He’s just left me to twist in the wind, leaving me to my own devices and letting me wander the path of the prodigal until I come to my last end, finally waking up and surrendering myself back to Him.
In those moments, the words of a different prayer bring comfort. In The Living Spirit, Thomas Merton prays: “the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this, you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it.”
I believe it’s this sentiment that Jesus leads us to with these first true requests we make of Our Father in this blueprint for prayer that He gives us. Hopefully we can see more clearly how we can better trust the Father to guide us on the path to doing His will here on earth, bringing His Kingdom more fully into our daily lives.
Thy Kingdom Come – While I long for the perfect joy and beauty of eternity, let me live my life as the good and faithful servant, the eager and willing wedding guest, the son who overcomes his shame to embrace his Father’s forgiveness and also forgives others.
Thy Will be done, On earth as it is in Heaven – As I take each step this day, help me trust You and surrender to You, to let Your will be done perfectly in my life, overcoming my human imperfections. Help me be the best version of who You made me to be, for the work You’ve given me to help Your Kingdom come.