“Your kingdom come…” (Matthew 6:10a)
The next feature of the exemplary prayer is a desire for God's kingdom to be realized on earth. There are two things to notice about this.
It is God's kingdom. He is the King. He sets its standards. He defines its ethics and morals. He runs the show. We can easily get caught up in building our own little kingdoms here on earth. Our prayers are often absorbed in the details of our self-made, sovereign realms. But Jesus instructs us to pray for God's kingdom to prevail, not our own. We should tune our prayers to the realization of His kingdom. We want it realized in our own hearts, in our families, our communities, our nation, and our world.
We want the kingdom to come to us. Jesus does not ask the Father to bring us to the kingdom. He asks the Father to bring the kingdom to us. We should pray likewise. Instead of praying for the Lord to rescue us out of this world, we should be praying for Him to bring His kingdom to bear upon this world. The prayers of the saints bring heaven to earth. We should ask the Lord for this.
Are you praying for God to help you build your own kingdom or are you asking Him to bring His own? What is the direction of your prayers? Earth to heaven or heaven to earth? Save me out of this world or bring salvation to this world?