[Darris McNeely] Christ's disciples asked him on one occasion, "How do we pray?" And he told them how to pray. And we've talked about this in other Beyond Today dailies, but right now I would like to take this just a little bit deeper with one concept that Jesus talked about when he taught them how to pray in Matthew chapter six, where the so-called Lord's prayer is found. Beginning in verse nine, he tells them, "After this manner, pray you: Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:9-10).
Your kingdom come. What does that mean? Why should we pray that? Why did Christ tell us to do that? Well, it means to pray that God would hasten the day when that kingdom, that literal Kingdom of God, will come to this Earth. Now, in spite of what you may have thought, what you may have been taught, what you think the Bible might say about the concept of the Kingdom of God, understand this. It is a very literal kingdom that the Bible shows in every detail will be brought to this Earth with the return of Jesus Christ at some point. It may be a lot of other things that spiritually and all that is described in scripture, but it is one literal kingdom that will be brought with Jesus Christ to this Earth. It is that or it's nothing else, so understand that. And Christ said we should be praying for that to come.
Now, let me ask you this question as we think about praying thy kingdom come. Are you one of those, kind of like me, that you're kind of fed up and disgusted with the politics of your nation, your country where you live? I am in mine. Recent elections in the United States of America have highlighted just how deep the corruption, the lies, the deceit exists in all areas of the human government where I live. And it's not just here, but it's around the world. In fact, it's quite evident that a lot of other people are disgusted and fed up with that as well.
And so, when we look at what Christ asks us to do, this becomes something very real and very personal to us. There's a scripture in Revelation 11:15 that speaks to this, because it speaks to the actual coming of Christ to this earth at the sounding of what is called the seventh angel. And there are great voices in heaven that will shout at that time. And it says, "The kingdoms of this world..." That means the governments, the elected representatives, the monarchies, the prime minister's, "the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever." There's coming a time when that kingdom will be brought to this Earth, and that's what we should be praying for because it then will replace all the other kingdoms of this world and put an end to the corruption and to the deceit.
So, no matter how we feel, and no matter what we are told, and God does tell us even to pray for our leaders, we certainly want to pray that they are of such a nature that the work of God can continue. But as Christ did say, "Thy kingdom come," pray Thy kingdom come, and pray that that will of that kingdom be done on this earth as it is in heaven. We'll go a little bit deeper in this in the next episode here on Beyond Today, but that's what it means to pray Thy kingdom come.
That's BT daily. Join us next time.
