After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. [10] Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. [11] Give us this day our daily bread. [12] And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. [13] 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.
"Thy Kingdom came?" Sounds weird, right? That's not what the Model Prayer (aka the Lord's Prayer) says. It seems rather irreverent to change the words of the most well-known, most-recited prayer in human history, especially when the Lord prescribed it as a model for prayer. "After this manner therefore pray ye," He said.
Christianity is full of cute sayings and religious platitudes. We have standard calls and responses in many church settings. We enjoy reciting pre-written creeds, confessions, and prayers. But, I think we're missing something significant in our faith formation when we toss our empty platitudes and clichés instead of being thoughtful and deliberate with our words. I believe that speaking from the heart is infinitely more important than reciting predetermined words, especially when it comes to the Kingdom.
But surely, this doesn't apply to the Model Prayer, right? After all, Jesus Himself told us to pray it! Well... technically, He told us to pray after that manner, not to use those specific words. (This is how you should pray, not what you should pray.) To simply repeat a predefined prayer... Where's the power in that? They aren't magical words, after all. It's about the heart. So yes, this most definitely applies to the Model Prayer, especially considering that as written, the phrase "Thy Kingdom come" is no longer appropriate.
Let me explain. To pray "Thy Kingdom come" is to say to ourselves (and to God) that the Kingdom hasn't come yet. This is an error that has held Christianity captive for 2,000 years. Every time we pray those words, we reinforce in our minds and then live out our faith as though the words are true—that the Kingdom, indeed, has not yet come. In so doing, we're squandering a significant aspect of our faith, and in some ways, wind up turning Christianity into just another religion among many.
When Jesus initially modeled this prayer, the Kingdom had not arrived yet (Matt. 6:10 c.f. Matt. 16:28), so it was perfectly legitimate for Him to speak these words at the time. Now that the Kingdom has come, however, we must stop asking God to send it and start living as though it's already here!
We often perceive "Thy Kingdom come" as being separate and distinct from "Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven." I posit that the two are connected—that it is through the thriving of His Kingdom on Earth that His will is actually done here, as there (in Heaven). It is, after all, our responsibility as agents of the Kingdom to enact His will through our Kingdom engagement. To fail to acknowledge the Kingdom's arrival, then, is to neglect our sacred charge as the body of Christ.
Thy Kingdom Came Academy exists to help you realize and seize the exciting privilege of being an agent of a Kingdom that has already arrived, that is waiting for its citizens to come into their heritage and be about their Heavenly Father's business.