Matthew 4:17 (NIV)
17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
Matthew 6:9-10 (NIV)
9 “This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
“[The gospel] is the story of God’s kingdom being launched on earth as in heaven, generating a new state of affairs in which the power of evil has been decisively defeated, the new creation has been decisively launched, and Jesus’s followers have been commissioned and equipped to put that victory and that inaugurated new world into practice.” [N.T. Wright, Surprised By Hope, 204]
God’s kingdom has already come into this world in Jesus Christ, but it is not yet full, and so we pray as Jesus taught us, “may your kingdom come soon!”
Spend time to declare what is ‘already’ and ask for what is ‘not yet’. What of God’s kingdom reality do you need more today – love, joy, peace, forgiveness, reconciliation, power, healing, wisdom…may his kingdom come!
Prayer: Our Father, thank you that your kingdom has come near, it is the true reality I walk in today. And yet there are places where I need to experience more of your kingdom, and so I ask, may your kingdom come soon, on earth as in heaven! In Jesus’ name, amen.
Let’s worship as we sing “Heaven Invade” by Kari Jobe (click here).
-KW
