Your Kingdom Come
Most of us know the Lord’s prayer spelled out in Matthew 6:9-13.
The Lord’s Prayer
“Pray, then, in this way:
‘Our Father, who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.’
It is the part
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
that I wish to focus on today.
When we pray this, we are asking for God’s Kingdom, the Kingdom of Heaven to manifest in the Earth. However, what I am not sure that everyone understands is that it is through us, His people, that this is going to happen. It is actually a prayer asking Yahweh to empower us to advance His Kingdom in the Earth. It is acknowledging that we are Kingdom citizens and we are volunteering to be Kingdom Ambassadors.
This prayer recognizes the power and authority of the Almighty and that we are His Kingdom citizens tasked with bringing His Kingdom to the Earth. As we walk out our calling and destiny, he provides everything we need and protects us. However, there is a condition or requirement to being a Kingdom citizen. We must forgive others in the same way that Yeshua has forgiven us.
Yeshua goes on to say in verse 14-15….
For if you forgive other people for their offenses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive other people, then your Father will not forgive your offenses.
Wait?! But I repented of my sin. I asked Yeshua to come into my heart. I got water baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit. I was born again. What is Yeshua saying? What about 1 John 1:9?
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Is Yeshua saying what John told us is canceled if we hold unforgiveness against another?
I think that what Yeshua is saying is that Yahweh looks at our heart. He knows if we have truly repented. An unforgiving person really has no understanding of or a relationship with the Lord. Consider this verse which I believe confirms this hypothesis.
1 John 4:20
If someone says, “I love God,” and yet he hates his brother or sister, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother and sister whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.
When we do not forgive another, it is a sign that we hate them. So if we are going to be Kingdom Citizens, we must be like our Father in Heaven. We must love people. If we love them, we forgive them because this is the nature of God who is love.
1 John 4:8
The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
Conclusion: What Yeshua is saying is that if we do not forgive, we can not be forgiven because we do not love people. John then takes it a step further and says if you do not love you do not know God.
So for His kingdom to come and manifest through us, we must love others. This results in us forgiving them because we also have been forgiven. Then because we know God, we want others to know God. It does not matter what they have done. If they repent, he will forgive and cleanse them from all unrighteousness the same way He has done and is doing for us. When we are then walking in righteousness, His Kingdom comes and the works of the devil are destroyed.
What does this look like? Yeshua showed us by walking out the Kingdom during His time on Earth. What did he do? He healed the sick, cast out devils, raised the dead, cleansed the leapers, opened blind eyes and made the lame to walk and so much more.
Consider this exchange He had with the Pharisees in Matthew 12:22-29…
The Pharisees Rebuked
Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and unable to speak was brought to Jesus, and He healed him so that the man who was unable to speak talked and could see. And all the crowds were amazed and were saying, “This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?” But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.”
And knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and no city or house divided against itself will stand. And if Satan is casting out Satan, he has become divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? And if by Beelzebul I cast out the demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore, they will be your judges. But if I cast out the demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or, how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first ties up the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.
So, we see that a sign of the Kingdom being manifested in the Earth is that devils are cast out and their works are destroyed. This is what we are praying to happen when we pray,
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
We know this because John tells us in 1 John 3:8 ….The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.
I don’t know about you, but I want to continue the work of Yeshua and destroy the works of the devil in my sphere of influence. I want His Kingdom to come to my house, my church, my community, my county, my State, my country. Join me dear ones. Let’s destroy the works of the enemy. Let’s forgive others and cast out devils, heal the sick, raise the dead and do all the other things that Yeshua showed us and tells us we are to be doing. Let’s partner with Yahweh to bring His Kingdom to the Earth.
Shalom