“In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father 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 forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” Matthew 6:9-13
In Jesus’ model prayer, He taught that one key ingredient in our prayer lives is the desire to see God’s kingdom come. For many, this conjures up ideas of a future reign of Jesus from Jerusalem wherein the Jews are established as the dominant people on earth. This notion comes from a misunderstanding of Old Testament prophecies demonstrating a carnal conception of the kingdom of God which fails to recognize spiritual nature. So, what does Jesus mean in this passage if not the earthly rule of the Messiah from Jerusalem?
Understanding the most basic definition of the term translated “kingdom” in Matthew 6:10 offers a great deal of insight into the true meaning of the passage. The most complete definition of the term is “reign” or “rule.” In the broadest sense, God always has and always will have a kingdom (cf. Psalms 22:29; Daniel 4:25; John 19:10-11; Matthew 6:13). Nonetheless, Jesus is clearly describing a time when God’s rule would be expressed in a more specific, noteworthy fashion than was previously the case.
It seems the best explanation of Jesus’ kingdom prayer is with reference to the Messianic Kingdom promised throughout the Old Covenant. This had been the expectation of the Jews from the days of the prophets to the time of Christ. The trouble for the Jews was the same as for the premillennialist today, expecting the wrong kind of kingdom. In a discussion with the Pharisees concerning the coming kingdom, Jesus made clear the kingdom would be of a different nature. He said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or “See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20-21). That last phrase is pivotal to understanding what it means for God’s kingdom to come. The kingdom of God is one that is within the heart of the subject.
It is also possible that when Jesus prayed, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10), He was using a key feature of the Hebrew language known as synonymous parallelism. In this manner of speech, the Hebrews would write or say two consecutive lines with both bearing the same meaning. Thus, for us to be citizens of the kingdom, we must allow Christ to reign or rule within our hearts. This means we submit the very essence of our being to His will. This is much easier said than done because we all have moments when we become self-serving. It is impossible to be self-serving and servants of the King at the same time (Matthew 6:24).
So, with these fundamental truths in mind, we must each individually ask ourselves if the kingdom of God is truly within us. As Paul told the Corinthians “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? —unless indeed you are disqualified” (2 Corinthians 13:5).