Prayer – Day 13

At times it is hard for us to genuinely pray for God’s will to be done. Jesus’ agony in the garden of Gethsemane is an illustration of how difficult it can be to do the will of God. Yet Jesus places this petition up front, along with the two other petitions in the opening verses of this prayer: “Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done.”

The original Greek text of this verse is slightly ambiguous. It can either read “thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” or “thy will be done both in heaven and on earth”. Perhaps Jesus starts the prayer in this way to turn our hearts towards God’s kingdom, reminding us to actively desire his will to be done both here and in heaven.

He may choose to use our hands and hearts to bring the kingdom of heaven about on earth. So when I pray, “Your kingdom come,” I am inviting God to use me as an instrument to help bring about that kingdom, both here and where everyone will live in the joy of God’s eternal love.