Lord's Prayer Archives - Kingdom Uprising

Time and again, Jesus proclaimed in words and actions the reality that one day, “God is going to make everything wrong in the world right.”

That in itself, the message and enactment of the coming kingdom of God, is incredible.

But what is even more amazing is that God allows us to join him in the process!

Consider Matthew 6:9-10 (NASB):

“Therefore, you should pray like this:

Our Father in heaven,
Your name be honored as holy.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.”

Through prayer, we can participate in what God is now doing, and will do, here on the earth.

Let’s break down what Jesus is saying.

First, he is telling us to petition our Father in heaven to make his name, all that he is and stands for, be set apart, holy. How do we do that? Well, when we pray that God would be honored as holy, he changes hearts and our perspectives to help us to live in a way that glorifies him.

Second, Jesus is telling us to petition God establish his kingdom and enact his will here on planet earth. This prayer has both a present and future component: when we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we are praying for God’s reign, his will, to manifest in our lives today, and we are also praying for the establishment of the physical, earthly kingdom which shall come to fruition at the return of King Jesus, which he himself so often spoke of and demonstrated.

There is one thing that I would really like you to notice here: namely that God is concerned about the present and future state of the earth, and that his desire is to transform the misery and corruption that is our current experience. His plan is for the renewal of the earth, through you and I (and ultimately Jesus), not our removal from the earth after death.

That’s some great news, right?

So let’s make an earnest effort to follow in the teachings of Jesus and to participate, through prayer and action, in the restoration of all things!

Dated between a.d 60 and 150 the Didache is an early Christian manual on how to do church, covering baptism, communion, righteous living, and other practical topics. It is one of the earliest Christian documents ever written apart from those which are in the New Testament.

Didache 8.2
Nor should you pray like the hypocrites. Instead, pray like this, just as the Lord commanded in his Gospel: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…”

Didache 9.4
Just as this broken bread was scattered upon the mountains and then was gathered together and became one, so may your church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into your kingdom; for yours is the glory and the power through Jesus Christ forever.

Didache 10.5-6
5 Remember your church, Lord, to deliver it from all evil and to make it perfect in your love; and from the four winds gather the church that has been sanctified into your kingdom, which you have prepared for it; for yours is the power and glory forever. 6 May grace come, and may this world pass away. Hosanna to the God of David. If anyone is holy, let him come; if anyone is not, let him repent. Maranatha! Amen.

Didache 16.6-8
6 And then there will appear the signs of the truth: first the sign of an opening in heaven, then the sign of the sound of a trumpet, and third, the resurrection of the dead—7 but not of all; rather, as it has been said, “The Lord will come, and all his saints with him.” 8 Then the world will see the Lord coming upon the clouds of heaven.

The author(s) of the Didache believed the kingdom was in the future. Some Christians today say that although Jesus prayed for God’s kingdom to come, it arrived on the day of Pentecost. However, the Didache goes against such an idea, since they were still praying for the kingdom to come. We see a hope that God will gather together the church into God’s kingdom. At first this may not seem unusual until we realize how corporate the language is. Instead of individuals going to heaven at death, the Didache instructs us to pray that God would gather all of his church into his kingdom. This is an event that happens once at the end of our age. Lastly, this document teaches that Jesus is coming back to this earth with his saints. The goal is not to depart and join Jesus in heaven, but to meet him (presumably in the air on his way down cf. 1 Thessalonians 4.17) and escort him to his destination on earth.