“Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭10‬ ‭CSB‬‬

This is part of how Jesus said we should pray. (The whole thing is often referred to as “The Lord’s Prayer.”) This verse is simple, but the wording is a bit strange and brings up a few questions for me.

First, what is His “kingdom” and why am I praying for its arrival?

During Jesus’s ministry on earth, He spent a lot of time explaining how different things were supposed to be in His kingdom. Basically, everything is upside-down. The first will be last, the meek will inherit the earth, and I’m supposed to meet the needs of others before I meet my own and love my enemies…. Stuff like that. When God first created the world, this was how He intended it to be and how it was. Until He granted His people the gift of choice, and we chose selfishness, power and control. We put ourselves first, and at that moment everything turned upside down. It’s been that way ever since. Evil reigns here. Selfishness, greed, fear, loneliness, hunger…

When I pray for God’s kingdom to come, I’m praying for the world to be made right side up again, where love reigns. Generosity, peace, contentment, joy…

The second question I have is, if God is all-powerful, why do I have to pray for His will to be done on earth the way it is done in heaven?

The answer to this question is exactly the same as the first. God gave us choice. He could enforce His will here the way He does in heaven, apparently, but He decided He wanted His children to see the alternative to living His way. So He let us choose, and we chose not to do things His way. Adam and Eve chose to run things their way back in the garden. And every day since then, we humans have been choosing our way over God’s way. Over and over again.

Seeing the result of these choices, I’m happy to pray for God’s will to be done here instead . Why wouldn’t I want to follow the advice of the wisest Being that exists, the One who created everything, knows how everything works, is made of pure love, and stands outside of time and space?

Dear God,

I know your will is good, pleasing, and perfect. Doing things your way is the only way to have peace, joy and love reign on earth. Please bring your kingdom to earth. Turn everything right side up again! Teach me how to live as if your kingdom were already here until you do. I choose your way over mine or any other human’s. Reveal your will to me every day and bring me back when I stray from it.