"Our Father"Sample

After addressing God as our heavenly Father and acknowledging that he is set apart from us, Jesus teaches us to pray in a way that is unnatural to us.

“Your kingdom come” means there’s much more to life than we see with our eyes. The physical, visible world we can taste, see, and touch is hard for us to miss. The spiritual world of God’s kingdom can be all too easily forgotten. But these are not actually two different worlds. God’s kingdom is already here but not yet fully complete. When we pray this phrase, we see ourselves in perspective: the life we get to live right now is not all of the life that God has for us to live with him.

“Your will be done” is the opposite of how we usually live and think. We default to doing what we want to do. Jesus teaches us to pray in a way that realigns our thoughts. It puts things in proper perspective. Many people get hung up on figuring out God’s will for their life. God’s will is not typically a step-by-step instruction booklet for you to follow. His will is to restore his broken creation, destroy evil, and bring new life to all people and places on this planet, leading to the next phrase.

“On earth, as it is in heaven” brings about a picture that is hard to imagine. We see wildly wonderful works of God’s creation when we look at the world. We also see the horrific hurt brought about by humans. Praying for God’s Kingdom to come and his will to be done puts us in a position to participate in God’s great restoration of his whole creation, both around the globe and right outside your front door.

TO THINK ABOUT

When is a time you have been aware of God’s kingdom?

What might happen to your life if you take the words “Your will be done” seriously?

How do you desire to see God’s kingdom come and God’s will be done here on earth?

When you think about heaven, what picture comes to mind?