Where
In The Bible Will I Find:
Prayers
Should Still Be For The Kingdom To Come?
We
are taught to pray, in fact, Paul tells us to "Pray without
ceasing" (I Thess. 5:17), that is, continue in a prayerful
attitude, giving thanks to God for everything being as well with us as it is
and asking Him for His continual blessings. John the baptist taught his
disciples to pray and when one of them later became a disciple of Jesus he
asked Him, "...Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his
disciples. And he said unto them, When You pray, say, Our Father which art
in heaven. Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in
heaven, so in earth" (Luke 11:1 –2).
Matthew
records this prayer in chapter six. It is incorrect to refer to this prayer
as the "Lord's Prayer,” because Jesus could hardly have prayed for
forgiveness of sins, for He had no sins (Heb. 4:15). This is actually the
"Disciples’ Prayer," or the "Model Prayer." The
disciples could, and were told to pray for the kingdom to come: for at that
time, the kingdom was not in existence, it was some time after He gave this
prayer to the disciples that the Lord promised them, "...I will
build my church ... And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom ...
" (Matt. 16:18-19).
Jesus
sent His disciples to preach “…The kingdom of heaven is at hand"
(Matt. 10:7). After the death and resurrection of the Lord, He told His
disciples to wait in Jerusalem on the first Pentecost and there they would
receive the Holy Spirit. On the first Pentecost after His resurrection the
Spirit came with power and the apostles spake being guided by the Holy
Spirit and the kingdom became a reality on that day as " ... the
Lord added to the church [kingdom] those who were being saved"
(Acts 2:47).
The
church that Jesus had promised which was the "kingdom at hand"
preached by His disciples was not established and people were becoming
subjects in that kingdom by OBEYING the Word of God. The church and the
kingdom are the same – spoken of as the same institution – “…the
Father ... who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us
into the kingdom of his dear son ... And he is the head of the body, the
church..." (Col. 1:12-13, 18).
"Ye
are come ... To the general assembly and church of the firstborn ...
Wherefore, receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have
grace...”
(Heb. 12:23, 28). "Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered
up the kingdom to God, even the Father…" (I Cor. 15:2425).
Since Pentecost the apostles never again had to preach "the kingdom
is at hand," and neither can we no more pray "Thy kingdom
come" than we can pray for Jesus to establish His church, because
His church is already here and Christ is NOW reigning over His kingdom and
all Christians are citizens of His kingdom. Christ will reign over His
kingdom until He comes again at which time He will deliver up His kingdom to
His Father (I Cor. 15:24).
