Page 27 - The Importance of Prayer Student Textbook

(Nehemiah 8:10, Psalm 28:7-8) Don’t miss this statement, as we glorify God, God in turn brings about a
deep fulfillment to our lives. God becomes most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. The
psalmist words it this way. O taste and see that the Lord is good, blessed is the man that trust in Him.
(Psalm 34:8) However, the root cause of man’s falling away from God is that they no longer like to retain
God in their knowledge. (Romans 1:20) However, the scriptures points to the fact that all rational beings
long to give glory to God!

What is our Lord’s intended meaning when He ask us to pray, Thy kingdom come? Is the kingdom of
God a future reality to be hoped for or a present reality to experience now? It is beyond the scope of
this introductory lesson on prayer to exhaustively expound about how to pray for the kingdom of God to
come. Many of its blessings are here to be enjoyed now; but many of them are not yet here. Some of its
power is available now but not all of it. However, 2 Peter 1:3 teaches us that God's power has given us
everything we need for life and godliness. There are many Bible verses that speaks about the kingdom
now, that we are to seek the kingdom, and the only way to experience it is to be born again. (Matthew
6:33, John 3:3, Luke 17:20-21) But there are passages that make it very clear that the kingdom is not yet
present. For example, in Luke 19:11. Jesus tells a parable to make the point that the kingdom is not yet
here. Verses 11–12 As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to
Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. He said
therefore, "A nobleman went into a far country to receive a kingdom and then return." He was near
Jerusalem. In other words, they thought he was about to make his move on the power center of the
land and set up an earthly kingdom. That was the common conception of the coming of the kingdom—it
would be with the kind of signs and wonders that would result in the destruction of all Israel's enemies
and establish a new reign of peace and righteousness in the world. But Jesus told a parable to make
clear that the kingdom is not coming that way now—it would be a long time in the future. Verse 12: "A
nobleman went into a far country to receive a kingdom and then return." In other words, Jesus is going
back to heaven and will be gone some time before he returns to establish his kingdom in power and
glory. Make no mistake, the coming of the kingdom is still future!

In the Lord’s prayer our Lord is talking about the kingdom now, and that we are to long for His coming
kingdom. When He ask us to pray that His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. He is wanting us to so
long for His kingdoms presence to manifest itself in our lives, that it would be like living in the kingdom
of God right now. All of us know that His will is done in heaven perfectly and joyfully. God also wants us
to know that the possibility of living perfectly right now, is possible according to I Corinthians 10:13, and
2 Peter 1:3. However, the reality is that none of us long for this possibility as we should, and therefore
our hearts are prone to wonder, prone to leave the God we love. Jerry Bridges writes in The Pursuit of
Holiness, we need to long to be holy, because He is holy. Jerry gives an example of a soldier going into a
battle and someone ask the soldier how many times they want to be wounded with a bullet from the
enemy’s gun? Of course, the obvious answer would be that not one soldier desires to ever be wounded.
Jerry points out that daily we expect to sin, rather than pray that the Fathers will would be done on
earth as it is in heaven perfectly, completely, joyfully, and willingly. Do we long for this kind of holiness?

The kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, and the kingdom of His dear Son are all used
interchangeable in the scriptures. So, when we pray for His kingdom to come, we are asking our Lord to
use us to expand His kingdom, with the spread of the gospel. There is a longing in our hearts to see
people come to faith in Christ. Whey you pray thy kingdom come you are longing for His manifest
presence to permeate this present world, as the manifest presence appeared time and time again in the
scriptures. Yes, God is omnipresent. However, at times He manifest Himself in supernatural ways.
Sometimes theologians call His manifest presence, divine encounters. (see Acts 8:26-39, 10:4, 16:25-31)

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