by R.C. Sproul

Thy Kingdom Come
One central motif in the Scriptures is the kingdom of God. It was the main thrust of Jesus' teaching and preaching. Jesus came as the fulfillment of John the Baptist's message, which was clear, precise, and simple: "Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand."

Jesus focused on the kingdom in the Sermon on the Mount, the keynote address of his preaching. Dealing with the reality of the kingdom of God, it was more than simply an ethical presentation of principles for good living. Jesus was talking about the character traits of people who live a redeemed life-style within the kingdom of God.

The kingdom concept is difficult for us to understand in our present-day culture. Ours is a democracy, where the mere idea of a monarchy is repugnant. Remember that we are heirs of the revolutionaries who proclaimed, "We will serve no sovereign here!" Our nation is built on a resistance to sovereignty. Americans have fought battles and entire wars to be delivered from monarchy. How are we to understand the minds of New Testament people who were praying for the Son of David to restore a monarchy and the throne of Israel?

The King has come. Christ sits exalted at the right hand of God and reigns as King. But Jesus is not merely the spiritual King of the church, where his only responsibility is to exercise authority over our piety, as if there were a separation between church and state. Jesus is King of the universe. That is the fact of the Ascension. This reality, however, is not believed or acknowledged by the world. Though that kingship is an established fact right now, it is invisible to the world in which we live. In heaven, there is no question about it. On the earth, there is considerable question about it. Jesus is saying that we must pray that the kingdom of God will become visible on the earth, that the invisible will be made visible.

Rebellion against God's authority is nothing new or unique to our day or to Western culture. In Psalm 2:2-3, we read: "The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and his anointed, saying, 'Let us burst their bonds asunder, and cast their cords from us.' "

What is God's response to this uprising? "He who sits in the heavens laughs; the LORD has them in derision" (Psalm 2:4).

God is not amused for long, for we read in verses 5 and 6, "Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, 'I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.' "

The Lord speaks to those who have rebelled against him--those involved in this cosmic Declaration of Independence--and declares, "I have installed my King, I have anointed my Christ, and you had better submit to that." Reading further in verse 10, we learn something else:

Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, . . . lest he be angry, and you perish in the way; for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

Christians are to pray for the manifestation of the reign of Christ and the emergence of his kingdom. If that is our prayer, it is our responsibility to show our allegiance to the King. People won't have to guess about whom we are exalting.

Thy Will Be Done
This phrase is not asking that God's determinate counsel come to pass or that God usher in those things that he has foreordained from eternity. Rather, we are praying for obedience to the revealed preceptive will of God--what he has made plain to us by way of his commandments. This third petition is a prayer for obedience on the part of God's people, that those who are the people of God will obey the mandates of God.

On Earth As It Is in Heaven
The angels in God's court do as he says and desires. His people on earth do not. God is the covenant Maker; we are the covenant breakers, frequently on a collision course with the will of the Father.

There is a sense in which the first three petitions are all saying the same thing. The honoring of God's name, the visibility of his kingdom, and the obedience to his will are virtually the same concept repeated three different ways. They are inseparably related. God is honored by our obedience. His kingdom is made visible by our obedience, and quite obviously his will is done when we are obedient to that will. These are the priorities Jesus has laid down.

We do not come rushing into God's presence arrogantly, assaulting him with our petty requests, forgetting whom we are addressing. We are to make certain that we have properly exalted the God of creation. Only after God has been rightly honored, adored, and exalted, do the subsequent petitions of God's people assume their proper place.

Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread
God provides for his people. It is noteworthy that the request here is for daily bread, not daily steak or daily prime rib. God provides the necessities, but not always the niceties.

Look at the experience of the Israelites after their deliverance from the land of Egypt. God miraculously provided the people with bread in the form of manna. Then what happened? First, they stopped thanking him, for his provision. Second, they stopped asking him for his provision, and third, they began grumbling about his provision. Finally, they began reminiscing about how good things had been in Egypt. They dreamed about the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, and the garlic they had had in Egypt--all the while forgetting about the oppression, the hardships, and the tortures they had endured at the hands of Pharaoh. They grumbled about having to eat manna for breakfast, manna for lunch, and manna for dinner. The Israelites ate manna soufflé, manna pie, manna meringue, boiled manna, baked manna, and broiled manna. Soon, they cried out for meat.

Their story is relayed to us in Numbers 11:18-20:

Say to the people, "Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept in the hearing of the LORD, saying, 'Who will give us meat to eat? For it was well with us in Egypt.' Therefore the LORD will give you meat and you shall eat. You shall not eat one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you."

God says, "You want meat. I'll give you meat, and you're going to eat meat until you're sick of it."

One of the things that betrays our fallen condition is the self-made man concept, which takes credit for the bounty of our goods and forgets the Source of all our provision. We must remember God is the one who gives us all we have in the ultimate sense.

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This is part five of R.C. Sproul's small book Does Prayer Change Things?. Over the coming weeks we will be posting the complete text of this short but profound and practical book right here at the Ligonier Ministries blog. We have already posted Chapter 1.