Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done
By Jonathan Mitchell
The title of this essay comes from the KJV version of Lu. 11:1b and 11:2a. Here is the rendering from the Jonathan Mitchell New Testament, giving the context for Jesus' instructions concerning praying:
"a certain one of His disciples (students; apprentices) said to Him, 'Lord (Master), teach us [how] to be normally thinking and speaking toward having goodness, ease and well-being (or: to be periodically praying) - just as John also taught his disciples.' So He said to them, 'Whenever you may be [other MSS: are] normally focused on having goodness, ease and well-being (or: praying), habitually say,'Our Father [other MSS: O Father] - [You] within the midst of the heavens (or: centered in the atmospheres)! Let your Name be separated, set-apart and kept holy (or: regarded as sacred)! Let Your Reign, Kingdom and sovereign influence come at once! Let the effect of Your will, purpose and intent be birthed (come to exist) at once -- as in heaven (or: within [the] atmosphere), so also upon the earth (or: Land)!'"
Notice that both John and Jesus were teaching their disciples... those who were their apprentices. The disciples (apprentices) were committed to the teachings of their masters (John and Jesus). The prayer, here in Luke, continues on about the disciples' provisions, their failures (shortcomings; sins), about tests, and it ends in Lu. 11:4b,
"at once drag (rescue) us out of danger, away from the misery-gushed, worthless person, or the one of malicious intent, or who has bad and unprofitable qualities (or: the bad situation; the wicked person; the miserable condition; this painful labor; this unprofitable endeavor)." (ibid)
Observe that they were to be praying about situations in their present lives, there and then. However, after the opening address, to "our Father," and then an expression that God's Name and designation be honored and revered, their first (and thus, primary) request is to be that God's Reign, Kingdom and sovereign influence come at once (the aorist tense), and thus, that His will, purpose and intent would at once come into being upon the earth, or the Land. God's sovereign influence upon the earth, and His will were to be their foremost focus.
In our everyday lives, we are normally focused upon the things which follow the opening requests of this prayer, which are found in the rest of the prayer. These secondary requests are things which concern US, and not God's purpose or intent in the earth. When our personal requests are not answered (especially about health, finances, or "bad situations"), we normally become anxious, distressed or depressed. Like Job, we tend to ask, "Why are things going like this?" Long-term "miserable conditions" can lead us to lose hope and despair for our very lives (whether potentially induced by severe illness, loss of means of support, or life-threatening events, such as a war, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, storms, floods, etc.).
In such times or situations, we tend not to think about God's will or intent. Like Israel, of old, we may cry out to God for deliverance, or, we might just sink into the darkness of our situations. So, what can we do? We are always admonished to "Trust in the Lord," and this is often our default response. But still, our pain and our concerns continue. We may "look unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith and trust," but we normally continue having to deal with those who might have malicious intent. Yet, our mental and spiritual focus is important. We need His sovereign influence to affect our situations. We need Jesus and our Father, who have made their home within us (Jn. 14:23b), to reign over our conditions and situations. We need the Paraclete (Holy Spirit) to come to our aid. Paul instructs us about this, in Rom. 8:
26. Now similarly (or: likewise; in like manner), the Spirit also (or: even the Breath-effect; the Attitude, as well,) habitually takes hold together with us, on the opposite side of a situation, so as to lend a helping hand, and thus to assist in our weakness (or: joins with a helping hand in the sphere of our lack of strength and infirmity; [note: = old covenant weakness of the Law, or of Adam; cf 1 Cor. 8:7, 10-12; 9:20-22; 15:43; 2 Cor. 12:9; 13:4; Gal. 4:9; Heb. 7:18]), for we have not seen, and thus do not know, nor are we aware of, the thing which we should think, speak, or do, toward having things go well unto goodness, to accord with just what must be (or: what we can pray commensurately concerning the degree of that which is necessary, and down from the sphere of what is binding), but rather the Spirit Himself (the Breath-effect Itself; this very, same Attitude), from above, constantly and repeatedly comes to the rescue and hits the target within us (or: falls in on our behalf; instead of us hits within; falls in for and over us; or: makes hyper-intercession, in union with us, and in our sphere) accompanied by unexpressed, unutterable or inexpressible groanings (or: in baffling sighs too deep for words; or: together with wordless and inarticulate battle cries of deep emotion; or: by, and with, shouts of victory from the core of His Being)!
27. So, the One continuously searching (tracing; exploring) the hearts has seen, knows, and is aware of, what [is] the effect of the mind-set, intent and way of thinking of the Breath-effect (or: This Spirit's minding, opinion-result and thinking; or: the frame of mind and thought from the spirit and attitude), because (or: that) down from, and in line with, God (or: in congruent relation to, and accord with, God; on the level of, in the sphere of, and commensurate with,God) He (or: it) continually comes to the rescue and hits on target within(encounters and falls in union; obtains within while inwardly interceding),over [the situation of] and for the sake of [the] set-apart folks (holy and sacredly different people).
But what if, believing this, we see no change and we continue in our depressions? It can sometimes help to remember Paul's teaching in Col. 3:3, "for you see, you folks died, and your life has been hidden accompanied, so that it is now concealed together, within the midst of the Christ, in the sphere of, and within the midst of, God (or: centered in union with God)." [cf Rom. 6:8, 11]
Yes, in Christ, we died. Why? Many reasons, but here let us cite just one, given by Jesus:
"unless the grain of wheat (or: kernel of corn; = seed of an agricultural crop), upon falling into the earth (the ground; the field) should die, it by itself continues remaining (residing; dwelling; staying) alone. Yet if it should die, it proceeds to bear much fruit (= it produces a harvest of many grains, or, seeds)." (Jn. 12:24)
Can we imagine that the things or situations which "kill us" are intended by God to bring forth much fruit through our death? [cf Rom. 8:28]
Knowing this, can we accept as fact what is expressed in Eph. 1:11?
"Within, and in union with, Whom we were (or: are) also chosen, being previously marked out (or: being before designated) in keeping with (or: down from; corresponding to; in accord with) a before-placed (or: predetermined-by-setting-forth; destined; [cf Rom. 8:17, 30]) aim, design and purpose of the One continuously operating (effecting; energizing) all things (or: the whole) in accord with (or: down from; in line with; in correspondence to; following the pattern of) the deliberated purpose (intent; design; plan; determined counsel) of His will (or: resultant decision of His resolve; effect of His desire)," [cf Isa. 46:10]
We can take comfort from the words by David, in Ps. 18:28 (LXX, JM): "because You Yourself, O LORD (= Yahweh), will proceed in lighting my lamp! My God will continuously give Light to my darkness."
Encouragement can also be found in the reality expressed in Acts 17:28,
"For you see, within the midst of, and in union with, Him we continuously live (or, as a subjunctive: could be constantly living), and are constantly moved about and put into motion, and continue existing (experiencing Being). Even as certain of the poets down among you people have said, 'You see, we are also a family of the One (or: we even continuously exist being a race whose source is the One; or: we also are His species and offspring; we are even a family which is composed of the One and which is the One).'" [a quote of Aratos and of Keleanthes; cf Eph. 3:15]
And then, we read in Heb. 12:9b,
"To a much greater extent, shall we not be continually placed under and humbly arranged and aligned by, to, with, for, and in, the Father of the spirits (or: the Progenitor of breath-effects and Mentor of attitudes)? And now, we will keep on living (or: And thus, we will progressively LIVE)! [cf Nu. 27:16; Eph. 6:2-3]
Do we really desire to have His Kingdom come, in our lives, and His will, for our lives, to be done? John Gavazzoni has shared an important truth about our situations as related to this prayer which was constructed by Jesus: "It's a prayer of agreement of a fact already in effect. It correlates with Jesus praying, 'Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.'" His Kingdom and Reign has come, and His will and intent are being done. Can we accept this?
Isa. 26:3 has been variously translated. The KJV and RV offer us: "Thou wilt keep [him] in perfect peace, [whose] mind is stayed [on Thee], because he trusts in Thee."
The NEB gives us, "Thou dost keep in peace men of constant mind, in peace because they trust in thee."
The NIV renders this: "You will keep in perfect peace [Hebrew: peace, peace] him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You."
An example for our way of life is set forth in Ps. 1:2,
"But to the contrary, his will, intent and purpose is in union with the Law of [the] Lord (or: resides within the custom belonging to [Yahweh]; is within the midst of the law which is [Yahweh]; is in the sphere of the Teaching [=Torah] from [Yahweh]), and within His Law (or: dispensed and established principle) will he habitually meditate and give )careful thought, day and night." (LXX, JM)
It seems to us, that our need is to see who we are (God's children), and this only comes by our Father revealing this truth to us. We need Him to cause us to accept His plans for us, and then to be able to prioritize our spiritual, physical, social and economic situations in accordance with the revelation of who we are, in Him. Jesus represented our place in the world's system by using agricultural and animal husbandry metaphors: we are like trees, orchards, vineyards or sheep. We are also compared to a lump of clay in the hands of the Divine Potter. We are like gold or silver ore which need to be refined (Mal. 3).
How much of these ancient teachings do we normally apply to our lives? Can the presence and accessibility of God's Reign (Sovereign influence; Kingdom) encourage us and give us His Peace? Are we living our daily lives in the higher realm into which Christ has brought us? May we live in the awareness that "the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit (or: Spirit)" (1 Cor. 6:17). May this existential reality be enough for us to walk through our "valley of the shadow of death" (Ps. 23:4) with no fear. May we have "peace like a river."
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