Lord, Teach us to Pray

Once, Jesus disciples approached Him and asked that He teach them to pray. Jesus responded by teaching them the Lord's Prayer. There is much to learn in and about the Lord's Prayer. That's what we are continuing to do, looking at and learning from the Lord's Prayer.

"Your Kingdom Come,"
I'm a citizen of the United States because I was born here. Two of our children were, for a time, also citizens of Canada because they were born there. Entry into God's kingdom, however, does not come by birth but by rebirth. I entered his kingdom not through parents who give breath but through the Spirit who works faith. "My kingdom is not of this world," Jesus told Pilate (John 18:36). It's a heavenly one, a kingdom of grace. It's made up of all believers in Jesus. And believers are those reborn by the Holy Spirit through the means of grace, the gospel in Word and sacraments. All such are citizens of a kingdom more wonderful than any on earth, with a loving King whose grace gladdens their hearts.

So what am I asking in this petition the Savior has taught me? First of all, I'm praying for myself. With "your kingdom come," I'm expressing appreciation to the One whose grace has plucked me out of Satan's kingdom of darkness. With these same words, I'm asking for assistance, admitting my realization that faith continues, only as it comes, by the working of the Spirit. Also, I'm stating my assurance that he who has brought me into Christ's kingdom will surely keep me in faith until I reach his kingdom of glory in heaven.

With "your kingdom come," I'm praying also for others. I want them to join me in Christ's wonderful kingdom. I want many more to share with me in the forgiveness and peace that comes when Christ rules over the heart. "Your kingdom come," my heart whispers for each baby brought to my church's baptismal font. For each family member to whom I teach the Word. For each neighbor I try to reach. To the millions of lost ones in different cities and foreign lands where missionaries have gone in my place. "Please, gracious Lord," I'm praying, "send your Spirit to work with your powerful gospel in their hearts too."
So what am I asking when I pray, "Hallowed be your name"? There's no way I can make his Word more holy. God's Word is holy by itself, and he can keep it so. He has, however, put it into my shaky hands. And that's where the need for this petition enters in. When I pray, "Hallowed be your name," I'm asking God to help me keep it holy by true teaching. I'm asking him to help me listen to all his Word says, not to try and make it say what I want to hear. I'm asking him to help me accept what it has to say, not to discard what I can't or don't want to understand. I'm asking him to help me stand in humble awe with opened heart and ears before his sacred Word.

I dare not forget that this is God's kingdom. He brings whom he wills into his fold. He stymies the base efforts of the devil to stop the coming of his kingdom. But I also need to remember that he has made me a partner in his precious kingdom work. He's asking me to get his Word out-that powerful gospel message through which alone he makes his kingdom come. Every time I pray this petition, I'm asking God to use me in spreading his Word wherever, whenever, and to whomever I can.
The Mission Petition, they call it. Now I see why.