“Yet God my King is from of old, working salvation in the Earth”

                                                                                                ~Psalm 74:12 NRSV

So why pray in one breath for God’s Kingdom to come and in the next for His will to be done?  Aren’t they essentially the same thing?  Simply put, God’s Kingdom is where He rules, but God’s will is what He intends.  What does He intend for the world?  And if He met with greater faith in His wanderings through the world, what exactly would He be doing?  Rest assured it’s more humble and less cutting edge than you think!

And what about you?  Does He rule in you?  Are you aware of what He intends for you?  I mean, beyond some vague, nebulous sense of being meant for eternal life, do you know what He intends for you?  How would your life be different if you were more that person than the one you are today?

Dallas Willard said in The Spirit of the Disciplines that the nearest and best synonym for “salvation” is “life.”  So what would more abundant God-life look like if it were manifest in you and in the world around you?  Can you enter into that life?  Can you be a vessel of that life today?

This Christ-life is meant for now.  It’s about far more than just holding on until He returns—as if the one aim of life was holding on until we get to eternity!  Eternity is now, friends!  You are not far from the Kingdom of God!  He has already invaded this world in Christ.  It’s rather like D-Day:  once the Allies established a beachhead in France the war was essentially over, but there were a whole lot of battles yet to be fought.  Ever since the Resurrection of Jesus, the war is over, but yes, there are indeed a whole lot of battles yet to be fought.  Merely holding on until we reach Heaven is no way to live when God’s Kingdom of love, joy, peace, grace and strength are near to us right now!

THY WILL BE DONE

Lord, as Your kingdom comes, as Your reign is established, let Your will and purposes be accomplished therein.  May all those who are called by Your Name bend the knee in allegiance and devotion to You.  May “the obedience of faith” be our hallmark.  We surrender to Your will, sacrificing our own wills on the altar of obedience.  As You come and indwell us, rule in us to accomplish Your purposes.  Give us the grace to join our wills to Yours as we offer them in Your service.  Send forth legions of angels to do battle in the heavenly realms so that Your people’s way would be leveled.  Then let Your people wage their own battle to enter fully and joyfully and readily into the Land that is Promised.  Lord, let all this world’s systems, all nations, all governments, all rulers, all people, all families, and all of nature itself be what You have ordained them to be; let Your will and Your purposes be accomplished everywhere and at all times.  And may Your people, Your Church, stand for Your purposes and protect, honor and defend them with boldness, courage, faith and hope.  May we love Your purposes and, led by Your Spirit, enjoy the grace to work with You until all their clarity and brilliance is established.  Have mercy upon us as we set about Your work, for it is You who are at work in us.    And we recognize as well that you are about purposes far larger and far beyond than ourselves.  May these larger purposes of Yours be extended and fulfilled throughout all Creation.

[Beginning with the most global concerns you are aware of, invite God to accomplish His purposes in those places and/or issues.  Then think nationally.  Then of your community and neighborhood.  Then, not least, pray for the unity and purity of the Church—not just your local church, but the entire Church of Jesus Christ.]