Learning to Want What God Wants

Most of us can say the Lord’s Prayer without even thinking about it.

And honestly, there’s mercy in that. When your mind is worn out and your heart feels heavy, it helps to have holy words within reach. But Jesus didn’t give us this prayer so we could mumble through it on autopilot. He gave it to form us, to steady us, and to train our hearts.

We’ve already seen how “Our Father in heaven” sets the tone. It reminds us who we’re talking to, and the kind of relationship we have with him. Last week we lingered over what it means to ask that his name would be hallowed. Now we come to the next request: “Your kingdom come.”

Those words are easy to say. They’re harder to mean.

Because if you pray them truthfully, you’re admitting something that many are hesitant to admit. You are confessing that your little kingdom isn’t enough, that your plans aren’t the center of the world, and that your will isn’t the final word on what’s good.

When we pray, “Your kingdom come,” we’re reminding ourselves that prayer isn’t where we bring God onto our team. Prayer is where God brings us into line with his will.

So when we pray, “Your kingdom come,” we are asking Jesus to exercise his kingly rule.

We are asking Jesus to rule in me, not just around me. We are asking Jesus to reign among us, not just in my private life. We are asking Jesus to rule through us, so that his mercy and truth spill outward into the world. And keep advancing that saving reign, quietly and steadily, until it reaches the ends of the earth.

What Do We Mean By “The Kingdom”?

Now when Jesus teaches us to pray, “Your kingdom come,” we should pause and ask a simple question. What does he mean by “kingdom”?

Jesus spoke about the kingdom of God more than any other topic. So if we are going to pray like this, we need to understand what we are asking for.

Here is the clearest way I know to define the kingdom of Heaven: The kingdom of God is God’s saving reign through Jesus Christ, brought home to us by the Holy Spirit.

In other words, the kingdom of heaven is not a place on a map, with borders and a flag. Picture it as rule and authority. The Old Testament promised that God would establish a kingdom that could not be shaken. Daniel saw a dominion that would never be destroyed, given to the Son of Man, for all peoples and nations.

“I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom is one that shall not be destroyed.”

Daniel 7:13–14, ESV

The New Testament announces that this promised kingdom has arrived in Jesus. He preached that the kingdom was near, and he showed its presence in his words, his works, and his authority.

And yet, Jesus compares the kingdom to a seed that grows slowly (Mark 4:26–29), to leaven that spreads quietly (Matthew 13:33), and to treasure that changes everything once you find it (Matthew 13:44).

The kingdom is present now in power (Luke 17:20–21; Romans 14:17), but it is not yet here in fullness (1 Corinthians 15:24–26; Revelation 11:15).

So we can say it like this: the kingdom is promised in the Old Testament, inaugurated in Christ, advancing through the gospel, and awaiting its final triumph when the King returns.

Ultimately, when we pray, “Your kingdom come,” we are praying for the reign of sin and Satan to be broken, for the gospel to spread, for the church to grow, and for the kingdom of grace to increase.

Hearts Surrendered To The King

So now that we have a better understanding of the idea of God’s kingdom, let’s take some time to think about what we should expect to see if we make a habit of sincerely praying “Your kingdom come.”

The first battlefield of the kingdom is the human heart. To pray “Your kingdom come” is first to pray, “Your kingdom reign in me.”

Paul says God “has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son” (Colossians 1:13, ESV). That transfer is real and decisive. But the day-to-day change is real, too. Old loves don’t disappear overnight. Old fears still flare up. Old habits keep reaching for the steering wheel.

That’s why we pray for the King’s rule to press down into our desires and decisions, until our lives start to look like our new address.

And that’s what Paul is getting at when he says, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts” (Colossians 3:15, ESV). In other words: let Christ call the shots. Let him decide what governs you. Where anger has been in charge, we ask for the King’s peace. Where lust has been in charge, we ask for the King’s purity. Where fear has been in charge, we ask for the King’s courage.

This is not self-help. This is surrender.

And if “surrender” sounds exhausting, listen to the promise: “The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17, ESV). God is not trying to crush you with demands. He is giving new life to you. It is a better life and it is eternal life.

Even so, joy is not the same thing as ease. The King who rules us is the King who first gave himself for us: “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28, ESV). The kingdom moves forward through the cross before it shines in glory.

So we hand over the keys. We pray, “Lord Jesus, I am no fit king. Rule me by your word. Fill me with your Spirit.”

And if this morning you find yourself outside of Christ, hear the King’s first command: “repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15, ESV). The kingdom has drawn near in the crucified and risen Jesus. Come to him. He will not cast you out (John 6:37).

A Church Shaped By The King

Now so far I have been focusing on what it means for us to be citizens of the kingdom as individuals, but Jesus did not call us to a solitary Christian life. He calls us into a community. He builds a church that embodies his rule.

Just as citizens of a nation live under shared obligations, Christ gives his church commands for our life together.

So when we pray “Your kingdom come,” we are asking for more than private holiness. We are asking for God to form a congregation, a community, that visibly belongs to the King.

Jesus says love in the church is public evidence of discipleship: “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35, ESV). When love governs our life together, the King is seen.

We pray, then, for worship shaped by God’s holiness and grace. “Let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:28–29, ESV). A kingdom church does not exist to entertain itself. It adores God. It trembles at his holiness. It delights in his grace. It gathers around his Word and his Table with humble joy.

We also pray for a unity the world cannot explain. Christ “himself is our peace,” reconciling us “in one body through the cross” (Ephesians 2:14–16, ESV). A kingdom church refuses to be divided by class, culture, personality, or preference. It bears with the weak. It honors the lowly. It keeps the gospel central.

So when we pray “Your kingdom come” we are also asking for the marks of the King among us as a church. We are praying for a church where repentance and faith stay near the surface, for discipline that heals rather than harms, for leaders who shepherd rather than dominate, and for members who work toward the common good. We ask for the fruit of the Spirit to ripen among us so that the outside world can see that God is present among us.

We should never underestimate what God can do through an ordinary congregation that truly longs for his reign.

A World Reclaimed by the King

We’ve talked about what the kingdom of God is, and what it should look like in our hearts and in our life together as a church. Now we need to talk about how Jesus pushes the prayer outward into all corners of the earth. “Your kingdom come” is not only a prayer for private holiness and congregational health. It is a prayer for the world.

Jesus calls his disciples “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world,” so that others may “give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:13–16, ESV). Peter says something similar when he urges believers to live honorably among unbelievers so that even the skeptical may see their good deeds and glorify God (1 Peter 2:12). So when we pray, “Your kingdom come,” we’re asking God to make his people faithful witnesses and humble servants.

We pray for open doors and clear speech (Colossians 4:3–4). The kingdom advances by the gospel alone. We are asking God to open blind eyes again and again, turning people from darkness to light and bringing forgiveness and new life in Christ (Acts 26:18). This petition carries a missionary longing for the day when the gospel reaches all nations (Matthew 24:14), and all peoples praise God (Psalm 67:3).

And we pray that the King’s mercy and justice would show up in our lives. Jesus blesses the merciful (Matthew 5:7). The prophets call for justice that runs steady and strong, like a river that won’t dry up (Amos 5:24). The kingdom is not a program of moral improvement, but where Christ reigns, mercy and faithfulness follow.

We also make room for suffering and perseverance. Trials produce steadfastness (James 1:2–4). The path into the kingdom often runs through hardship (Acts 14:22). God does not waste suffering. He uses it to deepen our loyalty to the King.

The kingdom has already come in Christ, and it is not yet fully revealed. We pray because we want to see more of what is already true, and because we long for the day when every knee bows and every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:10–11).