The Second Petition

In the first petition, we prayed about God's honor and name, asking that He would keep the world from using them to dress up its lies and wickedness, and that He would help us revere His name and hold it holy in both our teaching and our lives, to the praise and glory of that name. Here, in the same spirit, we pray that His kingdom would come. Just as God's name is already holy in itself, yet we still pray that it would be made holy among us, so too His kingdom comes on its own, without any prayer of ours, yet we still ask that it would come to us. That is, we pray that it would take hold in us and among us, so that we might be counted among those in whom His name is honored and His kingdom flourishes.

So what exactly is the kingdom of God? The answer is simply what we learned in the Creed: that God sent His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, into the world to redeem and rescue us from the devil's power, to bring us to Himself, and to reign over us as a king of righteousness, life, and salvation, defending us against sin, death, and a guilty conscience. And beyond that, God gave us His Holy Spirit to teach us through His holy Word, and by His power to enlighten us and strengthen us in faith. What we are praying for here, then, is that all of this would become real in our lives. We pray that we would honor His name through His holy Word and through our Christian lives, so that those of us who have received it would remain in it and grow in it day by day. We pray that others would receive it and follow it, and that it would spread with power throughout the world. We pray that, led by the Holy Spirit, many would enter the kingdom of grace and share in the blessings of redemption, and that we would all remain together forever in this one kingdom that has already begun to appear among us.

God's kingdom comes to us in two distinct ways: first, in time, through the Word and faith; and second, it will be revealed in eternity. We pray that it may come to those who are not yet part of it, and also that in those of us who have received it, it may grow daily and remain ours in eternal life. All of this amounts to saying: Dear Father, we pray that you would first give us your Word, that the Gospel would be sincerely proclaimed throughout the world; and we pray that it would be received in faith, taking root and living within us; so that through the Word and the power of the Holy Spirit, your kingdom may prevail among us and defeat the kingdom of the devil; so that he would have no claim or power over us and would at last be utterly overthrown, with sin and death and hell destroyed, leaving us to live forever in perfect righteousness and joy.

Notice that we are not praying here for a mere crust of bread or for some temporary, passing blessing; we are praying for an eternal, priceless treasure and for everything that God Himself can give. It would be far too great for any human heart to presume to ask for, if God had not Himself commanded us to pray for it. Because He is God, He claims the honor of giving far more richly and abundantly than anyone can comprehend, like an eternal and inexhaustible fountain that, the more it pours forth and overflows, the more it has to give. He desires nothing more urgently from us than that we ask Him for many great things, and He is displeased when we fail to ask and entreat Him with confidence.

Imagine the wealthiest and most powerful emperor in the world inviting a poor beggar to ask for anything he wanted, ready to lavish great and princely gifts upon him. If that poor, foolish man asked for nothing more than a cup of broth, he would rightly be seen as a scoundrel who had mocked and despised the royal invitation. He wouldn't deserve to stand in the emperor's presence at all. In the same way, it is a dishonor and a disgrace to God when we, to whom He has pledged unspeakable blessings, either despise those blessings or lack the confidence to believe we'll actually receive them, and can barely bring ourselves to ask for a piece of bread. The fault lies entirely in that shameful unbelief that won't even trust God for daily food, let alone expect eternal blessings from Him with any real confidence. We must therefore actively resist unbelief and make the kingdom of God the first thing we pray for. When we do that, everything else will follow in abundance, just as Christ teaches: "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you" (Matt 6:33). After all, how could God let us go without the basic necessities of this life when He has already promised us blessings that are eternal and imperishable?