Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done
Month 8: Talking with God — The Praying Family · Heart Matters
Today's Scripture
Read together: Matthew 6:10
10 Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Memory Verse
“So then, this is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.”— Matthew 6:9 (BSB)
📖 Bible-in-a-Year (optional)
Today's reading: Jeremiah 10–13
Reading the whole Bible in a year — do this when you have extra time. (The Lord alone is the true and living God.)The Heart of It
After teaching us to honor God's name, Jesus teaches the next line: "Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." This is a brave and beautiful prayer. It puts God's wishes ahead of our own. We're asking God to be King. We want Him to be King over the whole world, yes. But first we want Him to be King over our hearts and our home. In heaven, God's will is done perfectly, instantly, and joyfully. So we pray, "Father, make it like that down here too, starting with me."
Here's the heart matter. It's easy to pray "Your will be done" with our lips while secretly meaning "my will be done." Our hearts naturally want to be in charge. But God is wiser and kinder than we are. His plans for us are good, even when they're different from ours. Praying this line is how we slowly learn to trust Him. We loosen our grip on our own way. We say, like Jesus did in the garden, "not as I will, but as You will" (). This isn't giving up something good for something boring. It's trading our small, foggy plans for the perfect plans of a Father. He sees everything, and He loves us completely.
Around the Table
We ask God to be the King. And kings get to be in charge, because they know best!
Let's do it: March in place like a royal parade and cheer, "God is King! Your will be done!"
"Your will be done" means we want what God wants, even when it's different from what we want.
Let's talk: Can you think of a time when Mom or Dad said "no," and it turned out to be the better idea?
In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus Himself prayed "Your will be done." He gave up His own desires to the Father. That's the model for us.
Let's go deeper: What is one area where it's hard for you to truly want God's will more than your own?
💬 Conversation Starter
If you got to be king or queen of the house for one day, what's one good rule you'd make? God's kingdom is full of good rules, because He is perfectly good.
🛡️ Defending the Faith
Is it really safe to let God run things? The track record says yes. All across the Bible, people surrendered to God's will. Think of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus Himself. And God brought good even out of hard situations (). A God who gave His own Son for us can be trusted with our plans.
For Dad · Go Deeper
This petition is the heartbeat of discipleship: lining up our will with God's. But it cuts close to home for a father, because your children are watching whether you actually pray it. Sometimes plans get disrupted. A job changes. A sickness comes. You hear a "no" you didn't want. In those moments, do your kids hear you grumble? Or do they hear you say, "Lord, Your will be done"? Surrender modeled is surrender taught. This is also where prosperity teaching quietly fails families. It trains us to bend God's will to ours, rather than bending ours to His. The Spirit-filled home is not one where we name and claim our way. It's one where we trust and obey, confident that the Father's will is always good.
Draws on: Paul Tripp, Parenting; Tony Evans, The Kingdom Agenda.
Let's Pray Together
"Father, You are King, and Your way is always best. Help our family want what You want. Do Your good will in our home, just like it is done in heaven. We trust You. In Jesus' name, amen."
God's will isn't something to fear. It's the best plan a loving Father could have for me.