Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done
Month 4: The Teacher (Part 1) · Heart Matters
Today's Scripture
Read together: Matthew 6:9-10
9 So then, this is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. 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: 2 Chronicles 6-8
Reading the whole Bible in a year — do this when you have extra time. (Around Day 115 of 365 — Solomon's great prayer of dedication, and God answers with fire and glory.)The Heart of It
After "Father" and "hallowed be Your name," the next two lines of Jesus' prayer point our hearts in a surprising direction. We pray, "Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Notice it is Your kingdom, not mine. And Your will, not mine. Before we ever ask God to do our will, Jesus teaches us to want His. That's a heart matter, because deep down we all tend to pray, "God, please bless my plans." Jesus gently turns it around. He teaches us to pray, "Father, line my plans up with Yours." To pray "Your kingdom come" is to ask God to be King. King in the world. King in our home. And first of all, King in me.
And "on earth as it is in heaven" gives us a picture to aim at. In heaven, God's will is done right away, gladly, and all the way. There is no grumbling. No dragging of feet. No halfway obeying. Jesus teaches us to long for that same gladness here, in our families, our friendships, and our own stubborn hearts. This isn't a sad giving-up, like throwing in the towel. It is the most freeing prayer there is, because God's will is always good, wise, and loving. When a child learns to truly mean "Your will be done," they have found the secret of a peaceful heart. They are trusting that the Father's plan is better than their own.
Around the Table
In heaven, everyone happily does what God wants right away. We can ask God to help the earth, and our family, be like that too!
Let's do it: Say it with happy faces. "Your will be done, because Your way is best!"
Jesus teaches us to pray for God's kingdom and God's will before our own wishes. That means trusting that His plan is better than ours.
Let's talk: What's something you really want? Can you pray, "But Father, Your will is best," and mean it?
"Your kingdom come, Your will be done" puts our hearts back in order. God's reign and God's purposes come before our own wishes and comfort.
Let's go deeper: Where is there a tug-of-war between what you want and what you sense God wants? What would it look like to surrender there?
💬 Conversation Starter
If you got to be king or queen for one day, what's the first good thing you would change? Jesus says God's kingdom brings the best changes of all.
🛡️ Defending the Faith
The line "on earth as it is in heaven" assumes two things. It assumes heaven is real, and that God's good rule is the standard. It is not something humans made up. Jesus came from heaven and rose again, so He speaks about it first-hand. We hold this hope with confidence and gentleness ().
For Dad · Go Deeper
Here is a quiet test of a man's spiritual maturity. Does his praying circle around getting God to bless his plans, or around lining himself up with God's? "Your kingdom come, Your will be done" is meant to pull down the small kingdom of self that lives in every heart, including yours. The hardest place to pray that line is not over big world events. It is over your own disappointments. The door that stayed shut. The plan that fell through. The child who isn't who you hoped. To pray "Your will be done" there, through tears, like Jesus in Gethsemane, is the deepest worship a father can offer. Your kids will remember watching you do it far longer than any sermon.
Draws on: John Stott, The Message of the Sermon on the Mount.
Let's Pray Together
"Father, we want Your will more than our own. Be King in our home. Be King in our hearts. Help us trust that Your way is always best, even when it is hard. In Jesus' name, amen."
The most peaceful prayer I can pray is, "Father, Your will be done, because Your way is best."