The prayer that Jesus taught His disciples to pray, which we commonly call the Lord’s Prayer (Matt. 6:9–13; see also Luke 11:2–4), is a kingdom prayer. It assumes the coming of the kingdom through Christ and shows us how we ought to pray now considering the kingdom realities in which we live. Jesus tells His disciples:
“Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” (Matt. 6:9–13)
When we pray “our Father,” we are reminded that we can call God Father because of what Christ has done for us; through Christ we can call God Father (see Heidelberg Catechism 120). When we pray “our Father in heaven,” we are reminded of the majesty and authority of God, the heavenly King who can give us what we need (see HC 121).
The first petition of the Lord’s Prayer is “Hallowed be your name.” This is a prayer for God to be glorified, which is also important in the context of the kingdom; the kingdom of God is ultimately about the glory of God. When we pray “Hallowed be your name,” we are praying a kingdom prayer that God’s name and glory would be exalted in the earth. In his classic book, Herman Ridderbos comments on this petition: “The coming of the kingdom is first of all the display of the divine glory.”1
The second and third petitions of the Lord’s Prayer are also related to the kingdom: “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Richard Pratt has observed, “This prayer sums up the central message of the Bible in a few words.”2 This is a prayer that God’s kingdom would come more and more fully and that God’s will would be done on earth. In this case “will of God” means doing what God commands.3 It is also a prayer that God’s kingdom would be extended throughout the world. Heidelberg Catechism 123 captures the second petition memorably:
“Your kingdom come” means: Rule us by your Word and Spirit in such a way that more and more we submit to you. Preserve and increase your church. Destroy the devil’s work; destroy every force which revolts against you and every conspiracy against your holy Word. Do all this until your kingdom fully comes, when you will be all in all.4
Another helpful exposition of the second petition comes from Westminster Larger Catechism 191. Among other things, the Larger Catechism says that in this petition “we pray that the kingdom of sin and Satan may be destroyed, the gospel propagated throughout the world . . . : that Christ would rule in our hearts here.” This is also a prayer that the church would be strengthened in this age. Praying for God’s kingdom to come is to pray for God’s will to be done on earth in the present age as we look ahead to the second coming of Christ.
We are also to pray, “Lead us not into temptation.” It is especially important to understand the timing of the kingdom’s coming to understand this petition. Put simply, this is a prayer that we be spared the wiles and traps of the devil that would lead us into sin even now. This is a practical prayer for daily living.
In contemporary scholarship, however, it has become common to view this prayer as a very specific prayer about being spared from the great trial or tribulation (the Greek term peirasmos can mean either of these, as well as the more familiar temptation) at the end of time.5 Despite the popularity of this view, this narrower reading of being delivered from the final eschatological trial misses the present reality of kingdom conflict around us every day and that the kingdom does not come all at once.6 We need to be spared the snares of the devil, for right now he roams around like a roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8). This is not just a prayer for the future; it is a prayer for faithful kingdom living each day.
The interim between the first and second comings of Christ is a time when the devil’s kingdom is defeated in principle, but the devil is still active. We live in a time of continuing spiritual danger. As we will see further in chapter 7, we live in a time of conflict between kingdoms. We therefore need to be protected in this age of kingdom growth that we may come safely into the consummated kingdom in the future. We therefore must pray that we are not led into temptation but are delivered from evil and from the evil one himself
The text of the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew does not include the traditional ending that is part of the liturgical use of the Lord’s Prayer: “For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.” This portion of the prayer is not found in the best manuscripts but most likely comes from the end of David’s prayer in 1 Chronicles 29:11. It therefore is most certainly a biblical prayer, and it is appropriate to pray in conjunction with the Lord’s Prayer. Jesus is the greater David who brings a greater kingdom. If David could pray that the kingdom belongs to the Lord forever, surely it is appropriate for us to pray this, since Christ has brought the long-awaited kingdom promised in Scripture.
Herman Ridderbos, Coming of the Kingdom, 20–21; see also Vos, Teaching of Jesus, 11,
20–21, 49, 51.↩
Richard L. Pratt, Designed for Dignity, 3–4.↩
Kevin De Young, The Lord’s Prayer: Learning from Jesus on What, Why, and
How to Pray (Crossway, 2022), 46–47.↩
Translation from Chad Van Dixhoorn, ed., Creeds, Confessions, and Catechisms: A Reader’s Edition (Crossway, 2022).↩
E.g., Ernst Lohmeyer, “Our Father”: An Introduction to the Lord’s Prayer, trans. John Bowden (Harper & Row, 1965), 195, 203–6; and Raymond E. Brown, “The Pater Noster as an Eschatological Prayer,” Theological Studies 22 (1961): 205.↩
See Vos, Teaching of Jesus, 36; see also Ridderbos, Coming of the Kingdom, 107–8.↩
Ligonier Ministries