Lakeland Seventh-day Adventist Church

Many of you know the reason I didn't post here last week, continuing our study of the Lord's prayer. It was a little scary to hear the doctor say there was something wrong with my electrocardiogram. When I was hurried aboard the medivac helicopter, perhaps you will forgive me for wondering if “Your kingdom” was coming just a bit sooner than I expected! I might have started to think. . . .

What about my family? What will happen to them?

Thoughts start to crowd in about things I wanted to get done at the church. There's so many cool things happening there now. Lakeland is about to get a wake-up call, and I don't want to miss it!

And what if I never got to play with the next generation of smartphone? At a time like this, your mind turns to important stuff!

When we are taught to pray “Your kingdom come” in Matthew 6:10, are we supposed to mean it? Do we really want God to break into our lives like a heart attack—all unexpected and usually with bad results? Is that what we worry about? That things are going pretty well right now and any interruption to our plans would be an unwelcome intrusion?

And sometimes we silently have a “fill in the blank” addendum to the prayer. “Your kingdom come—after I ________________ (get married, have kids, make my mark in the world, you know, fill in the blank).” Oh, sure, we want the kingdom to come, but just not yet.

For the record, I didn't have a heart attack, and everything with my cardiovascular system checked out fine. And, for the record, praying “Your kingdom come” isn't really all about dying or the second coming!

God wants to break into our lives while we're still alive so He can make a difference in the lives of others. The prayer that God's kingdom will come is a prayer to change our lives so we can be His instruments to change the world for Him, now, while there's still time.

God wants to start eternity with you so badly that He isn't willing to wait until you're dead. John says, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life,” 1 John 5:13. That you may know, without doubt, that God is eager to start His forever reign with you, right now.

Praying “Your kingdom come” is telling God, “Yes! Let's get started! I have a whole life in front of me!”