Pain pushes us to pray. But pain also steals our words. In our distress and pain we often don’t know what to pray. Even in the best of times we don’t know what to pray sometimes. That’s why Jesus teaches us to pray in Matthew 6. We have prayed through, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” Now we come to: “Your kingdom come…on earth as it is in heaven.”
What a time to pray for God’s kingdom to come, when the kingdoms around us are failing under the pressure of a single virus; when our own personal kingdoms are failing. There is only one kingdom that can never be shaken by anything or anyone. There is only one kingdom of divine grace and mercy. There is only one kingdom of perfect health, wholeness, security, satisfaction, and rest. The kingdom of our Father.
God’s kingdom is good and desirable because the King is good and desirable. It is the King’s rule that cannot fail. It is Jesus’ steadfast love, kindness, mercy, and grace that creates a kingdom of such. We want the kingdom of God to come because we want to see the full rule and reign of our gracious King on earth as it is in heaven.
When we get just a glimpse of our King and his kingdom, we see how frail and fleeting are our personal and political kingdoms. We ever desire and seek to be king of our own lives, of our family, of our friends, of our community, and so on. The more control we think we have, the better. The more we feel like a powerful king over our finances and future, the more secure we feel. Then something like COVID-19 hits and we wake up realizing how little control we have and how frail is the kingdom we have built. It is painful. But it is graciously purifying. Pain pushes us to see the glory and grandeur and goodness of the kingdom of God, the better, unshakable kingdom, and how bad we need it to be established on earth. So, may God’s kingdom come even more today!
The following is a simple prayer to help you pray:
Father, when the kingdoms around us seem to fail under the pressure of a single virus, we are reminded that your kingdom cannot be shaken. Your rule cannot be diminished. Your kingdom is one of steadfast love, kindness, mercy, and grace, as you are the King of all kindness, mercy, and grace. Show us your reign as our gracious, sovereign King. May we desire the establishment of your kingdom, and your reign, above and over all other earthly kingdoms.
Pray For Others – Father, I pray that you would show … that your kingdom cannot and will not be shaken, ever. Reveal more to them that Your kingdom is one of steadfast love, kindness, mercy, and grace. May they treasure and trust your reign and know you more as our gracious, sovereign King. Give them more desire to see the establishment of your kingdom, and your reign, above and over all other earthly kingdoms.
