Daily Devotions
“Your kingdom come. Guard Your domain, And Your eternal righteous reign. The Holy Ghost enrich our day, With gifts attendant on our way. Break Satan’s pow’r, defeat his rage; Preserve Your Church from age to age. “Your gracious will on earth be done, As it is done before Your throne, That patiently we may obey, […]
“Your kingdom come. Guard Your domain, And Your eternal righteous reign. The Holy Ghost enrich our day, With gifts attendant on our way. Break Satan’s pow’r, defeat his rage; Preserve Your Church from age to age.
“Your gracious will on earth be done, As it is done before Your throne, That patiently we may obey, Throughout our lives all that You say. Curb flesh and blood and ev’ry ill That sets itself against Your will.”
It is a familiar petition: “Your kingdom come.” Why do we pray for the kingdom to come when we are already citizens of that kingdom? The apostle Paul writes that God “has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son” (Colossians 1:13). According to our hymn, when we pray “Your kingdom come,” we are asking God to guard the kingdom to which we belong and to wage war against the evil foe who wants to drag us back into his dark kingdom. We will face temptation and we humbly repent of our sins. We must be watchful in prayer, yet we do not need to be afraid. By His death and resurrection, Jesus won the victory over Eden’s ancient serpent and tore the deadly weapons of sin and death from the devil’s grasp. God’s ever-increasing kingdom will continue to “break Satan’s pow’r” and “defeat his rage.” As our Savior promised, “the gates of hell shall not prevail” against His church (Matthew 16:18b).
“Your gracious will on earth be done as it is done before Your throne.” God’s will is always done, yet with these words we declare that we want what God wants. God’s holy angels are the “mighty ones who do His Word … who do His will” (Psalm 103:20b, 21b). In this petition we ask that we might join the angels in joyful obedience and, with the help of the Holy Spirit, do all that God commands in His Word. We pray that God’s will would surround us like a great, shielding wall to “curb flesh and blood and ev’ry ill.” On the night He was betrayed, Jesus prayed this same petition, that the Father’s will would be done. Whatever the Father wanted, that is what the Son wanted, too. In deep distress over the cup of suffering and death from which He must soon drink, Jesus said, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me. Nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42). The Father’s will was done, and Jesus took up His cross for the sake of our salvation.
The kingdom of God is here now—and the Kingdom is coming! God, as He has promised, will preserve His church “from age to age” until Jesus returns and the Kingdom comes in the fullness of glory. Until that day, we pray that the Holy Spirit would enrich us “with gifts attendant on our way” that we might live according to God’s will. After all, we are citizens of the kingdom of God and we want what our King wants.
WE PRAY: Heavenly Father, You have brought me into the kingdom of Your Son. Help me by Your Spirit to live according to Your will. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Carol Geisler. It is based on the hymn “Our Father, Who from Heaven Above,” which is number 766 in the Lutheran Service Book.
Reflection Questions:
1. Do you get a sense in this world of two kingdoms at odds with each other? Please explain.
2. How important is the Holy Spirit’s help to us in combatting the kingdom of darkness?
3. How is God’s kingdom both here and coming?