Heart of a Friend
The Heart of a Friend podcast was born out of a desire to share some of the most important things learned from a lifetime of experience. It is hosted by Andy Wiegand. Andy retired in 2017 after 40 years of pastoral ministry. He and his wife now reside in Columbus, Ohio. They have raised six children and are now very happy to be grandparents.
Andy grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and received his education at Harvard University (B.A. ’73) and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (M.Div. ’78). In his retirement Andy devotes time to charitable work, visits with friends and family, exercises and continues to do a lot of reading and thinking about life.
Heart of a Friend
Ep. 14 | Teach Us To Pray | Part 4A | The Lord's Prayer
Summary Notes: Teach Us to Pray - Episode 14 (Part 4A)
No one is happy about the world the way it is. But turning back the clock is not the answer. The answer lies in looking ahead. And this is the focus of this part of the Lord’s Prayer: “May your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” This part of the prayer expresses our longing for a better world.
Is this one petition or two? The two parts of this petition are saying essentially the same thing. Support for this conclusion can be found from the Gospel of Luke. His version of this prayer found in chapter 11 just has “Your kingdom come.” It does not have “your will be done.” This second phrase is not essential to the meaning of the petition. This part of the prayer is one cry expressed in two ways. Two ways to state one prayer.
It is difficult to over-state the importance of this “kingdom of God” theme in the Bible. If there is one phrase that could be used to summarize the plot line of the Bible it would be this one. It defines the very heart of Jesus message and mission. From Genesis 1 where “rule” over the world was given to Adam and Eve and then tragically lost to the last chapter of Revelation where that “rule” is restored, the Bible brings us full-circle. This part of the Prayer places us right in the center of this developing drama.
God’s kingdom is both here and still to come. It’s already present, but not yet here in its fullness. So as we pray this we have to consider these two time frames. Today and the more distant horizon. The present work and the future win. This episode is about praying for the future win. (Praying for the present work will be covered in the next episode.)
Can we, by our prayers for Jesus’ coming, make it happen any sooner? If God has already “fixed” a time for the kingdom to be consummated then what’s the point of praying for this to happen? This prayer probably doesn’t do anything to recalibrate God’s time-table, but it does recalibrate our hearts. It probably does’t cause God to reprogram His prophetic calendar, but it does reprogram our own world-view. The prayer is not so much for Him as it is for us. When we pray this, we are aligning our hearts with God’s heart and His declared destiny for the world. We’re lifting our eyes from our problems to His promises. Keeping this hope before our eyes gives us joy and keeps us planning and preparing for our ultimate future.
This hope gives us a baseline of joy and confidence. This baseline serves as an emotional buffer against the inevitable disappointments we all experience. So, the New Testament teaching about our hope, far from being irrelevant, is one of the most practical teachings. Hope like this gave the early church courage (2Cor. 3:12). It gave them the perseverance needed to get through hardships (Heb. 12:2). It inspired obedience and motivation to serve God (1Cor. 15:58). And it gave them comfort and encouragement (1Thess. 4:13-18). It’s one of the most life-changing teachings of the New Testament! No wonder one of the earliest cries of the first church was, “Maranatha!” Or “Come, Lord Jesus!”
In this episode, we looked at the future horizon, but in the next episode we will shift our gaze to the present. The invasion of our world which began with Jesus continues today through his “expeditionary force” - which is the church. “Thy kingdom come…” applies not just to the future win, but to the present work of the church.