“Your kingdom come.” Whenever we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we speak those words. Do you sometimes wonder just what that means? It certainly means that we want God to keep us as his dear child and when our life on earth comes to an end, we want to be with him in heaven. These words have a much broader meaning than just our desire to be with him in heaven. In this three-word phrase, we are asking God that his kingdom, his message of grace, comes to all people. Think about that. Each time we say the Lord’s prayer, we are asking that his message of salvation and grace come to all people everywhere.

Our reading for today takes that same thought and puts it into a beautiful mission prayer. We first ask God for his grace, his blessing, and that he looks on us as his dearly loved child. As our Father, God loves to answer that prayer. However, this prayer is not a simple prayer for ourselves. It’s much more. As we read the next phrase we see the result or the why for that prayer. We ask God to answer our prayer so that his ways, his power and love, could be told and known throughout the earth, in all nations.

But then what happens? As people hear about God’s grace for us and for them, they praise him. The prayer continues to ask God to lead all people everywhere to praise him. Imagine for a minute what that would look and sound like! God wants every person in every place and in every time to know him, to love and worship him, to praise him, to be his own. As ones who know and experience his grace, forgiveness, and the blessings of faith, we are asking God to lead us to reflect him in our lives to those around us. Think of the old commercial— “and they told two friends, and they told two friends.” That’s the privilege God gives us! We get to be one of his messengers!

The result? An amazing harvest of people who turn to God in faith and in praise. God will bless it. He promises this. His kingdom will come. May his salvation be known among all!