His Home Here- Three Key Words to Pray By

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And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.

Give us day by day our daily bread.

And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.”

Luke 11:2-4

The disciples got more than just a model prayer from the Lord Jesus before His death. They got an insight into what’s worth praying for, and why Almighty God would even be interested in answering at all.

There are four real requests in Luke 11:3-4 that the Lord teaches them:

1. “Give us” – for daily provision
2. “Forgive us” – for personal transgressions
3. “Lead us”– for holy living
4. “Deliver us”– for spritual warfare

We have many aspirations and many needs that come to mind when we close our eyes to speak with an eternal, all-powerful, and benevolent God. However, nothing catches His attention more than these four. Because, as a man, the only begotten Son of God thought of them often. And He based His own mediations on a very sure foundational truth:

I want it, because God wants it. I pray for it, because it’s what He would want.

My philosophy is dramatically reshaped as I ponder this.

Because God is eternal, He wrote to us “with eternity’s values in view.” Therefore, Jesus prayed this way before He suffered, before He arose, before He ascended: “Thy kingdom come.”

The hope of recieving any real answer to prayer from God lies in three concrete certainties.

There was alot for the disciples to consider between the Kingdom coming and where they stood. Yet, in Christ’s mind, with the concrete certainty of the Kingdom coming, there was nothing worth praying for more. This one short, almost incomplete sentence combines in one all three foundational certainties. All three are given in Luke 11:2. Each one belongs to the Lord. They are: His name, His kingdom, and His will.

“Thy Name”

• His trustworthy relation (“Our Father”), His unchallenged position (“which art in heaven”), and His supreme condition (“Hallowed be”). This is the “Thy.”

“Thy Kingdom”

• Home of His company, Home of His government, Home to His Presence. This is the “Kingdom.”

“Thy Will”

• Patiently worked Here, prophetically predicted Here, and providentially accomplished There and Here. This is the “Come.”

The epic eventuality that He is coming soon resounds in my soul every time I pray. But a more radical reality is that His will may be done through me, right now. I pray for what God wants. I want what God wants, because I want God. I desire His home here. I want wherever I go, whatever I do to welcome the working out of “Thy kingdom come.” I may not live to see the Rapture, but I can plan to!

His, not ours, not mine. Home, where He can be Himself, where He’d rather be. Here, next to me, not someday, but today.

Jesus made a promise to His followers that envelops a far broader meaning in light of this. He said:

“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”

John 14:3

He said, “where I am,” not, “where I will be later.” How often do I push Heaven to a place where I wll go someday; when God wants me to pray without ceasing for His home here! “Thy kingdom come.”

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