Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. The second and third petitions: kingdom come, will done. The kingdom coming is the reign of God becoming the organizing reality of all human life, as it is already the organizing reality of heaven. Your will be done is not resignation to whatever happens but active desire for God's purposes to be accomplished throughout the world. The on earth as it is in heaven locates the prayer in eschatological hope: the earth will be transformed to reflect what heaven already is. Revelation 21:1–5 describes the new creation where heaven and earth merge; the Lord's Prayer asks for that future to begin arriving in the present. These two petitions together communicate that the disciple's primary desire is not personal benefit but the Father's purposes.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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