Thursday of the Week of Pentecost

May 28, 2026Today's Reading: Catechism: The Lord's Prayer - 2nd PetitionDaily Lectionary: Numbers 24:1-25; Luke 23:1-25“What does this mean? The kingdom of God certainly comes by itself without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may come to us also.How does God’s kingdom come? God’s kingdom comes when our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His holy Word and lead godly lives here in time and there in eternity.” (Small Catechism- The Lord’s Prayer- Second Petition)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.There are really only two kingdoms in the world. One is the kingdom of Satan, whom Jesus calls the “ruler of this world” (John 12:31). The other is the Kingdom of God, the rightful ruler of all creation. The devil’s kingdom is defined by pride, selfishness, anger, jealousy, hatred, lust, and every other evil you can think of. God’s kingdom is defined by love, righteousness, holiness, goodness, patience, forgiveness, and all that is beautiful. To be in the devil’s kingdom is to be in a kingdom of misery and pain, leading to everlasting death with even more misery and pain. To be in God’s kingdom is to know true peace, joy, freedom, and blessedness, leading to everlasting life with pleasures beyond description. As our baptismal liturgy reminds us, “we are all conceived and born sinful and are under the power of the devil until Christ claims us as His own,” (LSB, pg. 268). We are born needing to be rescued from the devil’s kingdom and brought safely into God’s kingdom. And, since our sinful nature is always fighting against God and urging us back into Satan’s kingdom, we need God’s help to keep us in His Kingdom forevermore. That’s what we’re praying for in the 2nd Petition of the Lord’s Prayer. We are not praying that God would establish His kingdom; Jesus has already taken care of that. By living a perfectly holy life in the flesh and offering Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the world, Jesus has disarmed the devil, broken down the doors of his phony kingdom, and established His own holy Kingdom. As Luther said, “the Kingdom of God certainly comes by itself.” What we are asking is that God would bring us into His Kingdom that He has established by the blood of Christ. We pray that He would rescue us from the clutches of the devil and make us His children, with all the benefits and blessings thereof. But how does God bring us into His kingdom and make us His children? Through faith in Christ. And how does He create this faith in us? It’s just as Paul said, “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). The Holy Spirit creates faith by coming to us in God’s Word. So we pray that God would continue to send us His Holy Spirit and help us believe His word, so that we would be kept safely in His Kingdom, now and forever. And, since Jesus died for the sins of the whole world and desires that each person come into His kingdom, we pray this Petition not just for ourselves, but for every one of our neighbors. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Draw us to Thee Unceasingly, Into Thy kingdom take us; Let us fore’er Thy glory share, Thy saints and joint heirs make us. (LSB 701: 5)Rev. Aric Fenske, Executive Director of Lutherans for Life.