Your Kingdom Come

Three simple words—"Your kingdom come"—open before us the breadth of God's redemptive purpose. In this petition, Christ teaches us to pray for the advance of the gospel, for the gracious rule of the King to be seen increasingly in His people, and for the day when every enemy is finally defeated and the kingdom is revealed in glory. But these words also turn inward. If Christ is truly our King, then His reign must shape our worship, our priorities, and our obedience. The righteousness required in His kingdom is beyond anything we can produce in ourselves, which drives us again to Christ—our righteousness, our Redeemer, and our King. So this petition becomes a prayer of hope, dependence, and allegiance: that sinners would be brought in, believers would be transformed, and the reign of Christ would advance until the day when God is all in all beneath His eternal sovereign glory.