Thy Kingdom Come

More about Thy Kingdom Come

The phrase Thy kingdom come is part of the Lord’s Prayer, a prayer that Jesus taught His disciples (and all future servants of His kingdom) as a pattern for prayer.

One component of Christ’s training in prayer involves understanding that God’s kingdom has not yet been wholly fulfilled on this earth. Thy kingdom come is not just an expectant yearning for the coming of Christ in the future, even though this longing is contained in the plea. But Thy kingdom come also expresses the prayerful desire of Christ’s servants to see God’s Kingdom broaden and become increasingly established throughout the world in the here and now.

Praying, “Thy Kingdom come,” is the same as saying, “Dear Lord, please open the hearts of my loved ones, friends, co-workers, and neighbors to receive Your gift of salvation in Jesus Christ.” God’s kingdom will expand as more people turn to Christ for salvation. They enter the kingdom when they come to know the crucified King of that kingdom.

Another way we seek the establishment of God’s kingdom in the here and now is to pray for aspects of God’s nature to be revealed and known in the world. We can ask God to show His holiness to us and others so that all might see and understand it, and be changed by it. In Isaiah 6:1–5, when the prophet Isaiah captured a glimpse of God’s holiness, he was completely undone. So overwhelming was Isaiah’s experience, that he saw the glory of God’s holiness filling the whole earth: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory” (verse 3).