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Instead of waiting to experience heaven after you die, what if Jesus is inviting you to experience the reality of heaven in this life? That’s exactly what he’s getting at when he says, “May your kingdom come soon, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10, NLT).
The Kingdom of God can be challenging to wrap your mind around, but it comes down to this: it’s where God is King and where things are happening the way he intended them to. So when we pray for God’s kingdom to come, we aren’t just asking God to take us to heaven someday. We’re asking him to bring the reality of his kingdom into our world today.
And Jesus tells us how that happens: “May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” This is where this prayer gets challenging. We’re not asking God to bless our plans or agree with what we’ve already decided. We’re asking him to make his desires our desires. What if the job you have isn’t just about the paycheck or the influence, but about how God wants to use you in that place? What if the school your child goes to isn’t just about their education or future opportunities, but about the people God has placed around your family? What if your house isn’t ultimately about you, but about the neighbors God has placed around you because he wants you to love them in a way only you can?
That’s why we have to keep praying this prayer. Because if we aren’t careful, our will takes over. We naturally want God to bless our plans, answer our prayers, and fit into our idea of how life should go. But as we consistently pray, “Your will be done,” something begins to change in us. Our hearts slowly become more aligned with his heart, and we begin to see the places around us differently—not just as our jobs, our homes, our families, or our circumstances, but as places where God wants his kingdom to come through us.
And maybe that’s at the very core of following Jesus: learning to let go of control and choose trust. Following Jesus means we don’t just ask him to be part of the life we’ve already planned. We surrender that life to him and trust that his way is better than ours. So ask yourself: Am I asking God to bless my will, or am I actually asking for his will to be done? Because when we pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done,” we’re asking God to make his kingdom visible through our lives—right here, right now.
Pray: God, help me to desire your will more than my own. Teach me to surrender my plans to you, trust your ways, and believe that what you have for me is better than anything I could plan for myself. Amen