The disciples wanted Jesus to teach them to pray. Then Jesus taught this prayer known as the Lord’s prayer / Our Fathers’ prayer.
Here are two versions from the Bible. The first version is from the Gospel of Luke. The 2nd version is from the Gospel of Mathew.
Luke 11: 2-4 version KJV [2] And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. [3] Give us day by day our daily bread. [4] And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
Mathew 6:9-13 version KJV 9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
From the words bolded above, we see that part of the prayer is for God’s kingdom to come. God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.
What are some possible ways in which Heaven can come to Earth? We may not know all of them, but let us explore at least some ways in which we can experience God’s will here on Earth. Since this is part of the prayer Jesus taught his disciples, we need to take every element of this prayer seriously and strive to see the transformations from the prayers become a reality in our lives, on the earth, in the situations and circumstances of our lives. Here are a few possibilities as we know about them now:
(1) Anything supernatural can happen. This kind of instance does happen. What comes to mind are the innumerable escapes that many of us would recall. We could have narrowly escaped from various potential road accidents. Many of these are nothing but supernatural. The probability for the escapes is so very thin, yet God in His mercy and loving kindness gave us the additional opportunity.
(2) This also happens when angelic encounters happen. We do hear about the sudden appearance of a human who later disappears after a miraculous act that can never be explained.
(3) When we change the way we speak and act. This way, we can see how each one of us can bring heaven down to earth, to the situations and circumstances that surround us. All this is possible since we are made in the image of God. (Genesis 1:26 version KJV) And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. Thus we have the potential to choose to obey God and make His will our option.
Since 1 and 2 are easily understood and self-explanatory, I shall only explain the 3rd scenario.
The fruit of the Holy Spirit are Love, Joy, Peace, Patience. … 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:22,23 version KJV)
Thus, when God’s spirit gives expression to these fruit – love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance.The circumstances and situations we are by default give expression to hate, sorrow, impatience, harshness – the various opposites of the fruit of the spirit. But as we surrender and become receptive to the Holy Spirit and make a choice to give expression to the fruit of the Holy Spirit, then literally, people around us will experience the Kingdom of Heaven come down to earth. It’s up to us if they experience Heaven through God’s goodness expressed through us!
One instance which comes to mind is a scenario, I have known to be repeated many times when a waiter who is used to getting $1 to $5 as a tip, gets a $100 or $200 tip instead – the waiter experiences the Kingdom of Heaven on earth because of the great abundance of goodness received. An abundance of goodness is heaven’s attribute. At the wedding of Cana, the huge and super abundant quantity of water was transformed into the very best of wine.
A homeless parent and a child were doing window shopping, and the child pointed to various items that caught his eyes. Then as you who pass by the street notice this and are prompted to buy a few $$$ worth items for the child above and beyond the imagination of the homeless parent and the child. Isn’t that a heaven encounter?
Imagine you have a huge credit card debt, and you’ve been bothered about the interest and the calls from the credit card company for over a year. Then one fine morning, your Dad finds out about it and says he’s going to pay it out totally. I cannot imagine the joy beyond comprehension.
When we pray for the Kingdom of Heaven to come on earth, are we not required to be aware of being the temple of the Holy Spirit?
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. (1 Corinthians 6:19 – 6:20 version KJV)
Since we know we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, we should certainly start expressing the fruit of the Holy Spirit in all situations and circumstances. Being patient and peaceful and giving expression to the Holy Spirit within you, although your past track record would be expressed through words and actions of anxiety and impatience.
We also have the mind of Christ as mentioned in (1 Corinthians 2:14-16,version KKJV).16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
When Jesus was visiting the city, Zacchaeus, the tax collector, climbed up a sycamore tree in order to get a glimpse of Jesus. Jesus called out to Zacchaeus, telling him that he would be dining at his home. When the goodness of Jesus was encountered by him, he told about returning money stolen, giving back to all people in the city. Jesus had neither judged him nor condemned him. But the goodness of Jesus transformed the heart and life of Zacchaeus. Reading the reference verse from Romans 2:4 version KJV 4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? In that process, literally everyone in the city received money from Zacchaeus. The whole city rejoiced. Jesus had only decided to dine with one special person.
We are expected to be led by the Spirit with the goodness of God to be the expression of God’s loving kindness and experience transformation within and around us – bringing Heaven on Earth.
Jesus did not condemn the Samariatin lady by the well for the many husbands she had. But his kindness and mercy not only brought salvation to her, but eventually to the whole city. Even going through the Samaritan city was a detour considering the destination Jesus and his disciples had. It’s truly amazing the way in which Jesus spends time with one specific person and the goodness that leads to the whole city being saved – the whole city encountered the Kingdom of Heaven.
May the Holy Spirit lead you into identifying situations and places where we become God’s chosen vessel or person to bring the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.
