We all know this passage of scripture, this is part of the Lord's prayer. My church sings a song from time to time where these words are the lyrics to the song. The other day during the band sound check, they were playing this song and it hit me...What does it mean for His Kingdom to come? What does that exactly look like? How would I know if His kingdom did come?
Call it the Holy Spirit if you'd like, suddenly Matthew 11:1-10 came to my mind. What's happening in Matthew 11 is that John the baptist is in jail. John hears about some of the things Jesus is doing and he sends his disciples to ask Jesus, "Are You the One Who was to come, or should we keep on expecting a different one?" Jesus responds by charging the disciples to go back and report to John, "The blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed (by healing) and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up and the poor have good news (the Gospel) preached to them."
Matthew 11 is what it looks like when His Kingdom comes. And what's so great about His kingdom and the benefits that comes with His Kingdom is that it already came and rests here with us. We do not have to beg Him to show up, we don't have to pray the right prayer in order for His presence to come. If we have been baptized with the Holy Spirit, His presence lives in us, rather, His Kingdom came and made its home with us.
A friend of mine is a diplomat for the nation of Uganda to the United States. His car has little Ugandan flags hanging on the front bumper. Anywhere and everywhere he travels he is representing Uganda and he has diplomatic immunity. It's as though wherever he stands he is always on Ugandan soil. It's the same with us as carriers of His Spirit. That means that the benefits of Matthew 11, the benefits of His Kingdom go with us wherever we go and are subject to the movement of our faith.
Jesus said to many people throughout the bible "Your faith has made you well." Jesus already healed everyone throughout the entire world and throughout all of eternity. There is literally not one person on this planet who has not already been healed by Jesus. However it is OUR FAITH that pulls that healing and forces it to manifest into the natural and into our lives and into the lives of those we pray for and release our faith to.
There is a lost and hurting city in front of you. Open your front door, look out your window, get out of your car, it's right in front of you. There are people who need what you have. They could already know Jesus or be Christians and they still need what you have. The question is will you give it to them, to the hurting, the sick, the broken, what you have been given?
I pray for a lot of people, not nearly as many as I should be praying for, but I get out and pray with people. Almost everyone I pray with is a believer, at least they say they are. But they STILL NEED WHAT I HAVE! They need the Kingdom of God living inside of me.
I think it's easy to forget that the real reason we are alive is to give. It's not to live in a nice house, have a high paying job, drive a nice car, take a great selfie, reach 2,000 friends on Facebook, or even wear nice clothes. The ONLY reason we are here is to be a light to the darkness. It takes little effort to share that light. All it takes is your faith moving into action.
Recently I was in a hospital waiting room while I was waiting to visit with a friend who had been in a car accident. I looked around the room and heard people wailing in pain, looking sick, throwing up, one man having a seizure, another woman gripped with fear. I walked up to one person and asked if they would like prayer and in between her screams of pain she said "yes." From there, everyone in the waiting room watched with hope and expectancy for me to pray with them. Keep in mind that it had nothing to do with who I am and what I can do. It had to do with their hope for a light, their hope for someone to share light with them.
I can remember as a teenager walking through the woods one night while away at a youth camp, we had gone on a night hike following a trail through the woods for a mile or two. I was in a group of about four people and I was the only one with a flash light. I walked in front of them and made sure to shine my light on the path so they could see as I lead the way back to our camp.
That's what we need to do in our cities. We need to shine our light on the path for those in our group....and when I say group I mean everyone in our city.
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