The Lord’s Prayer

The Lord’s Prayer is the heart of the Sermon on the Mount and the heart of the Lord’s Prayer is the sentence, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” The two phrases in that sentence mean the same thing: when God’s kingdom has come, God’s will, already being done in heaven, will be done on earth, too. Our Wesleyan tradition tells us that’s not just something we wait for God to bring about – we have a part to play, too. As we grow in our discipleship, becoming the people God created us to be and acting accordingly, we help bring about the day when God’s will is done everywhere. That’s not always glamourous or dramatic. The real accomplishments are the daily ones, as you deepen your discipleship through prayer, worship, reading scripture, and meeting with kindred spirits to give or receive support. Wesley called these things means of grace, and they are the building blocks of a life that helps usher in the kingdom.