Have you ever said something and, even as it came out of your mouth, you wished you had never said it?

Well, prayer can be like that. You may not be a prayer warrior, but it is likely that you have uttered prayers from time to time.

There is one prayer that is familiar to all of us and might be something we pray from time to time. It is the Lord’s Prayer or sometimes called “Our Father.” It can be found in the New Testament book of Matthew, chapter 6, verses 9-13.

There is a phrase in that prayer that we might say without really thinking about it. It is, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Sounds good and it is good, but what might be the implications? We could be praying for justice to come in a certain situation or for God’s righteousness to permeate our society and straighten everybody out so things will work better for me.

The thing we are not thinking about is, “What adjustments will need to take place in my thinking and in my life if God answered that prayer.” Deep down, we desire grace and mercy for us and justice for everybody else.

This prayer is asking God to send his kingdom here now.

God’s kingdom is not necessarily heaven. It is the rule of righteousness; it is the Sermon on the Mount ruling our lives. It is about humility, sacrifice, suffering, loving God’s way with no hope of reciprocated love and, most of all, choosing God and everybody else above ourselves.

The question is, what needs to change about me so that when God’s kingdom comes in reality, the change is seamless.

Our life is a culture. That culture has been formed by every experience we have had. What do we really believe? What do we really think? What ideas chime with us and what ideas chafe us?

You hear of attitude adjustment. We might need a belief adjustment. God’s kingdom is coming and maybe very soon. Let us do all we can to be lifted by it and not swept away.

Dan Puckett works with road team operations at Life Action Ministries in Buchanan, Michigan.