The Heidelberg Catechims has a very helpful explanation of the second petition of the Lord’s Prayer in Lord’s Day 48. It teaches us that this prayer is very broad in scope because in it we pray for ourselves, for the church, against wickedness, and for the perfection of the kingdom.
- We pray for ourselves
We are in a state of rebellion against God the king.
In the beginning God appointed man to be king of the earthly creation. He said,
Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:26-28
But this dominion was under God. Even as king, Adam owed obedience to his creator. God also told him:
Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat;but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. Genesis 2:6,7
Adam was king over the earth and everything in it, but God was king over Adam and demanded obedience from him.
When Adam ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil he rebelled against his king and attempted to throw off his yoke. Through his rebellion also the serpent who tempted him became the prince of the power of the air and the spirit who now works in the children of disobedience. He has established a usurping authority in the world and, instead of keeping his promise to Eve that we would be as God, has subjugated us to himself in the slavery of sin and the fear of death. It is because of him that the nations and kingdoms of the earth plot against the Lord and his anointed saying,
Let us break Their bonds in pieces And cast away Their cords from us. Psalm 2:3
This was the purpose of Babel, and it has been the purpose of the human race since that time. We want a kingdom that is independent of the authority of the Lord.
Nevertheless, God did not leave the world under the dominion of Satan, but, beginning with the promise of Genesis 3:15, he began to re-establish his authority and dominion in the world. He could have done this immediately and by the mere speaking of a word, but he has chosen instead to reveal his kingdom gradually and to re-establish his dominion and authority over a period of thousands of years, and by means of a series of promises and their fulfillments, so that still today we are waiting for the perfection of that kingdom.
Much has been accomplished. He chose for himself a people out of all the nations of the earth, brought them through the fiery trials of Egypt and formed them into his own peculiar people at Mt. Sinai. He gave them a good land and a royal dynasty. When they again rebelled against him, he did not destroy them completely but preserved them and their royal line until at last the king they had all been waiting for came. He led his king through dark and difficult ways to rejection by his own people and death at the hands of a representative of the kingdoms of the earth. But he raised him again, set him at his own right hand in heavenly places, and gave him dominion over heaven and earth and all creatures in them. Jesus of Nazareth has become Christ the Lord. This exalted Christ has been working ever since his exaltation, and is working now, for the perfection of his kingdom in the day when all the kingdoms of this wordl become the kingdom of God in him.
This was the key moment in the re-establishment of the kingdom, authority and dominion of God in his world, and it guarantees the perfection of that kingdom in the age to come.
It would have been possible for the king to create a new race of citizens for his kingdom, to start completely over. But he did not do so. Instead, he chose the citizens for his kingdom out of the race of rebels who had rejected him.
His kingdom is a kingdom of righteousness. It has a righteous king, righteous laws, and requirements of righteousness for all those who become citizens. There shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causesan abomination or a lie (Revelation 21:27).
The chosen citizens are by birth citizens of another kingdom, and their character is not appropriate for the kingdom of righteousness that he is establishing. They cannot enter that righteous kingdom. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, he redeems them from their slavery in the kingdom of darkness and remakes them in the righteousness of his image.
The restoration to righteousness is a process that takes place throughout the lives of those citizens. It is a process that will not be completed until we fall asleep in Jesus. In fact, it is a process that will not be completed until all who are in the graves hear his voice and come forth to either the resurrection of life or of condemnation.
As those who have already received the promise of the Spirit, we seek an increase in righteousness and the improved status as citizens, the greater blessedness, that such increase of righteousness brings with it. Therefore, we pray for ourselves, when we pray Thy kingdom come.
The Heidelberg Catechism expresses it well. First, “govern us by your word and Spirit.” We want our king to establish more fully his rule over us, so that we are always being farther and farther removed from the kingdom of our natural birth. We want him to do this outwardly by his word, and by the judgments of that word, so that we understand his righteous laws and ways more fully and receive correction when we err from them. We also want him to work in us inwardly, by his Spirit, to correct all the perversity that remains in us. We want him to change our minds, to correct our wills, to cleanse our impure affections. We want him, in fact, to continue to give to us the righteousness that he requires of all the citizens of his kingdom.
Secondly, we ask that he will work thus so that we submit more and more to him as the king. We want his kingdom, and the righteousness of that kingdom, to come to us through the ongoing work of the king, so that we may become, as quickly as possible, perfect citizens of the heavenly kingdom and receive our heavenly inheritance.
2. We pray for the church
Their common citizenship in the kingdom of heaven by the righteousness of Christ unites the citizens of the kingdom. We therefore pray in this petition not only for ourselves, but for all the citizens of the kingdom.
The unity of the citizens finds expression primarily in the church. The citizens of the kingdom who are in this world gather together with their families in local communities of believers to enjoy fellowship with their king and each other, to worship together and to work together for the advancement of the kingdom. These local bodies we call churches or congregations of our Lord Jesus Christ.
These churches also express their unity with other churches by seeking ties with those of like faith and working together with them for the kingdom.
There is, however, another aspect to this discussion of the church. The church on earth is the earthly manifestation of the kingdom of heaven. She is not perfect, but even in her imperfection she is the kingdom of heaven on earth. The citizens of the kingdom belong to the church.
The government of the church is the means by which the king exercises his authority and lordship over the citizens. The form of that government is determined by his statutes and decrees. Briefly, his word is the church’s constitution. It governs the church’s worship and teaching, and every aspect of the lives of the members. The elders, pastors and deacons exer ise authority on his behalf.
The keys of the kingdom are in the keeping of the church. They open and shut its gates. They are the means the king uses to extend his kingdom and found it on his righteousness. By them he brings the chosen into citizenship, and by them he excludes those who do not belong.
Through her the citizens participate in the whole life of the kingdom, receive all the benefits that belong to it, and finally come to judgment before the king himself.
This church is a glorious church, and her work the working of God in the world for the maintenance, perfecting, and glorifying of the kingdom. Through her the king rides out conquering the nations and subduing them to his will. She is imperfect, but the power of the king is in her, and through her will come the revelation of the glory of God in Jesus Christ in the final day.
In this petition we pray for her.
We pray first for her preservation. She is constantly under attack from within and without. These attacks come by way of false doctrine, the temptations of the world, and persecution. The Devil loves to disrupt the unity and peace of the church and bring division and strife. He comes by clothing himself like a sheep and leading many astray into heresy and ungodliness. Sometimes he presents himself to the church through the world as a smiling friend and invites her to join the world in its pursuits, in its pursuit of wealth, fame and power, of peace on earth, of overcoming poverty, disease, crime and war, of living at ease, of celebration of all the achievements of mankind over the ages. Sometimes, when other means fail, he presents himself openly as an enemy, turning wicked men against her, persecuting her members, suppressing her work, preventing her gatherings, and doing all he can to remove her from the face of the earth. We therefore cry to the king to preserve her, to make and keep her sound in doctrine and godliness, and faithful in her work.
We pray also for her increase. We ask the king to use us to bring in new citizens and to gather all his elect from all the nations of the earth into the everlasting kingdom of heaven. We pray for the officers of the church whose task is the official proclamation of the word. We pray for the other members as witnesses of the word. We pray for the missionaries and other mission efforts of the church. In all these, we are praying for the coming of our Father’s kingdom.
3. We pray against wickedness
The world is divided into two parties: the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, the citizens of the kingdom of heaven and the citizens of this world. The seed of the woman, the citizens of the kingdom, seek an end to wickedness through the proclamation of the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ, whether it comes by salvation or judgment. The seed of the serpent seeks an end to righteousness and all the representatives of righteousness. Ultimately, in its folly and pride, it seeks an end to God himself.
These two parties wage war against each other throughout the history of the world. The weapon of the seed of the woman is the word of God. She has no other. The weapons of the seed of the serpent are as many as the things it finds useful in the work of destruction: the sword, the law, temptation, false teaching, and so on.
The church has many enemies within and without.
So we pray also for victory in the war. We pray that the kingdom of heaven may prevail over the kingdoms of this world. We pray that God will destroy the works of the Devil, every power that exalts itself against God, and all wicked devices formed against his holy Word.
We pray with David in Psalm 5,
Pronounce them guilty, O God! Let them fall by their own counsels; Cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions, For they have rebelled against You.
And we also pray with him:
But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them; Let those also who love Your name Be joyful in You.
In praying for the destruction of the seed of the serpent, we pray for the perfection of the kingdom. We ask for the fulness of the kingdom in which God shall be all in all, but this can come only as God judges the world and the Devil. We lift up our heads, because our redemption draws near.
The prayer is very broad in scope. We pray for ourselves, for the church and all her life, and against the world and all its works. We pray for the spread of the gospel and the conquest of all that is unbelieving, wicked and false. We pray for those whom God has chosen as his own and against the wicked who will not repent and believe. We pray for heaven, for the new heavens and earth and the perfection of all things in Christ. We pray for the coming of Christ himself. And let us not forget that our prayer is, Thy kingdom come. We also pray for the glory of God and for the hallowing of his name through that coming. We want the work of our Father in heaven to be completed, so that he may receive all praise and honor now and forever.