Praying for and Living God's Kingdom Today
Daily Scripture
Matthew 6:10
The GPS this week follows the chapter headings in Pastor Hamilton’s book The Lord’s Prayer: The Meaning and Power of the Prayer Jesus Taught. Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition. We highly recommend this book, which explores the words and ideas of the Lord’s Prayer in much greater detail than we can in the GPS. Because the New International Version’s wording is the closest to the way we repeat the prayer in worship each week, each day’s text will use that language as well as that of the Common English Bible we regularly use for the GPS.
10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
10 Bring in your kingdom so that your will is done on earth as it’s done in heaven.
Daily Reflection & Prayer
Jesus launched his public ministry by sharing “the good news of the kingdom” (Matthew 4:23). The prayer held a paradox: God’s kingdom had already broken into the world in Jesus, yet Rome’s rule in many ways defied God. As Pastor Hamilton wrote, Jesus’ “teaching, life, death, and resurrection focused on announcing God’s kingdom, inviting people to be a part of it, and encouraging people to not only pray, but to live in such a way that God’s kingdom comes on earth as it is in heaven.” * To pray for the Kingdom’s coming claims your true citizenship now, and bows to God as your true king.
- This part of the Lord’s Prayer frames a central choice you have to make. As Pastor Hamilton noted, “The word Lord signifies one in authority over another. It is what it means to recognize that ‘God is God, and I am not.’ With these little words we pray, ‘less of me and more of thee.’” ** Where do you see God’s kingdom breaking into the brokenness of our world? What does it mean practically for God’s will to be done “on earth as it is in heaven”?
- In Exodus 19:6, Moses received this message for Israel: “You will be a kingdom of priests for me and a holy nation.” 1 Peter 2:9-10 (also Revelation 1:4-6) applied the same language to all of Christ’s followers. God’s Kingdom isn’t lines on a map—it’s people who love and follow God, including you. What would change in your daily life if you took your citizenship in God’s kingdom as seriously as your citizenship in your nation? How can you represent your King well today?
Prayer
Lord, let your Kingdom come within me first, then through me as I interact with others. Show me where your will differs from my own desires. Help me live in ways that truly make your Kingdom’s coming “good news” for those around me. Amen.
GPS Insights
Brandon Gregory
Brandon Gregory, who serves as a volunteer for the worship and missions teams at Church of the Resurrection, wrote today's Insights. He helps lead worship at Leawood's modern worship services, as well as at the West and Downtown services, and is involved with the Malawi missions team at home.
I’m one of those people that bounces around between a lot of personal projects. Over the years, I’ve worked on a classic movie review website, a movie podcast, a fantasy novel, a table-top RPG, and more that I won’t bore you with. My current project: a story-based video game about corruption and systemic injustice. In most of those cases, when I talk about my project, there will be a few people who say, “You know, I have an idea for [x]…”
Don’t get me wrong—ideas are great—but an idea is the easy part. The hard part is always making the idea come to life. I’m a pretty good writer, but right now, I’m struggling through creating graphics for the game I’m working on. When that’s done, I have to figure out how to code everything. I’m discovering why it’s so hard to make some of those ideas come to life.
I don’t want to put myself forward as some sort of entrepreneurial genius. I don’t know if it’s unrestrained optimism or just my notoriously large ego, but I have a large pile of unfinished projects—far more than finished projects. Bringing ideas to life is hard, and we often don’t realize that until we’ve tried—and failed.
When I see today’s passage about God’s kingdom being established on earth, I have a lot of similar thoughts. “I have an idea for something great we could do… I have an idea for how we could be more welcoming of others…” I want to believe that my ideals are as important as the actions they describe, but I don’t always want to put in the work to make it happen. Like I’m finding with my current creative project, bringing ideas to life is hard.
Church of the Resurrection has many opportunities for people who want to bring action to their ideas: local service projects, overseas mission trips, volunteering for committees or worship teams, giving blood, or giving money to help other people take action. I’ll be honest: I’m not always great about taking these opportunities. It’s far too easy for me to be content with the idea of morality rather than the action of making it happen. Sometimes, there’s a big gap between intention and impact. But it’s our actions, not our intentions, that establish God’s kingdom here on earth.
© 2026 Resurrection: A United Methodist Church. All Rights Reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
References
* Hamilton, Adam, The Lord’s Prayer: The Meaning and Power of the Prayer Jesus Taught (p. 28). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition.
** Ibid., pp. 29-30.
