cartwright

Let your kingdom come

Chris Cartwright draws inspiration from the Lord's prayer prior to the coronation of King Charles III

mark sayersA few days before the coronation of King Charles III, I was in London for a leaders’ roundtable meeting with Australian pastor Mark Sayers. Walking the streets of London to the venue, I felt I was being drawn into the pageantry and preparations that were evident across the city and which Britain does so well.

Sayers was reflecting during the day on the extraordinary times we are living in. His podcasts and books have been welcomed by so many in helping us to understand the cultural moment in which we find ourselves.

As well as the need to understand the times, we sensed the Lord calling his church in every context, culture and continent to look to him for fresh revelation and wisdom in order to respond with fresh courage and faith to the deep and profound needs of our age.

charles

During the day, mindful of the coronation about to take place just days from our gathering, one of the leaders led us in praying the Lord’s Prayer. He followed it by asking us to pray it at 11am on May 6 as King Charles was about to be crowned. As we prayed such a familiar prayer with the imminent expectation of an earthly king’s coronation and the beginning of Charles’ new reign, we couldn’t help but be powerfully struck by the words, ‘Let your kingdom come, let your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.’

At that moment, across the room, there was both a reminder of the reality of Jesus Christ as King of Kings and a sense of fresh revelation of our call to live under his lordship in the cultures and communities where God has placed, positioned and planted us.

I experienced a tangible sense of faith and hope that God is moving in our nation at this significant time of change. There was a feeling of deep conviction that we must not miss the moment of opportunity for the church to commit itself to fresh prayer and fresh focus on our gospel mission in the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Bible makes it clear that God takes notice of the changes in times and seasons in nations. Of course, he is Lord of nations and peoples, and human events are always subject to his lordship. But we see the Bible revealing his direct action and intervention at significant moments. The prophet Isaiah dramatically records his experience in Isaiah 6: “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord high and lifted up…”

This amazing passage reveals the passing of an era of an earthly king who started well but finished poorly. In response to a glorious encounter with the living God, Isaiah is changed, cleansed and called to serve the Lord from that moment onwards in reaching out to all those living out of relationship with God.

We are also being called personally to live lives that are surrendered to Jesus. Cleansed and called by him, we carry his kingdom presence and power into every area and aspect of life.

Let us commit ourselves in this next season to the reality, relevance and urgency of that prayer: that Jesus Christ’s kingdom of new life and new purpose would come to people and communities everywhere. “Let his kingdom come, his will be done, in ___ (fill in the space) as it is in Heaven.”


This article first appeared in Direction Magazine. For further details, please click here.

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