Christ taught His disciples to pray, “Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name” (Matthew 6:9).1 We always begin with worship and adoration of the Lord. Then He added, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). This is a command and a prophetic proclamation. We are to proclaim, “Your Kingdom come on this earth now!” Heaven is not some faraway place we cannot see. On the contrary, we can see into heaven by the Word of God, and it is our example of the way it should be here on earth.
We think, “Heaven is a wonderful place.” But ask Job how wonderful it was when satan had access to heaven. When the sons of God appeared before the Lord, satan was there in heaven at the throne of God (Job 1:6, 2:1). Or ask Joshua the high priest what it was like to stand in heaven “before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him” (Zechariah 3:1). One of the key aspects of being sons of God is that we must stand before the Father. However, there is a new aspect to heaven since these Scriptures were written because satan has been thrown down (Luke 10:18; Revelation 12:5-9).
It is time for the King to reign over His Church. We need His authority now. There are too many activities that go on in the Church that have nothing to do with the Lordship of Jesus Christ over His Body. We have a great God with an eternal and unlimited salvation. In comparison, the Church’s vision in its preaching and appropriation of salvation is quite limited. Our salvation includes the transformation of our minds into the mind of Christ (Romans 12:2; 1 Corinthians 2:16). It includes the end of disease, sickness, and oppression. It includes the end of poverty and ignorance. It includes the end of the oppression of our children in every country. We are to have power “for the destruction of fortresses” (2 Corinthians 10:4).
When Yeshua (Jesus) was on the earth, people marveled at His authority (Mark 1:22). He rebuked the storm and the disciples said, “Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?” (Luke 8:25). Yeshua had authority over the natural realm. That is the same authority that the Church should have today. So what is blocking the salvation and power that we should have? What is blocking the manifestation of the Kingdom? Why is the authority of Christ not flowing through the Church as it should? The reason is because the accuser of the brethren has been thrown down to earth and has access here. He is no longer in heaven, and he must be removed from the earth as well. Whatever Christ has done spiritually must now manifest physically on earth.
Prayer is all about tying heaven and earth together and making them one. The Kingdom of God is the merging together of the spiritual level and the natural level. Paul wrote that the natural is first, then the spiritual. The first man, Adam, was a natural man; the second man, Christ, was a spiritual man (1 Corinthians 15:45-46). As we enter the days of the Kingdom, we are actually seeing both realms being knit together (1 Corinthians 15:49, 53). As with the Jewish faith, we have the messianic hope of seeing the Messiah rule and reign on this earth.
1 All Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995).