Your Kingdom Come

The summer is over. A new academic year has begun.

Maybe these are your first few weeks in a completely new college. The building, faces, teachers, culture – even the journey in may have a totally different dynamic to the one you’ve been used to.

Or maybe this is your final year, and heading back feels a bit like stepping out of a hot shower on a cold day - you’re alert to the exams up ahead and the future beyond.

Child of God, at the start of a new term - what a good time to pray as Jesus taught us:

Our Father in Heaven,

Hallowed be your name,

Your kingdom come…

We’ll only look at the first few lines, but this prayer recalibrates our hearts and fixes our eyes on things above.

This is a:

Prayer of Adoration

He is our Father and he is in Heaven.

He is Sovereign, set apart and Holy. The Maker of the cosmos. Angels bow before him.

And yet he is our Dad.

Prayer of Priority

Before asking for the stuff we need or bringing him our worries, we pray:               

Your Kingdom Come…

Prayer of Allegiance

We are living in a kingdom of darkness. And it’s easy to feel like that kingdom reigns. But as we pray these words, we rebel - announcing a better King and a better Kingdom.

Prayer of Resistance

We stand with Jesus. We love the King and raise His banner in this broken world. In our friendships, courses and colleges.

Prayer of Alignment

We give him our hearts. Praying the priority of his kingdom in our lives – knowing we don’t navigate anything (including our new surroundings, new friendships, exams or the future) alone.

Prayer of action

We know the end of the story: The King will return, a new creation awaits. And yet till that day - He is working. Right here and right now.

So let’s live and pray with expectancy – asking that his Kingdom come in our colleges, courses and in the hearts of people around us.

May our friends see  – that our world is in the hands of the One who holds the whole world.

May we lift our heads high, fix our eyes on the King and step into this term as those from a different Kingdom.

Why don’t you take a moment to pray the Lord’s Prayer now:

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins

as we forgive those who sin against us.

Lead us not into temptation

but deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power,

and the glory are yours

now and for ever.

Amen. 

If you would like blogs, videos and resources to help you live for Jesus at the start of this new term, visit here.