Longing for the Kingdom

My Dearest Sisters,

It has been far too long! I have missed writing, but these last few months have spun out of control a little bit (yep...it still happens, even after college). :)

I received a great question last week that I will do my best to point y'all to scripture. I don't necessarily have a concrete answer; I can tell you what I think, but there are a lot of very educated people who disagree with me.

How can we pray for the Lord to return and reign when we are also commanded to do His work here? Because we long for His kingdom, and I mean the last verse in Revelation says Come, Lord Jesus, but we also know that there are so many who do not know him, so how can we pray for that?
This is a wonderful question that touches on several foundational pieces of Theology:

I love that the question acknowledges that we long for his Kingdom. As I'm sure many of you have noticed more obviously this year, we do not belong here on this earth. This is not our home. So we do long for the Kingdom of God because it is our new home in Christ. It is the place we have been adopted into and the place we belong. Paul expresses the agony of being torn between the desire to do Christ's work here on the earth and the desire to leave and be with his savior (Phil 1:21-23). Paul also describes a little of his understanding about what that belonging is like in Philippians 3:20-21. "But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself." It is good and proper to long for home, but we are called to be soldiers in enemy territory. Eph 6 says that this earth is occupied by the "forces of darkness," but that we are to be willing to stand in that darkness as soldiers away from home (2 Tim 2:3-4). All that to say; though we may long for the Lord's kingdom with the desperation and desire that only love inspires, those feelings must not cloud out concern for our part in God's mission here and now. That is the conclusion Paul talks through in Philippians 1.

So how can we pray for the Lord to come when there is so much left unfinished? Another this can be asked is, do we believe God's plan is sovereign and that our prayers affect that plan?

The first and most important question is do we believe God's plan is sovereign (holding absolute and unquestionable authority) or do we believe that God's plan is shaped by our choices? This question has divided the Theological community for almost 2 millennia. If we believe that God's plan is sovereign, then praying for Christ to come is a statement of our love and desire for knowing that those prayers will not change the timeline. If we believe that God's plan is shaped by our choices, then by praying that Christ will come is an actual plea for a change in the timeline. In the first case, the fact that Christ has not come back, means that God's work is still unfinished. In the second case, it means that our work is still unfinished.

So how then shall we pray? This is the part where I begin answering only for myself. I adhere to doctrines that many great men have also chosen, but there are brilliant theologians on both sides (if you're interested you can google Calvinist vs. Armenian Theology). I believe that God's plan is sovereign. I believe that there is nothing that I can do to either disrupt or expedite His work on the earth. So when I pray for the Lord to come, it is a plea by which I communicate my love and longing for the Master I love with all my life. I know that He has a master-plan which I cannot influence, but I also speak my longing because He hears my love in those words.

I don't want you to hear that our prayers do not have power, they do. But, I think there are things (like the second coming) that God has written from before the beginning of time. The theology concerning God's will is both long and complex, but I did find this article which does a pretty great job breaking down the three aspects of God's will.

http://www.gotquestions.org/Gods-will.html


Wherever prophecy is concerned, I am inclined to think that those events are not up for discussion (so to speak). Now, do I understand all of the prerequisites for Christ to come again...not remotely. But, there are pieces that I do understand and some of those have not come to pass. Which means that regardless of my prayers, Christ will not come yet (because if He did so it would prove God's word a lie - through broken prophecy).

Ok, so to answer your question directly...now that I have wandered around the point (and hopefully given yall a few more pieces with which to approach this conversation). Yes, we are commanded to do His work, but we are not responsible for bringing people to faith. That is God's job. His plan for the salvation of each person who will come to faith has been written since before the foundation of the world, and we can't either disrupt or expedite that plan. So when we pray for the Lord to come, it is two fold. First, it is a declaration of longing and of love for our Lord to come for us. Second, it is a plea for the Lord to complete His work in the hearts of humanity.

Our work is to do the will of the Father, to seek first the Kingdom and His righteousness, to go and make disciples (note: not converts...God's job), to be lights shining in the darkness.

So, lets pray for the Lord to come back for His bride! Lets stand in faithfulness knowing that we are secure in master plan of God almighty. Lets teach knowing that God will use our words to do mighty things among the nations. Lets rejoice in the confidence that God's work on the earth is unstoppable.

I love you guys!

God shall supply all you need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Now unto God and our Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (Phil 4:19)