"Your kingdom come, your will be done..."

(c) Deborah Evans

These words from the prayer known as The Lord's Prayer and also  referred to as "the prayer Jesus taught", sum up the essence of true Christian discipleship.

The one who prays this prayer desires God's visible and open rulership: "your kingdom come."

But more than that, this prayer seeks an unchallenged and uncontested rulership: "your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven."

Whether you understand Heaven as a physical place or a state of being, or both, Heaven is the place where God's will is done instantly and without delay, question, debate, or negotiation. 

In the heavenly kingdom, this immediate and complete obedience is expressed because those of that kingdom know God's love as deeply as they know God's holiness and power.

Consider Jesus' prayer in the garden of Gethsemane just before his arrest and crucifixion. Even in that place, he said to the Father "not my will, but your will..."

The dabbler may delay or debate, but the true disciple follows and obeys. This is why Jesus taught us to pray "your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven."