As it is in heaven means there is a realm where God’s will really is done perfectly, and God intends to expand and extend that realm, that sphere, to the whole creation. So Jesus says, in effect: Pray for this constantly! Implicitly, Jesus is adding: And get on with it! This is your discipleship.
So there we have it: “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
The bottom line: May your kingdom come doesn’t mean, “Wouldn’t it be nice if,” or “I hope someday it might happen,” or even, “Sometime it will happen, in some other age or place or time unrelated to my own little life and space.”
May your kingdom come. It means, in effect: Do it now! And do it through me in every way that I may be responsible for my part—and through your Body, where I find my community and kingdom comrades.
O God, Holy Father, may your kingdom come on earth in new ways today, and use me as you see fit. Even if the progress is measured in inches, or millimeters, or microns—or is unmeasurable—Lord, may your kingdom come! Amen.
Given as a devotional meditation, E. Stanley Jones School of World Mission and Evangelism, Asbury Theological Seminary, February 13, 2013.