"Pray then like this...Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" - What does Jesus' inclusion of the petition imply? [duplicate]

Question

Text: Mt. 6: 9a & 10 (ESV)

" Pray then like this....Your kingdom come, your will be done,on earth as it is in heaven."*

Answer 1

Young's Literal Translation renders the relevant section of the Sermon on the Mount:

"Thus therefore pray ye, 'Our Father who [art] in the heavens! Hallowed be thy name. Thy reign come: Thy will come to pass, as in heaven, also on the earth'."

It is significant that such a prayer be addressed to the Father in heaven, for many people have Satan as their father. Jesus stated that to the faces of some religious leaders in his day, those who prided themselves in having Abraham as their father. He told them that the devil was their father and they did his will, not God's (John 8:33-45).

This is the point of what Jesus said about praying for God's will to be done on earth, as it is done in heaven. Only those who have God in heaven as their heavenly Father can make that prayer. Many religious people who think that is true of them are actually doing the will of the evil one, while supposing they are doing God's will. That is because they are carnal, earthly, unfamiliar with God's will, and not spiritually born from above, adopted into God's heavenly family.

Those who are so adopted know God to be their heavenly Father; they desire the honour of his holy name to be promoted; they seek to learn God's will from his word, and to do it. In that way, they are personally carrying out that prayer request, enabled by the indwelling Holy Spirit.

This is all tied up with knowing what the Kingdom of God is, that Jesus is its King, and that they are subjects of that Kingdom, being its ambassadors while they are on earth (2 Corinthians 5:20). They understand and carry out Jesus' command, "Seek ye first the reign of God and His righteousness, and all these shall be added to you." (Matthew 6:33 YLT) From the point of bending their knees in faith at Jesus' name, they become subjects of King Jesus, and the Kingdom of God is their main focus in life. They are spiritual people.

That is what Jesus' inclusion of the petition, "Thy will be done on earth" implies since the day he uttered it, until God deals with the corrupt heavens and earth on the Day of the Lord, replacing it with a new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness shall dwell (2 Peter 3:10-13). Then that prayer shall be totally fulfilled. Meanwhile, God is working his sovereign purposes out, never having relinquished his right to rulership over all his creation. Those with spiritually opened eyes see this and pray accordingly, and live accordingly.

Answer 2

It means that the earth is currently under the reign of the devil - he is the god of this world. His will is being done by the majority of all who ever lived. In a real sense by all who ever lived except Jesus.

Jesus' prayer is that the time will come - the Kingdom, when God's will will be done by all. The time beginning with Jesus and the church and the giving of the spirit when God's will will begin to be more evident as those who accept the Christ and submit to the spirit of God will be transferred to a new kingdom.

For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son Col 1:13

This new Kingdom is the place where God's will is done - Jesus is ushering in this new paradigm and his prayer is for this state, this reality, to be speedily realised. His prayer is that all who are his will pray likewise - seeking the advancing of, and participation in, this new way.

Jesus is contrasting the two kingdoms - the earthly one and the heavenly one. When Jesus said he was not of this world, this is what he was referring to - that he was not of the kingdom of evil and deception but of his Father's kingdom.

And he was saying to them, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. John 8:23

Jesus we know, prayed this prayer for himself - for he too was tempted to accept the will of the devil and to avoid God's will for him.

Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will. Mark 14:36

For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. John 6:38

Eventually there will be no other will to contend with after the new heavens and new earth, there will only be God and His people and no more temptation, suffering, sin or death.

and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” Rev 21:4

No one who has been born of God practices sin, because His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin continually, because he has been born of God. 1John 3:9