Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven

This lengthy portion of The Lord's Prayer directs our attention to God's purpose. After addressing the Creator of the universe as Our Father in heaven, we request that His name be hallowed, the He be exalted in His holy character. And with that request made, we turn to His kingdom and His will.

Jesus teaches us that God's kingdom is already heavenly, and His will is already being done in heaven - where He is. Our request is that His kingdom in heaven would come on earth, which of course, it did with Jesus Christ. It will come in its fullness with His second coming, so we continue to pray this until then. Our request is also that the Father's will will be done on earth. And once again, we can point out that it is being done. But likewise, it will be done in fullness with the arrival of the new heavens and new earth.

So before we even think of making requests for ourselves, we ask God to exalt His name and do all that His purpose desires with His creation. Next time, we'll see the first request for ourselves.