Why Christians Pray for the Lord to Come

A prayer of hope belongs in ordinary life

A Christian may long for Jesus to come while finding the people in the room difficult to love. That tension makes the ending of 1 Corinthians worth hearing carefully. Paul does not leave the church with a detached word about the future. He closes a letter about their common life with love for the Lord, grace and his own love for them. ¹

The KJV preserves Maranatha in 1 Corinthians 16:22. Revelation gives a plainly expressed appeal to Jesus. Christian expectancy can be voiced with confidence in him while remaining careful about what a particular ancient expression proves. ¹

Prayer addressed to the risen Jesus belongs within the early Christian pattern of invoking him as Lord. It is more than speaking respectfully about a remembered teacher. In 1 Corinthians, calling on his name and awaiting him are features of the community’s relation to him, alongside prayer offered to God through Christ. ⁴

That relationship matters for the reader. The hope of his coming is not confidence that our present plans must succeed. It is confidence in the crucified and risen Lord. His future calls our present loyalties into view, while his grace sustains people who still need correction, help and forgiveness. The closing words belong to a church learning how to live together. ¹

Paul ends a whole letter rather than adding a slogan

The opening of 1 Corinthians already joins gifts with waiting. Paul thanks God for grace given in Jesus Christ and says that the believers come behind in no gift while waiting for the coming of the Lord. Their expectation begins within God’s faithfulness, not within a claim that spiritual gifts make the community complete in wisdom or character. ¹

The rest of the letter shows why that distinction is necessary. The Corinthians form parties around teachers, boast in status and knowledge, wrong one another and neglect others at the Lord’s supper. Paul addresses those failures without abandoning the gospel he first delivered. Christ crucified remains their foundation, and resurrection remains essential to their hope. ¹

Charity therefore reaches beyond the immediate discussion of gifts in chapters 12 to 14. It answers destructive patterns across the letter, including rivalry and self interest. The final appeal to do everything in love gathers that wider moral concern, rather than introducing a gentler subject after the serious teaching has ended. ⁸

Chapter 15 then explains why labour in the Lord is not vain. Christ has risen, those who belong to him await resurrection at his coming, and death is the last enemy to be destroyed. The chapter concludes with steadfast service. Future hope makes present faithfulness meaningful; it does not tell the church that ordinary work and care have become irrelevant. ¹

Chapter 16 follows with a collection for the saints, planned journeys, Timothy’s reception and recognition of those who serve. It is in this setting that Paul writes Maranatha. A church awaiting its Lord still shares resources, receives fellow workers peacefully and honours people who refresh others. Expectancy and responsibility occupy the same closing chapter. ¹

The ancient expression requires a careful explanation

Maranatha preserves an Aramaic expression within a Greek letter. Transcription carries the sound into another writing system; translation explains its meaning in another language. The distinction matters because the Greek letters do not automatically settle the division and form of the underlying Aramaic words. Reading a modern edition is also different from inspecting an ancient manuscript. ¹

The historic lexicon gives a gloss of our Lord cometh or will come. That reflects one stage in the expression’s interpretation, alongside different Greek editorial spellings. It should be heard as historical lexical evidence, rather than treated as a final answer that makes every other interpretation impossible. ²

A Western Middle Aramaic argument favours our Lord has come. It finds the final Greek vowel more likely to represent the ending of a perfect verb than an imperative. The argument is probabilistic: its author judges the imperative less likely, rather than impossible. Dialect and transcription are relevant to the disagreement. ³

The question of Christ’s coming is larger than the reconstruction of one ancient expression. Revelation explicitly asks him to come, and Paul describes those who belong to Christ being raised at his coming. Christian hope has these clear contexts as well. Its confession does not depend on pretending that every question about transcription has been settled. ¹

The presence of inherited Hebrew and Aramaic expressions in Greek Christian texts also draws attention to linguistic variety. Shared prayer language can preserve a connection across communities. It does not let us recover every language Paul used in private prayer, or turn a familiar sacred expression into a requirement that all worshippers speak one language. ⁶

The Lord addressed is Jesus Christ

The surrounding KJV wording names the Lord Jesus Christ. The prayer in Revelation explicitly addresses the Lord Jesus. These contexts give Christian use of the appeal its centre. The church is not simply asking for a change of circumstances or for the arrival of an unspecified spiritual power. It longs for the person whose death and resurrection ground its hope. ¹

The early Christian invocation of Jesus is significant within the community’s devotion to God. The risen Christ becomes the focus of faith, obedience and prayer, rather than remaining merely one respected teacher among others. This helps explain why an appeal to him belongs beside grace from God and the Lord Jesus Christ. ⁵

First Corinthians 8 confesses one God, the Father, and one Lord Jesus Christ. Chapter 12 relates the confession of Jesus as Lord to the Holy Ghost. The believer’s hope is therefore personal and worshipful. It concerns the Lord to whom the church belongs, while the Spirit’s gifts serve the people gathered in his name. ¹

That confession also keeps a witness in his proper place. Paul asks whether he was crucified for the Corinthians and whether they were baptized in his name. He was not. Those who proclaim Christ serve a Lord whom they cannot replace. Praying for Jesus to come leaves no room for making an evangelist, preacher or gifted believer the centre of Christian expectancy. ¹

Revelation gives the appeal a clear voice

At Revelation’s close, Jesus testifies to his coming, and the response follows: “He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” The appeal rests on his promise. It voices agreement and longing, rather than supplying a calculation of the date or a technique for compelling an event. The final chapter makes the person addressed clear. ¹

Verse 17 can be read as moving between two addressees. The Spirit and the bride appeal for Christ to come, while the thirsty are invited to receive the water of life freely. This reading connects come with both expectancy and invitation. The two directions belong together without making every occurrence address the same person. ¹²

The chapter’s closing appeal invites a response to what has been heard. Hope is received within the church’s worship and continued fidelity, rather than as information with no claim upon the hearer. The final grace blessing places that response within divine favour, while the promises call the community to persevere. ¹³

The surrounding vision is larger than relief for one person’s difficult day. Revelation 21 speaks of God dwelling with his people and of death, sorrow and pain passing away. Chapter 22 presents the water of life, the tree and the servants who see God’s face. The prayer reaches toward this promised renewal, not merely toward the vindication of our preferred outcome. ¹

The full closing chapter also retains warnings about wrongdoing and falsehood. Selecting only its comforting promises can obscure its call for a moral response. Hope should not make the reader assume that every present choice is already faithful. The invitation to receive life belongs with a serious summons to live under God’s rule. ¹⁴

Early Christians connected expectancy with thanksgiving

The Didache preserves Maranatha within thanksgiving after a meal. Its prayer asks for the church to be gathered into God’s kingdom, speaks of grace coming and calls the unholy to repent. This is a witness to early Christian reception of the expression. It joins expectancy with gratitude, the gathered community and a response of life. ¹⁷

The same document urges watchfulness and readiness because the hour of the Lord’s coming is not known. Its concern includes the danger of love turning to hatred and the need for endurance. These features help us hear expectancy as a concern for faithful common life. They do not provide a calendar for the present church or establish every detail of Corinthian worship. ¹⁷

The evidence for early worship is limited enough to require care in reconstructing its order. A closing prayer or grace in a letter does not by itself prove the precise words and sequence of an entire meal liturgy. Connections with later Christian worship may be proposed while the original written address retains its own setting. ⁷

Early reflection on the petition for God’s kingdom also kept earthly needs within prayer. Longing for the kingdom did not remove the place of daily bread, forgiveness or obedience to God’s will. In that reception, expectation and dependence belong together. Christian hope can enlarge the horizon of prayer while leaving room for the needs of the present. ²⁰

Love for the Lord is a serious allegiance

The line containing Maranatha begins with a warning about not loving the Lord Jesus Christ. That warning should not be softened into an expression with no relation to allegiance. Nor should it be taken as permission to pronounce our own enemies beyond grace. The Lord named in the sentence is the same Lord whose grace Paul invokes in the following verse. ¹

Historical preaching sometimes read Maranatha as our Lord has come and related it to the incarnation. On that reading, the Lord’s condescension and love call the church away from arrogance and sin. This is a genuine reception of the declarative interpretation, rather than evidence that every ancient Christian understood the expression as a future petition. ¹⁸

The ending has also been read as joining warning, grace and the apostle’s love for the congregation. Keeping those elements together prevents the severe sentence from consuming the entire farewell. The church hears a serious appeal concerning its Lord while also receiving a blessing and the assurance of love in Christ. ¹⁹

The exact wording of Revelation’s final blessing differs among English versions because its textual witnesses vary. Some versions say saints, some all, and the KJV says you all. That difference deserves truthful explanation without claiming to know a particular copyist’s hidden motive or turning the blessing into proof that every person is already saved. ¹⁶

Paul’s own final words are addressed to all the Corinthians in Christ Jesus. He has corrected them at length, yet he still expresses love. That combination matters for a church learning to await Christ together. Firm correction and genuine charity can belong in the same relationship; neither requires pretending that the other is absent. ¹

Waiting for Christ leaves room for present care

Christian hope is communal. People facing sorrow and pressure can continue to bear witness, comfort others and share encouragement, even while their own burdens remain. The appeal for Christ to come gives them a common horizon. It should not isolate each believer inside a private longing that leaves the rest of the church unheard. ¹⁵

A future hope can sustain present faithfulness. Looking for Christ’s appearing need not withdraw attention from the suffering and responsibilities before us. Hope in the risen Lord can encourage righteousness and care now, while the promised consummation remains future. That connection permits expectancy to strengthen service rather than becoming a reason to defer it. ¹⁰

Paul’s arrangements in chapter 16 make this concrete. The collection concerns people in need; the church is to receive Timothy without fear and send him forward in peace. Those who labour for the saints are to be acknowledged. It does show that Christian expectancy has room for generosity, peace and appreciation. ¹

His travel plans remain subject to the Lord’s permission. He hopes to spend time with the Corinthians rather than merely pass through, and he remains at Ephesus where an effective door is open alongside many adversaries. Hope does not require an easy path. A fruitful opportunity and serious opposition can be present together. ¹

Titus 2 likewise joins grace, a godly life in the present and the blessed hope of Christ’s appearing. Grace teaches as well as pardons, and Christ’s self giving aims at a people zealous of good works. Looking forward can therefore deepen present obedience. It need not make the believer either restless for a date or careless toward a neighbour. ¹

Pentecostal expectancy includes dependence and charity

Our Pentecostal reading expects the Holy Ghost to empower believers for witness and to work through his gifts. Acts 1 promises power for Christ’s witnesses, and Acts 2 records the outpouring with tongues as the Spirit gives utterance. That empowerment is distinguished from regeneration. Awaiting Christ does not mean awaiting the first occasion on which God can act graciously among his people. ¹

Pentecostal worship can join expectation with surrender. Looking for the Spirit’s action need not mean believing that an experience can be produced at will. Openness remains a disposition, rather than an achievement that makes the believer self sufficient. The relationship between expectancy and surrender can be considered without requiring congregations to follow an identical form. ¹¹

First Corinthians describes varied gifts from the same Spirit, including healing, prophecy and tongues. It also directs the community to pursue charity and the edification of others. We continue to expect divine healing and gracious answers to prayer while caring truthfully for people whose suffering remains. Gifts are received for service, not as a guarantee of immunity from weakness or grief. ¹

Romans 8 makes room for that unresolved longing. Those who have the firstfruits of the Spirit still groan and await the redemption of the body; the Spirit helps their infirmities. Present spiritual life and future fullness therefore belong together without being identical. Neither suffering nor the need to wait makes the Spirit’s present ministry unreal. ¹

Paul’s appeal that all things be done with charity concerns all the readers and all their actions. Its scope includes ordinary dealings, not only moments called worship. The plural wording presses that breadth: everyone’s conduct belongs under love. It gives Christian courage a direction that cannot be supplied by strength or confidence alone. ⁹

The KJV gives the appeal plainly: “Let all your things be done with charity.” A church can pray for the Lord to come and practise that charity while it waits. Grace sustains its witness, gifts serve its common good and hope leaves it attentive to people. The future belongs to Christ, and the present is a place to love him and those he has placed beside us. ¹