The Bible's Final Prayers: 'Come, Lord Jesus'

Today's Reading

Read Revelation 22:1-5. John sees the new Jerusalem, with the river of the water of life flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. The tree of life stands on either side of the river, bearing fruit every month, and its leaves are for the healing of the nations. "No longer will there be anything accursed... They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads... And they will reign forever and ever." Then read Revelation 22:17, 20: "The Spirit and the Bride say, 'Come.' And let the one who hears say, 'Come.'... He who testifies to these things says, 'Surely I am coming soon.' Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!"

Reflection

We have journeyed through fourteen days of prayer in the Bible -- from Eden to the exodus, from Hannah to David, from Solomon to Elijah, from Daniel to Jesus, from the early church to Paul, from the Spirit's groaning to this final, luminous scene. And the Bible ends exactly where it began: with God and humanity together.

Revelation 22:1-5 reverses the curse of Genesis 3. The tree of life, barred since the fall, is now freely accessible. The curse is lifted. Death is gone. God's people see His face -- the very thing Moses longed for and was denied. Everything that was lost in Eden is restored, amplified, and perfected in the new Jerusalem.

And the last prayer of the Bible is breathtakingly simple: "Come, Lord Jesus." The Greek word is Maranatha -- one of the earliest Aramaic prayers of the church (see 1 Corinthians 16:22). It was on the lips of the very first Christians, and it will be on the lips of the very last.

Keller identifies this as the simplest and most comprehensive prayer a Christian can pray. "Come, Lord Jesus" gathers up every longing -- for justice, for healing, for reunion with loved ones, for the end of suffering, for the end of death itself -- into two words. It is the prayer that all other prayers are reaching toward.

Spurgeon insisted that "Come, Lord Jesus" is not a prayer for escape from the world. It is a prayer for the world's redemption. We are asking the King to return and make all things right -- not to rapture us out of creation but to renew creation itself. This prayer is not resignation. It is the most radical hope imaginable: that the God who made all things will redeem all things.

Notice the structure of Revelation 22:17. "The Spirit and the Bride say, 'Come.'" The Spirit who helps us pray (Romans 8:26) and the church who has prayed throughout the ages together lift this final prayer. It is a Trinitarian, communal, cosmic prayer -- the groaning of all creation (Romans 8:22) distilled into a single word.

Going Deeper

This plan began in Eden, where prayer was as natural as breathing. It ends in the new Jerusalem, where prayer will give way to face-to-face presence. In between, the Bible shows us prayer in every form: bold intercession, desperate lament, quiet trust, agonized surrender, Spirit-empowered groaning, and joyful hope. You have been given words to pray in every season. The question now is not whether you know how to pray but whether you will. The Spirit and the Bride say, "Come." Will you add your voice?