Your Kingdom Come: Desiring the Kingdom of God

Jesus taught us to pray, "Your kingdom come" (Luke 11:2b). There's a lot packed into those three words! But one simple thing we see here is that Jesus wants us to ASK for the kingdom to come. He wants us to DESIRE God's kingdom! This is one reason he told us to pray for it to come - so that we would have this thought before us; that this great truth would fill our hearts: that God has a kingdom, and it has broken into our world through Jesus Christ. It is here now, partially and spiritually in the lives of those who bow the knee to King Jesus. But it is still coming in fullness. The Day will come when the Kingdom of God is here, physically and fully!

It is here 'already.' But the fullness is 'not yet.' It is here, and yet it is coming!

Until that Day comes, Jesus wants us to think about it, hope in it, long for it and pray for it to come.

When God's kingdom comes in fullness:

• Partial healing in this life will become full and final healing - new bodies with no more sickness or death!
• Progressive growth in maturity will become perfection!
• Scattered local churches who are 'one' spiritually will become 'one' physically! We will be together - the people of God!
• Our stumbling in sin will become total victory in experience. No more sin...ever!
• Partial justice in this life will fade away into complete justice; every wrong made right.
• Sweet tastes of God's presence in this life will give way to unbroken fellowship with God! We will be with him forever!
• Faith will become sight!!

In that Day, what Christ accomplished for his people at the cross will be fully applied in our actual experience. We will not only be declared righteous in heaven (justification), and be growing in righteousness more and more (sanctification), but we will actually BE righteous in Christ (glorification). Jesus will be with us and will reign as king.
What a Day that will be!

So let us pray from our hearts,
"Father, your kingdom come!!"

How To Pray (According To Jesus), Part 2

In our previous post we looked at the first 3 requests of the Lord's model prayer. We saw that Christ wants us to first focus on God, his praise and his heart, before we bring our personal needs to him. In prayer we have fellowship with God and through prayer God is molding our heart and will to line up with his own!

Now let's briefly look at the last 3 requests.

4. "Give us this day our daily bread." It's ok to ask God to supply our needs. In this petition Christ is teaching us to bring our needs to the Lord. But in the proper order! Our perspective must first be refreshed in the first 3 petitions, as we refocus on God himself, the glory of his name, the advance of his kingdom and the carrying out of his will. In this light of humility we realize that our needs are not as pressing as God's world-wide mission; but that our "Father in heaven" still cares about the details of our life! We also have a fresh reminder (after praying about God's powerful kingdom and will and glorious name) that he is truly able to meet our needs! We can boldly come and pray, not only for our bread, but for all the needs of the day.

Finally, we learn to trust God day by day for just what we need. This petition draws us out of a 'hoarding' mentality and teaches us to ask for what we need for today (we're not promised tomorrow). Just as the Israelites were instructed to gather only enough manna for one day (if they tried to hoard extra manna for tomorrow it would breed worms and stink!) [Exodus 18:14-21]. Don't think that it is selfish to ask God to supply our needs, for in our asking and his supplying he is glorified as our Source and Provider!

5. "and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." The 5th petition reminds us that we have deeper needs than bread! Jesus wants us to ask daily to be forgiven of sin. This is not the once-for-all declaration of righteousness we receive when we are born again and justified by God through faith in Jesus (for in that moment he forgives all our sin: past, present and future). Rather, this is dealing with daily sins that impede our realtionship with God; our walking in fellowship with the Father (1 John 1:9 speaks of a continuous need for forgiveness in this sense). When we first come to Christ we are 'given a bath' (justification) but daily we still have need to 'wash our feet' (progressive sanctification) as we walk in this world (John 13:8-11).

Another huge lesson Jesus teaches us in this 5th petition is that our forgiveness from God is connected to our forgiving others! Jesus instructs us to ask for forgiveness from God for our 'debts,' but in the same breath we are to confess to God that we have also forgiven others! We are to treat others the way God in Christ has treated us. In fact, to make this completely plain, Jesus says in the verses immediately following the Lord's prayer, "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses" (Matthew 6:14-15, ESV). This makes sense when we consider that our sins against God are much greater than the things people have done against us (as bad as those things are - we do not belittle our hurts). This is because when others sin against us, they are sinning against someone who is finite and sinful. But our sins against God are against an infinite and holy being! This makes them eternal sins, worthy of eternal punishment. And since God has shown immeasurable mercy and love by placing our eternal sins on Christ so that we could receive forgiveness and love, he now desires that we show grace to those who have committed lesser sins against us. Our refusal to forgive others is evidence and proof that God has not forgiven us. It is fruit on display, testifying that our hearts have not been changed by God. This is so serious! No wonder Jesus teaches us to make this a daily, ongoing exercise.

6. "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." The final petition in this prayer is for our spiritual protection. The Bible teaches that God himself never tempts anyone (James 1:13). But God does allow Satan to tempt us. The difference is in the goal. Satan will mean a particular situation for evil, to destroy us. But God will mean the same situation for our good (Genesis 50:20; Romans 8:28)! Jesus wants us to pray for spiritual protection; to ask God to lead us in paths that please him.

What a glorious privilege it is to be able to pray to our Father through Jesus Christ! What an amazing thought that God desires to have fellowship with us, and has made that fellowship possible by removing the thing that stood in the way of our fellowship - our sin. By placing our sins on Jesus Christ and judging him in our place at the cross, we can now have intimate communion with God through faith in Christ!

Let us pray!

How To Pray (According To Jesus), Part 1

Jesus' model prayer for his disciples is recorded for us in Luke 11:1-4 and Matthew 6:9-13. If there ever was someone qualified to teach us how to pray, it is Jesus! He is the unique and eternal Son of God himself; and when he came as a Man he devoted himself to prayer (Mark 1:35; Hebrews 5:7).

How did Christ teach his followers to pray?

First of all, note that throughout the prayer Jesus used the word 'us' rather than 'me.' The focus is on community, not the individual. Jesus wants his followers to pray together.

There are 6 petitions, or requests, in the prayer. Let's look at the first 3 in this post, and we'll study the last 3 in Part 2. Here is the text:

Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:9-10, ESV

• "Our Father..." Jesus' disciples - those who have come to God through Jesus, repenting of sin and believing on Christ and his work on the cross - have a new relationship with God. He no longer relates to us primarily as our Judge, but as our Father! We have intimacy with God, and this is the first thought as we pray. Not all can say this, for Jesus spoke of some as being children, not of God, but of the Devil (John 8:44). What a privilege to enjoy a new and intimate relationship with God through Jesus!
• "...in heaven." By calling God our Father we are reminded of his closeness to us. But the very next words ("in heaven") remind us that he is not only our intimate Father but the sovereign Lord of heaven! So in the opening words of our prayer we are reminded that God is both near and far. We embrace him in love as our Father, but we also bow to him in reverence as the King of heaven!

Now that our thoughts are on both God's intimacy and power, the petitions begin. The first three petitions focus on God, while the final three focus on our needs. Jesus wants us to first spend time thinking of God's heart rather than rushing in with our own desires and needs. This teaches us humility,  shapes our perspective as we pray and lines up our thinking and heart with God's! So as we pray, we are being molded by God. The purpose is not just to give God our requests, but to be changed by him progressively as we fellowship with him in prayer! Don't forget to seek to KNOW GOD, not to merely check off your 'to do list' that you prayed.
Now we are in a better position to pray according to God's will.

1. "Hallowed be your name." This is not simply a declaration ("Father, your name is hallowed"), but is a request. Jesus wants us to ask God to make his name to be seen as holy. It already is holy. But the prayer is that we (and others) would recognize his name as holy. "Father, let your name be honored and respected and cherished and feared and praised; let your name be adored by me today, and by my family and neighbors; let your name be seen as glorious in our city and to the ends of the earth; Father, work for the glory of your name!" This is what Jesus himself prayed in John 12:28: "Father, glorify your name." Jesus wants us to spend time praising God and conforming our heart's desires to his own desire to glorify his name in all the earth (Isaiah 11:9b; Habakkuk 2:14).

2. "Your kingdom come." God's kingdom is both 'already' and 'not yet.' God's kingdom is where he rules and reigns in men's hearts. It is here partially and spiritually in the lives of believers. And yet it is still to come fully and physically when Christ returns. This petition creates in us a longing to see God's kingdom advancing as more and more people bow the knee to the Lord and begin to image Jesus Christ and shine with his light. Jesus wants us to spend time praying about the advance of the fullness of God's rule and reign!

3."Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." God always and certainly carries out his secret and sovereign will - what he has declared from before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:11). But his revealed will is what he has declared in his word to us. It shows us what is pleasing to God. This is our prayer in the 3rd petition, that God would line things up on earth, increasingly, with what Scripture tells us is pleasing to the Lord (ESV Study Bible notes). Jesus wants us to pray that things around us would unfold according to the word of God.

In our next study we will look at the petitions that deal with our needs.
Praise God! May the Spirit of God help us pray deep and meaningful prayers that bring us close to the Lord and conform our way of thinking to his. May God help us love him and desire his glory and kingdom and will!

Now we've studied Jesus' teaching on prayer. Time to go practice!