Prayer as Kingdom Partnership
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Matthew 6:10
10 ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.
Introduction: We know that prayer is a conversation with God. But how does prayer become a partnership with God?
We can see God’s Kingdom throughout His story. The Church, made up of followers of Christ Jesus, is God’s Kingdom. People should be able to see God in action through us and in our churches. Are we praying for opportunities to be His Kingdom in our communities? This is a prayer God promises to answer because we are asking for His will to be done.
“Kingdom” is a term that we don’t think about often in a modern democracy. It is relegated to history or fictional stories. When you think of the word “kingdom,” what comes to mind?
In his essay The Kingdom Life, Dallas Willard notes that theological books often use words like “reign” and “rule” to describe God’s Kingdom, but for ordinary people, “it is more informative to say that the Kingdom is God in action.” Willard then says that at the center of biblical teaching on Kingdom “is the idea of an all-loving and all-powerful God who is in action for us and with us. He is not passive. He is not distant. He is not indifferent. God certainly isn’t dead.”
But how does our prayer life become a partnership with God in His kingdom?
We are going to look at this as a five act play:
Act 1: Creation and the Fall
Act 2: Israel
Act 3: Jesus Brings the Kingdom of God into the darkness
Act 4: The Church
Act 5: Completed Redemption
I. Act 1: Creation and the Fall
A. God created the world and said it was good. He gave us an extraordinary gift in the world He made, in the relationships He gave us, and in the way He didn’t leave us in the garden doomed in sin.
Talk about the Kingdom being present in the Garden and how sin separated the two.
(Picture of God’s kingdom)
(Picture of God’s kingdom and the kingdom of darkness)
B. Psalm 8:3–4 portrays David’s awe at God’s graciousness and the wonder of His kingdom. Ps 8:3-4
3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained;
4 What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him?
In this Psalm - David is looking up at the heavens and thinking about the vastness of the works of God. Have you ever done that? Have you ever thought about how much more we know now? The pictures that have been sent back by the Hubble space telescope are awesome. Stuff we can’t see with just our eyes, yet there is still enough that we can see to warrant wondering why God even cares about us. Really - Why are we so special when compared to all that He has created? Even with all of God’s creation He created man last and in His image. He breathed life into mankind and walked in the garden with Adam. We were made for relationship, we were made to be partners in His kingdom.
II. Act 2: Israel
A. We tend to not think of God’s Kingdom in the Old Testament, but we see a loving God in action in the Old Testament as He chooses and guides His people for His redemptive purposes. The question is how did God use the people of Israel for His redemptive purposes?
(Show picture of how Israel with the law and temple brings the two together)
B. We see God in action and His love and power throughout the Psalms. He is a God who is present and active in our lives. We are in His Kingdom! We are in His kingdom because the church has become Israel by the Spirit. Psalm 145:8–13 is a strong example of this.
8 The Lord is gracious and merciful; Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.
9 The Lord is good to all, And His mercies are over all His works.
10 All Your works shall give thanks to You, O Lord, And Your godly ones shall bless You.
11 They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom And talk of Your power;
12 To make known to the sons of men Your mighty acts And the glory of the majesty of Your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.
If we take a look at this portion of this Psalm it shows some of the ways His kingdom spills over into the Dominion of darkness and how we partner with God in His Kingdom through Prayer and deed:
v 8 & 9 - He is gracious and merciful; slow to anger and great in lovingkindness and good to all. What do you think things would be like if He weren’t. What would it be like if He treated us the way we should be treated based on the things we do?
v 10 - His works give thanks to Him - have you ever sat quietly and listened to the birds sing God’s praises? Or the trees tell us of His wonderful works? We too can give thanks to Him and bless Him through our worship and our prayers as we go about our day.
v 11 & 12 - We can spread His fame and let others know about Him. That’s what we should be doing anyway. Preaching the gospel to all creation. Telling others about His mighty works and His lovingkindness towards us; and especially about how He redeems us from the Dominion of darkness through the sacrifice of His Son that we may be children of God.
C. Look for God’s Kingdom when you’re reading the Old Testament and the Psalms. Especially the Psalms. The Psalms continuously speak of God’s acts within His Kingdom. The things He does for us and His creation. There are constant reminders in the Psalms of what God is doing for us, His loving kindness, grace and mercy. Psalm 103:2-4 says:
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits;
3 Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases;
4 Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;
And then look at your own life, can you see these things. Can you see His hand upon your life?
III. Act 3: Jesus Brings the Kingdom of God into the darkness
A. Jesus refers to the Kingdom repeatedly in the New Testament. In the Lord’s Prayer, He teaches the disciples, and us as well, to pray “your kingdom come.” He invites everyone into His Kingdom. All it takes is faith - whosoever believes shall have eternal life. Have you received His invitation?
1. We can’t have the Kingdom without Jesus, without His death, burial, and Resurrection. When we enter His Kingdom, we become His disciples. After becoming a disciple we desire to be conformed to the image of Christ so we can represent the Kingdom for people to see what God in action looks like. Christ brought the kingdom of God into the darkness. He brought the kingdom into the darkness to redeem it, to bring it back into conformity with God’s will. Every time someone accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior the light shines a bit brighter and God’s kingdom grows.
(Show the picture of the Holy dots in the kingdom of the world)
2. Colossians 1:13–14 shows us how Jesus is the key to God’s Kingdom: Co 1:13-14
13 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,
14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Have you ever been lost in the woods as night was falling. The darkness is closing in around you, you don’t know which way to go, your tired and hungry, you need help. Then you see lights flickering between the trees and you hear people call your name. The lights grow brighter and the voices louder. Finally you call out and those who are searching for you find you. They rescue you from the darkness in the woods. You are no longer alone and lost. They get you to their vehicle and take you home.
This is what Jesus did, He came into the darkness, found you alone and lost, He took our hands and led us into the light. He rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and took us home to His kingdom. He redeemed us, He bought us back from the evil one with His own blood, and then as a bonus he forgave us of our sins.
B. The Holy Spirit guides those in the Kingdom.
1. The Holy Spirit is the one who guides us into living like Jesus in His Kingdom. He gives us the power to live out God’s Kingdom on earth.
2. Paul shows us how we can have the Kingdom now in our lives: Rom. 14:17
17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Eating and drinking are things that we do to maintain our bodies in this world. We do these things because our flesh requires it. But our spirits are what really matters in God’s Kingdom. And the Holy Spirit provides us with the things that really matter in God’s kingdom. He provides the Love, Joy, Peace, Patience and the other gifts that make us more like Christ Jesus. But we have to open ourselves up to Him and allow Him to sanctify and change us.
IV. Act 4: The Church
A. We may think that the Kingdom is only when we reach heaven. But Jesus shows us the Kingdom is here now. Again, we note this in the Lord’s Prayer—Lord, let Your Kingdom come on earth!
Our presence in the darkness brings light and the Kingdom of God. When Jesus preached He didn’t say get saved so you can go to Heaven. He said: Mt 4:17
17 From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
At hand - this isn’t slang for you are going to die soon so you need to be saved. It is a present tense announcement that Jesus has brought the Kingdom of God into the darkness. This will allow us to have that abundant life in Christ Jesus. A life where we are free of the law of sin and death. A life redeemed from sin and reconciled to the Father. A life that brings us into a partnership with God to fulfill His will for our lives.
B. In the Sermon on the Mount, we hear Jesus say,
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
As you can see, this verse is in the present tense. Jesus makes the Kingdom and its blessings currently available. This life - here and now.
The Beatitudes also show us what life is like in God’s Kingdom under His care and power. We are people who are blessed! The great thing about the Beatitudes is that they show us how to live in this upside down kingdom that Jesus brought into the darkness. As people in your community see God’s blessing on you as you mourn with them, care for the poor, show mercy and humility, and make peace, they will ask about the availability of heaven for their lives. This is when we have a wonderful opportunity to tell them about the upside down kingdom that we live in. The kingdom of God which they too can become a part of through faith.
C. Pray this week that God’s Kingdom will be evident in your life as you interact with people around you. Pray this for your church. Ask for opportunities for His Kingdom to be shown and His will to be done. Pray that others will see God in action as they watch your life. We can show the world what God in action looks like.
V. Act 5: Completed Redemption (The two circles are one again - and white)
A. We will have the privilege of sitting around God’s banquet table in His Kingdom, directly experiencing the power and care that we have come to know on earth! The kingdom of God has come near and is here when we sit at the table and dine with Christ Rev 3:20 says:
20 ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.
He wants to come in. He wants to bring the kingdom to everyone and bring everyone into the kingdom.
B. Looking a little further we see that when God’s Kingdom reaches full culmination, there will be those from every nation, tribe, people, and language worshiping together.
9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands;
10 and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”
What an awesome idea. Look around you. Do you see anyone that isn’t like you? We may be different ages but there always seems to be an unspoken division between peoples. Finding a multi-cultural church is rather hard. Lots of people aren’t comfortable worshipping with people who are different. There are too many differences to overcome. Even though Jesus removed the dividing wall between the people; we still put walls up of our making.
Exit:
We pray and long for the day when Jesus returns to bring the kingdom of God and His creation back into alignment. When He makes all things new and we can live in a world which isn’t broken. Until that time we have to live in this broken world where the kingdom of God is near. It is so near all we have to do is look inside ourselves. Look inside and see the Holy Spirit. That’s just how near to the Kingdom of God we are.
When we pray for God’s will to be done on Earth as it is in Heaven we are partnering with God in His work of redeeming creation. When we tell someone about Jesus we are partnering with God in His work of redeeming creation. We the Church are God’s partner in His work through prayer.
Let’s be thankful because we are blessed to have a part in bringing God’s Kingdom near at hand in our community and that people can come to know the King.
Lord, we pray Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven!
Pray