2024-07-14 God’s Kingdom, God’s Will

Before I get into things this morning I want to take a moment and talk about the events that happened yesterday. Now, if you’ve been here for a while, you know I don’t get political in the sense of talking about who you should vote for, what party you should vote for, or what your political beliefs and ideals should be. I teach the bible, I teach about the trinity of God expressed through the Father, Son & Holy Spirit, and that is what informs my worldview and that is what informs my political decisions. But, as I’m sure you all saw in the news or your social media feeds, there was an assassination attempt against former president Donald Trump. Again, whatever your political beliefs are, that just doesn’t matter in a moment like this.

We look around the world and see these types of things happen. Political leaders, or political opponents murdered for their beliefs, their work, whatever the reason, and what do we do? We thank God for the safety of our country and the ability to express our opinions through the democratic process. So what happens when we see what we’ve seen this weekend?

Now, this obviously isn’t why prompted the message I am going to preach today, but I am thankful that we are in the middle of a series on prayer, and today we are looking at Jesus saying to God the Father, “YOUR Kingdom come, YOUR will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

Not only is this shaking our political process, but two people lost their lives in this. An innocent bystander and the man who attempted the assassination. And again, regardless of your political views, someone tried to kill a presidential candidate who is a human being, created in the image of God, who has a family, children, a wife, and he went to bed last night with a different paradigm than he woke up with. And we all should. We need to be praying. We need to be praying that our democratic process is withheld. We need to be praying that the integrity of our nation and its laws are withheld. We need to be praying for safety. We need to be praying for God to break through in the hearts of people who allow the political realm to cause such hatred and conflict in them. And can I just say this, in a time where our nation seems maybe more divided than it has in a long time, as followers of Jesus we need to be aware of the real kingdom we serve, that supersedes this nation, and be praying for the peace of heaven, and the kingdom and will of God to come to earth.

So, let’s take a moment and pray, and then we’ll get into the word this morning.

Well, we are continuing our series on / / Prayer & Fasting and I was thinking about it this week - Why take so long to go through such a short prayer? Jesus says to pray like this, and then says basically five statements on prayer. Or five parts to his prayer. So, can’t we just pray that? Why go so deep on this?

Kelley and I were at a friends house for dinner this week and one of their daughters just found out that the boy she likes likes her back, and so we were having this conversation around the dinner table, and he had just asked her on their first date. She was over the moon. Of course she was, right? But she was describing her thought process, her heart process, their conversation, how he asked her, what their plan was, and it just makes me think. We really do prepare for the important conversations in life. We prepare for the important moments. Why would we not think about how we approach the God of the universe when it comes to prayer, our conversation times with Him, and really truly, your relational times with Him.

One of the core things Jesus was inviting people into was that prayer is more than just giving God our shopping list, or our needs and desires list. It’s more than just complaining about what’s wrong in the world. It’s a deep, relational connection. And when we care about those connections in our lives we think about them, we plan for them, we appropriately handle ourselves within them. I want to connect with you, so I act and react, respond and posture myself differently to do so because I care about our relationship and our connection.

We all know relationship takes work. You learn as you grow up to be a socially aware and connected person. And some people just seem to be naturally better at it than others. And sometimes we think some people are “socially awkward” maybe, or even socially inept. But that doesn’t lessen the need for that skill to be learned. We all hope for our children that they grow up socially aware and able to function well in society.

So, Jesus, through talking about prayer, is in a lot of ways giving us the instruction of conversation with the God of the Universe. Which should be a class in its own. I’m not saying fumbling through prayer, or being socially awkward means we don’t know how to pray…come on, I can be socially awkward. And I’m not saying that God doesn’t love his children coming to him with just a simple connection and desire to be with him.

BUT, and I think this is a big but, and I’ll ask this as a question - how many of us, personally, want to be in a relationship where we are putting in all the effort, and the other person just kind of shows up whenever they feel like it, and they just do what we would consider to be the bare minimum? Is that a relationship, whether that is friendship or romantic, relationships take work, they take effort, they take intentional pursuit, in a way that is both meaningful and honest, genuine. I’ve said this before, every once and a while, when I say to Kelley that I love her, her response is NOT “Awwwww, I love you, too. I’m married to the best man in the world.” No, her response is, “Why?”

Let’s just say, being with the person is the bare minimum. Saying, “I love you” is a step up, but taking the time to articulate WHY I love you and communicating that in a way that is meaningful and honoring to you is going to mean much more to you and as a result deepen our relationship, our connection.

This why the 5 love languages book by Gary Chapman has become so popular. Because different people react to different connection styles more than others.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, the 5 love languages is a book by Dr Gary Chapman, a counselor, and he’s dramatically transformed people’s connections through this explanation of all of us having different “love languages” that we both speak and respond to. Again, if that’s new to you, they are “Acts of Service”, where actions speak louder than words, “Receiving Gifts” where some people feel most loved when they are given something tangible, “Quality Time” where your presence and undivided attention mean the world to someone, “Words of Affirmation” saying the right thing, the right complement, feeling true affirmation through words, and “Physical Touch” where a hug, a back rub, true, meaningful, appropriate physical touch has the highest impact.

I’m not suggesting God has love languages. God is love. But, if we’ve learned anything about relationship by the work that it takes for each of us to have them, we must recognize that although God is perfect, and brings perfection to the table of our relationship with him, our side of things should be more than just showing up and receiving. And even when we are showing up because we absolutely rely on the God of life to sustain us, how are we doing that? Are we just treating him like a genie in a lamp, or are we honoring Him truly for who He is?

That’s why Jesus starts with the simplicity of “Our Father”.

I was thinking about it on Thursday evening this week, talking to a friend, just the profound impact of Paul’s words in Romans 8:15, / / So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” or as the ESV puts it, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

And those two words are so powerful.

/ / Abba, my dad, my papa, the warm, cuddly, relational and loving Father, who is perfect in all His ways.

/ / Father, creator of the universe, Almighty God, God of angel armies, defender of the weak, My strong tower who I run to in times of need.

Do we see God in this way? Not just God almighty, but a loving, caring, relational, emotionally connected Dad. And do we not just see God as that soft, fluffy dad, but do we understand he’s protector, provider, conqueror, strong and mighty to save?

So, Jesus says, when you pray, pray like this:

/ / “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

**For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”

Ok, so today we are going to focus in on Matthew 6:10, / / Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Again, just like last week, there’s more than just a statement or part of a prayer here. This is an invitation to truly and deeply invite God’s realm, God’s world, to overtake ours. KEY WORD: Overtake. His kingdom over our kingdom. Which takes careful thought and careful attention.

I’ve heard preachers say this so many times, / / “Be careful what you pray. God’s listening!”

Like, you prayed for patience and now you’ve got opportunity to be patient.

You prayed for peace, and the world around you seemed to become more chaotic, like there was an invitation to pursue the prince of peace, but you just wanted God to remove all the crazy people around you.

You prayed for strength and the weights seemed to get heavier, because muscle is built by resistance.

You prayed for your spouse to change and suddenly all your flaws that are hindering your relationship start getting highlighted…

Prayer is powerful, and often doesn’t work like we think it will.

This is one of those lines. / / Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. When we invite the kingdom of God to show up in our lives we often don’t realize that the other side of that is, / / “Because we want your kingdom more than we want our own.”

And that’s the problem. We tend to want the good things of the Kingdom of God, but we want them without having to lay our kingdom down.

And listen, Jesus doesn’t invite us into anything that he’s not willing to do himself. In his invitation for us to lay down everything to follow him, he’s allowed to ask for that because he laid everything down to follow the Spirit of God and His Father.

We just read it last week. After being baptized by John, what happens? Matthew 6:1-2, / / Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry.

When was the last time you were like, “God, give me your Spirit. I want to be overflowing with your Spirit and power.” And he responded with, “Cool, are you ready to fast? Are you ready to follow Him wherever he takes you” and you were like, “oh…ya….I was actually just thinking I could get that feeling. You know the one I’m talking about. Where I feel the Spirit of God and it feels good…without all that wilderness stuff…I’m good.”

/ / Are you ready to give up your way?

Are you ready to sacrifice your kingdom for the kingdom of God?

This prayer, / / “Your Kingdom come, let your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” is ultimately an invitation to obedience. Because when we say, “We want your kingdom to supersede all else” what we are saying is, “We are willing to do whatever YOU deem best. Whatever YOU decide.”

Ok, let’s really open this up. Let’s look at what is probably the greatest example of Jesus’ willingness to do what he’s asking us to do. The most important moment of obedience in Jesus’ life and he makes reference to this prayer. We actually read a portion of this last week.

If you have your bible, you can jump over to Mark 14. This story is paralleled in both Matthew 26 and Luke 22, as well. The accounts in Matthew and Mark are almost identical, but I’m going to read this from the book of Mark, and you’ll see why in a moment.

This is right near the end of Jesus’ life on earth. He’s about to be betrayed. If your bible has titles it probably says, “Jesus Prays in Gethsemane”. One of my print bibles says, “Jesus agonizes in the Garden”.

So, Mark 14:32-42, / / They went to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and Jesus said, “Sit here while I go and pray.” He took Peter, James, and John with him, and he became deeply troubled and distressed. He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

Now, you’ll remember last week I read that comment from Matthew 26:38 in reference to Jesus needing that affirmation from the Father that He was His son and was dearly loved. Remember at the baptism of Jesus, the heavens open, the Holy Spirit descends like a dove, and a voice is heard from heaven, “This is my son in whom I am well pleased.” Which comes before he’s done anything of note. No work, no miracles, no teaching, no disciples, yet Jesus is loved for who He is, by the Father, who is perfect. Yet still, here, at the end of his life, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death.”

He’s broken. Even that the biblical interpreters would title this, Jesus Agonizes in the Garden. There’s such emotion and depth of feeling to this story. Let’s continue, vs 35:

/ / He went on a little farther and fell to the ground. He prayed that, if it were possible, the awful hour awaiting him might pass him by. “Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

Then he returned and found the disciples asleep. He said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”

Then Jesus left them again and prayed the same prayer as before. When he returned to them again, he found them sleeping, for they couldn’t keep their eyes open. And they didn’t know what to say.

When he returned to them the third time, he said, “Go ahead and sleep. Have your rest. But no - the time has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Up, let’s be going. Look, my betrayer is here!”

Ok, so there’s a couple things I want to draw from in here. This is actually a great representation of the model of prayer that Jesus is teaching in Matthew 6. He doesn’t just say, when YOU pray like this, but it’s evident, HE prays like this.

Starting with, / / “Abba, Father!”… Abba, dad, papa, whatever other ‘friendly’ term you want to use, then, Father, pater, giver of life, creator, God Almighty, Father of all. That’s how Jesus starts HIS prayer in his greatest moment of anguish. When his soul is crushed with grief, how does he respond, “My dad, the one who loves me and cares for me… my Father, the one who can provide for me, look after me, into who’s hands I will commit my spirit.” Right? That’s what he says on the cross. Luke records this as his very last words.

Luke 23:46, / / Then Jesus shouted, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” And with those words he breathed his last.

Matthew says the same, but doesn’t quote those words. Matthew 27:50 says, / / Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit.

John records in John 19:30, / / [Jesus] said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

The commonality in all four accounts of the gospel is the sentiment that Luke writes, through the anguish in the garden, and the sacrifice on the cross, Jesus expresses to the Father “I trust you explicitly, so I give my spirit over to your care.”

This is the confidence born in obedience.

When you know the heart and the character of the Father, you are willing to follow him to whatever end there is, because you TRUST that whatever it is, is the absolute best case scenario for your life, even if it means death. This reminds me of Abraham and Isaac.

If you know the story, it’s in Genesis 22, Abraham has been waiting decades for the promise of God. This story is 10 chapters of the Old Testament in the making. In Genesis 12 God comes to Abraham and gives him a promise. / / “I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others.”

To make someone into a great nation, you have to have children. And that wasn’t happening. Abraham and his wife Sarah couldn’t have children. For the next 25 years Abraham is waiting for the promise. Genesis 21:5 says, Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born.

Isaac is the fulfillment of the promise that God gave Abraham in Genesis 12, “I will make you into a great nation.” It starts with Isaac. Not any of the other crazy plans that Abraham tried to come up with, sleeping with his servant and having Ishmael as a son. He even goes as far as asking God to just make Ishmael the son of promise. And God responds in Genesis 17:19, / / “No - Sarah, your wife, will give birth to a son for you. You will name him Isaac, and I will confirm my covenant with him and his descendants as an everlasting covenant.”

Why bring us to this story? Because this is all about trust and obedience. God told Abraham in Genesis 17:9, when he was 99 years old, he’s given up on the promise, but God says no, the promise still stands, and says this to Abraham, / / “Your responsibility is to obey the terms of this covenant.”

When you trust the God who makes the promise you can be obedient regardless of the path ahead.

Abraham has the promise. Sarah will have a child. We will call that child Isaac. And it is through Isaac that I will become a great nation.

So what happens when in Genesis 22:2. We don’t know how old he is, but Isaac at this point has no children of his own, so the promise is not fulfilled yet, and God says to Abraham, / / “Take your son, your only son - yes, Isaac, whom you love so much - and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”

What do you think goes through Abraham’s head? Uhh…God, that doesn’t work with the plan. That isn’t part of the plan. You said Isaac would be the son that makes me a great nation…

What does Abraham do?

The very next verse. Genesis 22:3, / / The next morning Abraham god up early. He saddled his donkey and took two of his servants with him, along with his son, Isaac. Then he chopped wood for a fire for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had told him about.

Is Abraham about to kill his son? That’s not a very good story, is it?

And Isaac is wondering what’s going on and asks, “Father, uhh…I see we have the wood, we have the fire, but where’s the sheep for the offering?”

What does Abraham say? / / “God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son.”

How can the promise come if the son is dead? Abraham has trust that leads to obedience. He knows the story can’t end in a way that destroys the promise.

Fast forward: Jesus has trust in the Father. And he knows the promise. Jesus knows the character and the heart of God. So he is obedient.

Why? I think Abraham knew that even if Isaac died, he wouldn’t stay dead. Because the promise isn’t fulfilled yet.

I KNOW Jesus knows he’s not staying dead. That death is just a temporary position for him, right? He’s been telling his disciples. The Son of man has to die, but in three days he will rise again. He knows the story.

Now, we can be incredibly grateful that ONLY Jesus needed to die for the salvation of the world. None of us has to be a martyr for anyone else’s salvation. That doesn’t mean people don’t die for their faith, many have. But it means we don’t carry the weight of the world’s sin on our shoulders when we do!

This is the obedience in prayer that Jesus is leading us to. When he prays in the garden, / / “Abba, Father, everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

I wonder if Jesus thought, “You sure you don’t want to provide a ram in the thicket like you did with Abraham and Isaac, so I don’t have to die?”

And Jesus prays this prayer three times. Matthew 26:39, 42, 44 says, / / He went a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” … Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done.” … So he went to pray a third time, saying the same things again.

Biblical numerology, which is looking at the representation of numbers in the bible, why things happen different times, why God says do things 7 times, 10 times, 12 times, 3 times…well, three represents divine wholeness, completeness and perfection. Think of the Trinity. God complete within himself as father, son & holy spirit.

Peter denies Jesus three times, yet, by the fire, Jesus asks him if he loves him 3 times, completing the moment for Peter to bring healing.

Here in the garden, Jesus prays the same prayer, three times, finalizing for himself that he is both willing and able, because of his trust in the will of his father, to endure the cross. Hebrews 12:2 says, / / Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame.

When Jesus teaches us to pray, / / “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” He’s inviting us into an obedience built out of the confidence in who God is. This is why he starts with, / / “Our Father, in heaven, hallowed be your name.”

Remind yourself of who you are praying to.

Who is this God we pray to, and why is he worth praying to?

When you establish that. When you start there. This is the God we pray to. The God who created the universe. The God who made everything. The God who existed before time began and exists outside of time and space. THAT God. Who is God almighty, but ALSO chooses to be Abba… our loving, caring, providing, nurturing Father of love…

How could you not trust him?

How could you not say, “Into your hands I commit my spirit, to whatever end.”

When you have that level of confidence in your Father, you can say to him, “I trust that your will, I trust that your authority, I trust that whatever you have planned and in store for my life is BETTER suited for my life than the best of what I could plan for.”

This is why Paul prays in Ephesians 3:20, / / Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.

But this requires obedience. Remember what God said to Abraham. Here’s the promise. Here’s the covenant, your ONLY part in this is obedience.

Same with Jesus. Listen to what Jesus prays in John 17:1-5, again, coming up to the end of his life here on earth. / / “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so he can give glory back to you. For you have given him authority over everyone. He gives eternal life to each one you have given him. And this is the way to have eternal life - to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth. I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. Now, Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began.”

/ / “I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.”

What’s he saying? Father, Your kingdom. Your will. I will do that!

Listen, I know this is a long point, but we have to know WHAT we are praying in order to truly mean it when we pray it. Remember the warning Jesus gave in the first week we started talking about this. Don’t babble on and on like the Gentiles do. Choose your words and speak them out of your heart.

This invitation of obedience, is the invitation to follow Jesus, it’s the invitation to be led by the Spirit, and it’s the invitation to pray earnestly to our heavenly Father with a desire to follow through.

I’ve been thinking about this more recently, when Jesus talks about the cost of following him. Listen to this. It’s in Luke 14:25-33 says, / / A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, “If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else - your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters - yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.

“But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’

“Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him? And if he can’t, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away. So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.”

A couple thoughts:

Jesus is NOT saying you have to hate your family to follow him. He says IN COMPARISON to your commitment to follow him, you have to hate anyone else. He also doesn’t say this is a matter of you having to love him more - this is not an emotional appeal. It’s a physical, obedience based appeal. Your love for others will conflict with your obedience to Him. And you might think, “Well, God would never put me in that position, would He?” This is exactly what happened to the early Christians. ESPECIALLY the Jewish believers. They had to decide that Jesus was the Messiah and choose to forsake the pharisees and religious leaders of their day. Their teachers. Their leaders.

Think about that. Some of these people who decided to follow Jesus were pharisees themselves. Nicodemus who comes to Jesus in John 3 was a respected Jewish leader. John 3:1 says, / / There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee… and John 19:38-39, which is after Jesus has been crucified on the cross, says, / / Afterward Joseph of Arimathea, who had been a secret disciple of Jesus (because he feared the Jewish leaders), asked Pilate for permission to take down Jesus’ body. When Pilate gave permission, Joseph came and took the body away. With him came Nicodemus, the man who had come to Jesus at night…

To be a disciple of Jesus you might just have to walk away from all that you have known.

The people who you have loved and cared for for years.

The people you have worked with, learned from, or taught. THAT is the invitation of Jesus.

This is the difference. Luke first says, / / A large crowd was following… and then Jesus says, / / “If you want to be my disciple…” / / Following and discipleship are two different things.

You can follow for a season and then decide whenever you want to stop, and many do. I read just this week that 15 million Americans have “left the faith”, left Christianity in the last 10 years.

Do you know what that says to me: Maybe they followed a religion, maybe they even followed the teaching, but It says they did not become a disciple of Jesus. You can follow the crowd, or let’s say the church, that’s following Jesus, and eventually get bored of it, or hurt by it, or it comes to a point where it asks of you more than you are willing to give and you can decide to walk away. But Jesus is saying discipleship is a cost you are weighing UP FRONT. Don’t decide this is a tower you want to build unless you see yourself completing it.

Now, I will say this one thing. Let’s remember the crowd he is talking to. He’s talking to probably mostly Jewish people. People who already believe in God, who are already religious, even if that religion has become dead and stale. We are surrounded by people in this country that have no clue who God is. We are in a different time and a different reality. So the same assumptions can not be made. BUT, the same question IS made. Do you know what you are doing when you choose to follow Jesus? And are those who introduce you to Jesus giving you more than just a “pie in the sky” ideology of the perfect Christian life? I LOVE Jesus. I consider myself one of His disciples. But that has not made my life perfect. It’s made it better, but that better has sometimes come at the cost of some pretty hard times.

I saw a pretty good quote yesterday. An umbrella doesn’t make the rain go away, but it does protect you from it. In the same way, Faith doesn’t always make the problems go away, but it gives you confidence in the midst of it!

See, when it comes to following or discipleship. One you can decide at any time to stop. The other will cost you your life.

So, back to Matthew 6 on prayer. Jesus is praying, but he’s also teaching ABOUT prayer, So we have to hear the teaching behind the words. / / “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

And this is his methodology, his model of prayer. So, what is Jesus saying? When you pray, pray like this: Let’s quickly break down vs 10 here.

Heavenly Father, / / let YOUR Kingdom come - “kingdom” is really speaking of the royal power, the kingship. Strong’s concordance says, / / “Not to be confused with an actual kingdom but rather the right or authority to rule over a kingdom.”

This is the authority of God, the creator of all things, speaking of the authority he has, which he used to create all things and uses to rule over all things.

So, let your royal authority, your power, the divine salvation of all mankind expressed through the Messiah, Jesus Christ, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, let that come and rule over us and our situations. Your kingdom over ours. Your rule over ours. Your authority over ours.

Heavenly Father, / / let YOUR Will be done - The will of God is what God has determined, what He has chosen, what He has decreed, AS THE ONE who has kingdom authority, who has that kingdom power, what does God desire or what has God determined to be done? What are the purposes of God? Through Christ this was salvation - so when Jesus is in the garden, anguishing and in complete grief, what does he say, “If there were to be another way, I would take it, but I know this is the plan, so, Abba, Father, let your purpose for humanity be done by my life accepting the cup of suffering I am about to endure!” For us, that is, “Follow Jesus by giving up our own way.” That is “Obedience even through question and struggle.” That is, “Being led by the Spirit of God rather than the desires and will of our own flesh.”

Ok, So, Let your royal authority, your power, the divine salvation of Jesus Christ be expressed and experienced here, right now, above any other authority, above my own desire and will to build my own kingdom. And let your purpose, your desire, what you have chosen for me, for us, for our situations, for our church, our businesses, our families, our town, let THAT be done, through the power of the Holy Spirit, the revelation of Jesus Christ, the Love of our Father, and through whatever obedient act you have planned for me to do.

I think this is the big part. When Jesus says, “Not my will but yours” he CHOOSES to be obedient to the will of God. Accepting God as the one who makes the decisions is the first step, but FOLLOWING and being obedient to those decisions is the important step.

James 1:22 says, / / But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.

And Jesus finishes this line with, / / on earth as it is in heaven…

God’s authority in heaven is unchallenged.

God’s purpose in heaven has no speed bumps.

So this is taking that attitude of heavenly obedience and reverence and saying, “I don’t want to stand in the way. I don’t want to fight with you. I don’t want my desires and my goals, my ambitions and what I think is best to stop You from doing what You want to do in and through me.”

Ephesians 2:10 says, / / For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

Obedience to the will and purpose of God because we absolutely trust in his character and love for us.

This is not blind faith, it’s faith with both eyes fully open, because we know who we are praying to.

The obedience is possible because the first line of the prayer is what it is.

I can pray for the authority and rule of God and the purpose and desire of God, without question like it is in Heaven, because I know that God is a good and perfect Father. He is Abba. He is Father God. His name, his character, is holy, is to be worshiped, is to be admired and praised. He’s that good. And because He’s that good, I trust him. Because He’s that good, I can commit my life into his hands. Because He’s that good I can choose, yes, even in the face of humanity letting me down, to trust and believe that He will never let me down.

The church may have failed you. God did not.

Other Christians may have hurt you. God did not.

Your marriage may have failed, the job maybe didn’t work out, your friends may have left, or turned on you, cursed you, talked behind your back, your health may have suffered….God has not left you and He is still calling you to true discipleship. Do you know him enough to trust him, so that you can be obedient under his authority and purpose for your life?

If you don’t, go back to week one, Our Father.

If you have a hard time saying, “God, I trust your authority.” or “God, I trust your purpose, your desire for my life.” if that is too difficult for you to say at the moment, that’s ok. Go back to step one.

I said this last week, some things only come by revelation. And it’s worth the waiting. It’s worth the process. And sometimes God uses different ways to bring revelation. Sometimes as we read the word our spirit finds life. Sometimes as we pray, we encounter His presence and love. Sometimes when we just simply sit and ask Him, “God reveal yourself to me.” We feel a peace, a love, a reassurance that He is with us. Sometimes we go through seasons where we need faith, resolve, to believe, even without understanding, even without the experience. So we continue to believe.

Jesus said in John 14:9, / / “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father!” and He says in John 17:6, Talking to God the Father, / / “I have revealed you to the ones you gave me from this world.”

Do you have a hard time with “Father”? Continue to ask God for revelation. Ask someone to pray with you. I would love to pray with you. Ask me at the end of service. Or call me during the week. Reach out. Let’s have coffee. “I’m having a hard time with this one…” ok, let’s pray together. Let’s believe together for a true, deep, revelation of God as Father that gives us the confidence to invite his authority into our lives, that gives us the confidence to say, “We will follow your design, your purpose, your desire for our lives.”

And I am being 100% serious. Please, do not let today pass without taking the opportunity to ask God to be your Father.

Come to me at the end of the service.

Grab Tammy, Armando, Balbi, and say, “Hey, can you pray for me. I’m having a hard time with this one.”

Go over to Mama Su and say, “I think I need a hug. I just need to know it’s going to be ok.”