Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done

Introduction

As we study through the Lord’s Prayer or the Model Prayer, we have seen that Jesus taught this on at least two occasions to His disciples. Recorded once in Luke in response to His disciples’ request, “Lord, teach us to pray,” and the other time is recorded in the Sermon on the Mount which we have been going through.

Let’s go ahead and open up this morning by reading this Model Prayer together. You will find it up here on the screens, or you can find it in your Bible in Matthew 6:9-13. I will read the first line, y’all join in when we get to “Our Father.”

Matthew 6:9–13 (KJV 1900)

9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread.

12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

We have already taken a look at the first two phrases: Our Father which art in heaven, and hallowed by thy name.

The significance of the first phrase, “Our Father in heaven,” is that we have the privilege and the freedom to address God as “father” because when we trusted in Jesus as our savior, God not only forgave us of sin, He not only saved us from the condemnation of a lake of fire, but He also adopted us as sons.

But He is unlike any father or father-figure we may have known; God is perfect. God is perfect in holiness, perfect in love, and perfect in the care he shows us, and he is perfectly approachable. He is our heavenly Father, meaning he is in control of everything and that he is above everything.

The next phrase, “hallowed be thy name,” is significant because it tells us that as we approach Him, we are to recognize the fact that He is worthy of all praise. We should make a point of praising His name and glorifying Him.

I heard a pastor once say, "If we think of prayer like a house, then we must think of praise as the front door." I remind you that Psalm 100:4 says “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.”

That word "bless" is one of the words that we saw for praise last session. It is the word barach that means to worship in a kneeling position.

There were 6 Hebrew words that are found in the Old Testament that are all translated praise. Let’s see how good your memory is… Does anyone remember any of the other five? Maybe you don’t remember the word, but you do remember what kind of praise it refers to.

Anyone?

Hallel - to boast, shine forth God’s glory (not necessarily in song)

Tehilah - to praise God in spontaneous song or joyful noises

Zamar - to praise God with music and instruments

Yadah - to praise with uplifted hands

Todah - to praise God with thanksgiving and uplifted hands

Barach - to worship while kneeling

There are different ways that we can praise God from the things that we say, to the songs that we sing, and even joyful noises that proceed from our lips.

“Hallowed be thy name” means to set aside God’s name to make it holy, glorified, or to set aside for praise. Last week, if you went to any of the home groups, you likely discussed some of the names of God that are found in the Bible. Again, maybe you don’t know the Hebrew words for them, but does anyone remember any of these names of God?

• Jehovah-jireh- The Lord sees, the Lord will provide, the Lord will see to it (The Lord has seen our need and the way to overcome it).

• Jehovah-nissi- The Lord is my banner. When we fight under God's banner (and by implication, under His rules), He gives the victory.

• Jehovah-Tsidkenu - The Lord is our righteousness.

• Jehovah-shalom- The Lord is our peace.

• Jehovah-shammah- The Lord is there.

• Jehovah-rapha- The Lord that heals.

• Jehovah-M'Kaddesh- The Lord who sanctifies.

• Jehovah-Rohi- The Lord my shepherd.

• Jehovah-sebaoth- The Lord of hosts/armies.

Thy Kingdom Come, They Will Be Done

Before we continue on, I want to begin to tell you the story which I will finish later on in the message. The story begins in December of 1941 in the Philippines where American fighting forces are defending the nation from invading Japanese troops during World War 2. The senior commander under General Douglas MacArthur, Lieutenant General Jonathan Wainwright was tasked to resist the invasion. General Wainwright commanded the entire Allied forces on the Philippines after General MacArthur was evacuated to Australia. It was not a position that anyone wanted at that time, but Jonathan Wainwright commanded well. He was known by his troops as a “fighting general” because he often was seen in the trenches and other defensive positions fighting alongside the other troops. By January of 1942, Allied forces had been pushed back to the island of Corregidor where they defended the entrance to Manila Bay. Short on supplies, mainly food and ammunition, and desiring to minimize casualties, General Wainwright surrendered his troops to the Japanese on May 6th, 1942. He was taken as a prisoner of war along with thousands of other men. Despite his high ranking status, he was endured the same kind of abuse, torture, and mistreatment many of the other POW’s suffered. And over the course of three years of being a prisoner of war in a Japanese camp, Jonathan Wainwright became horribly malnourished, absolutely discouraged, and had given up hope of his situation ever changing.

This morning, we will cover the phrase found in Matthew 6:10

Matthew 6:10 (KJV 1900)

10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

As we focus on verse 10, we need to understand what these two phrases that are working together mean.

Thy Kingdom Come

Let’s talk about the first part of this verse: Thy kingdom come.

For a long time I was of the impression that this was a "Hurry up and come back, Jesus, and set up your kingdom" kind of prayer. But let's look at the wording.

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

If you study the book of Revelation, you see that the Apostle John saw that when Jesus does finally set up His kingdom, Heaven and earth are together. John reports that the new Jerusalem will descend from heaven and arrives on this earth, and exactly how that looks and how it happens is beyond my comprehension. But at that time heaven and earth are joined.

But until then, when we pray, part of our prayer needs to be “thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.”

This is not a prayer about the "sweet by-and-by" but, as another pastor I really like has put it, this is a prayer about "the nasty now-and-now." This prayer is about how to deal with the world we live in right here, right now. And don’t we need that...

So what does it mean to pray for God’s kingdom to come?

Let’s get into that!

I want to take you to a verse in Romans. Romans 5:17

Romans 5:17 (KJV 1900)

17 For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.

I think most Christians are aware of this, but there are some that I am sure are not aware of this: the Bible tells us (in Rev. 20, among other places) that we will reign with Jesus Christ. That is a concept that we often think about in the future tense. “When Jesus comes back and sets up His kingdom, we will reign with Him.” And though that is not an incorrect thought to have, it is a limited view about reigning with Jesus.

Notice this verse again. I have underlined two particular phrases that are right next to each other so that it stands out to us.

Romans 5:17 (KJV 1900)

17 ...they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.

Those that have recieved the abundance of the grace and gift of righteousness, those that have been made righteous through Jesus; in other words, those that have been saved shall reign… when? IN LIFE!!

Too many Christians either forget or are completely unaware that we are reigning right now with Jesus! Too many Christians walk around in a defeated way: head hung, tail between the legs, as if the world has whooped up on them. But we are now seated in heavenly places with the Father (Ephesians), and we are now reigning with Christ.

Oh, the world may be nasty and horrible, and the circumstances may be terrible around us, but we need to remember that the story has already been written and Jesus wins in the end, and we not only will reign with Him “someday”, but we are reigning with Him right now!

Revelation 1:6 (KJV 1900)

6 And [Jesus] hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

This part of Revelation is just the introduction, it hasn’t gotten to any prophecy yet, this is something that John is writing in the present tense. Notice how he says that Jesus “has made us kings and priests unto God.” That is in the present tense. John is not saying, “Someday, Jesus is going to make us kings and priests unto God, and what a great day that will be!” No! He has already done that. Regardless of what is going on around us, we are right now reigning with Him!

Let me tell you something, fellow Christian, if you have been born of the Spirit and been born again, you have already entered and become part of the kingdom of God and are, at this moment, reigning with Him. It is time we stop carrying ourselves like a bunch of whipped puppies. We are kings. You might be sick. You might be broke. You might have nothing to your name, but if you have Jesus you are a king or a queen, and it is high time you start carrying yourself like one.

Stop the nonsense of living “under the circumstances.” You and I don’t belong there. We are reigning with the King who is King over all circumstances, and no matter what my circumstances are, I know the end of the story, I know who I am now, and I am going to keep on praising God and having joy in my heart if for no other reason than to confuse the devil.

So what does that look like? It is probably best illustrated by General Jonathan Wainwright.

Remember at the beginning I started to tell you the story of the capture of Jonathan Wainwright? Well, let’s go back to where we left off. There is Jonathan Wainwright, sitting in a Japanese POW camp. He is skin and bones, muscles atrophied, face emaciated, hopeless and helpless. He had all but given up at this point and had even stopped eating the rations he was given. But one day, a spy came by where he was being held and began to call out his name in a whisper.

“Wainwright, Wainwright! Three more weeks. In three more weeks there will be a miracle! Just hold on! Three more weeks until you’re rescued!”

From that moment, a change happened in General Wainwright. He began to call out to his captors and demanded that they wash and press his dress uniform in which he had been captured. He demanded it so vehemently that they gave in. He put his uniform on and began to wear it with pride. He started to eat again. He started to bark out orders to the rest of his men, encouraging them. He defiantly spoke against the Japanese soldiers, letting them know that America was strong, America was number one, the United States was going to destroy their armies and kick them out of the Philippines and win this war. He began to act like the fighting General he was. More than that, he began to act like he was on the winning side. Still in prison, General Jonathan Wainwright, began to act like a victor instead of like a victim, and in August of 1945 was liberated by allied forces.

This is what Jonathan Wainwright looked like when he was reunited with General MacArthur shortly after his liberation. Notice his face, how skinny he is in this picture.

The following picture is a picture of General Wainwright a month later on the USS Missouri as he watched Japan surrender to completely to the Allied forces, thus ending World War 2.

Even here, a month after his liberation, he had a hard time standing as he suffered from three years of mistreatment and malnourishment. But here, weak but recovering, we see a man standing with pride because he is free, he is on the winning side, and he is witnessing the surrender of the enemies which had mistreated and abused him and starved him nearly to death.

See, this is what gave Jonathan Wainwright the strength to go on, to be encouraged, to hold on just a little longer. He had heard it on good authority that the enemy was almost defeated, that in three weeks he would be free, and that it would all be over. In that prison cell, before the surrender papers were ever drawn up, before he ever heard the Allies draw near the camp in which he was a prisoner, he knew he was on the winning side. He knew he would emerge victorious. He knew his enemies were as good as defeated already, and this scene, pictured in his mind, that is what spurred him to live in the identity of a victor, not a victim even though his circumstances said otherwise.

If you are saved, if you have placed your faith in Jesus as Savior and have repented of your sin and called on Him to save you, you have entered into the Kingdom of God. You are not in line waiting for it, you’re already in. And every kingdom has a king, and Jesus is our king, but we are sons and daughters of that king!

Attributes of the Kingdom of God

Here are some attributes of the kingdom of God, and since we are a part of the kingdom of God, these attributes belong to us as well.

Romans 14:17 (KJV 1900)

17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

Hmm… its almost as if this goes right along with what we started to study on Wednesday nights (the Gifts of the Spirit, but we talked last Wednesday night about the fruit of the Spirit. What are some of the characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit? - joy, peace, and goodness.)

You and I do not have to wait until heaven to have righteousness, peace, and joy, we can have it now through the Holy Spirit. God’s kingdom is not physical things- not meat or drink. The kingdom is not manifested in us by what we have physically or what circumstances we are in, it is manifested by the peace and joy and righteousness.

1 Corinthians 4:20 (KJV 1900)

20 For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.

So when I pray for God's kingdom to come and His will to be done in my life and in this world, what I am praying for is:

Righteousness - That I would respond to things in God's righteousness (not having a self-righteous attitude). That I would not be drawn by temptation, but drawn by God's righteousness. And Who is our righteousness? Jesus! He was made sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. So, God, let me respond to things in righteousness today.

Peace - What makes me anxious? What is trying to rob me of my peace? This is when I deal with that. When situations arise that make me worry, this is when I go to Philippians 4:6–7 that says “6 Be careful [anxious] for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Jesus is our peace; He is the Prince of Peace! I have access to peace because I am God's child; God's will is for me to have peace because that is one of the characteristics of His kingdom. I can ask God, "Give me peace like there is in heaven now, in my life and in my earthly dealings." How can I attain that peace? Fellowship with the Prince of Peace.

Joy in the Holy Spirit - The joy that we have in Jesus cannot be found in a bottle or a pill. This is a joy that no one can give outside of Jesus. It is a hard thing to praise the God whom the Bible says is able to do for us exceeding abundantly more than we could ever ask or think, and claiming the peace He promises when I give my anxieties to Him and not be a little bit happy at this point. The joy that we have as Christians comes from the Holy Spirit and cannot be compared to the laughter you can get from any comedian. Don’t take it from me, take it from King Solomon. Ecclesiastes 2:1-2 “I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity. 2 I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?” Solomon filled tried filling his life with laughter, but even that was empty. But the joy that comes from being in a deep relationship with the Holy Spirit is like no other joy.

Power - Because we have the Holy Spirit within us, we have power. We have the power to live a victorious life. Victorious over circumstances, victorious over temptation. We have the power to walk in righteousness. But we need to be praying for that power daily.

Because these four characteristics naturally pertain to the kingdom of God, then they are already ours. We must claim them as ours and live in them. Listen, I’m not, generally speaking, a ‘name it and claim it’ kind of person. I don’t believe that if you want something, all you have to do is claim it in faith as yours and you will get it. BUT, when God says, “My kingdom is righteousness, peace, joy, and power, and you are part of that kingdom and you have access to that righteousness, joy, peace, and power,” then that is something that is already mine and I can claim it.

The other day, somebody gave me tickets to take my family to a little production of Charlotte’s Web. I called the box office and gave them a voucher number, they said, “You can claim your tickets at will-call.”

So we went the night of the play, and when we got there, I went over to will-call and said, there should be tickets under Michael Jones. They looked my name up, and sure enough, there they were. I got our tickets, presented them to the door man, and we went to our seats.

If you are saved, you are part of the kingdom of heaven. You have the Holy Spirit within you. But too many times we Christians stand in the lobby of joy, longing to get in, but thinking that we don’t have the tickets to do so. Well, all we have to do is claim them, and we can get in on that joy.

If I would have gone to concessions, they would not have had my tickets. I would have been able to get something to drink or to snack on, but I would not have gotten entry to the show. If I would have gone to the restroom, I may have found some relief in there of some sort, but I would have not been able to enjoy the show. Had I just gone to the doorman and asked for my tickets, he would have said, “Sorry, I don’t have your tickets.” And that is exactly what happened! He pointed me to the will-call, where I spoke to the lady who had my tickets waiting.

We sit in the lobby of Power, Peace, Joy in our Christian lives and we try everything to get that power and peace and joy, but too many times we forget to go to the right person.

We go to concessions, looking for joy. And don’t get me wrong, peanut M&Ms can make me smile, but not they aren’t enjoyable like a play that I went to see.

We go to the restroom looking for peace, and though a bit of relief can come there, it’s not a place where I wish to just sit and watch all that is going on...

We go to others and say, hey, so you have my tickets to power, to righteousness, to joy and peace? And when they point us to the Holy Spirit, we get frustrated at them, as if it were their responsibility to get us that peace.

Church, I am happy to be your pastor and serve you in that capacity. Tahsha is happy to serve the women of the church in counseling such as well. But I must tell you this, we can never be your Holy Spirit. We will give you advice, and it will often end with, “you need to seek God.” Because though I can share with you the joy that I experience with my ticket, you will never fully grasp it until you go to the right place and claim the ticket that already belongs to you.

But for some reason, Christians keep relying on the pastor, on friends, on parents, on spouses, on boyfriends or girlfriends to give them that peace or that joy, and then wonder why they aren’t experiencing the joy and power that the Bible says we have access to.

It’s all because too many of us look for it in the wrong thing or the wrong person.

So when I pray "Thy kingdom come," what does it look like?

I pray for these four things- righteousness, peace, joy, and power for me personally. Then I start praying about those situations or people that try to rob me of those things.

Thy Will Be Done

The next part of Matthew 6:10 is “Thy will be done.”

You know, there are things that I already know God wants me to do. So when I get to this point in my prayer, I pray for the things that I know God wants in my life. E.g.: closer relationship with Him, to be a good husband and father, wisdom, love God more, patience and the other parts of the fruit of the Spirit, etc.

Then I pray for God's will to be done in things that I don't know what He desires for me. E.g.: my health, my plans and goals, wishes and desires, etc.

After that, I pray for the same things in other people: Tahsha, kids, family needs (health, peace, decisions), church, country, state, city, etc.

This is when I pray for those people that I know aren't saved. People to join the church. Ministries of the church. Car problems. Financial burdens, etc.

And I place it in God's hands. If I have goals and plans thought out, I tell them to God. I am honest with what I want and what I don't want, but I end this section of prayer asking, not for my will, but for His will to be done, and that He would align my heart with His will.

Does God have veto power for your plans and desires?

This is where you hand everything over to God with an open hand and ask Him to take, keep, or alter as He sees fit.

Invitation

Are you praying for God’s kingdom to be manifested in your life? Are you praying for righteousness, for peace, for joy, and for power in the Holy Spirit? Are you living in it? Is it manifested in your life; is it obvious?

How many would say, “Bro. Mike, if I am honest, this is a prayer that is not very common with me. I don’t often pray for those things in my life.”

If that is the case, would you take a moment to pray for those things now.

Maybe you’re here this morning and your struggle has been to truly pray that God will do His will in your life. Let me encourage you this way: Your plans, your dreams, your goals, your wants (however large or small) are all best managed by the King of kings and Lord of lords. Hold those out with an open hand and follow God’s will in your life.

Unsaved? You can be part of the kingdom where there is real righteousness, joy, peace, and power today through Jesus Christ today.

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