Your kingdom Come, Your will be done

THE IMPORTANCE OF PETITION IN PRAYER

Petition is how His kingdom comes

https://youtu.be/HvgfCNIKp0A?si=wWK7JNUab_4-Z8b4

Prayer must be taught out of the sheer need for Christ. That is the only thing that will sustain your prayer. I dont care how well you know how to pray, If you stop recognizing your need for christ, you will stop praying

“The more we pray, the more we sense our need to pray. And the more we sense a need to pray, the more we want to pray.” - Jim Cymbala

There is nothing more rewarding than to touch the hem of his garment in prayer. Our hearts should jump at that reality! That we can talk with, touch, move the heart of God! And were complaining because were not being productive! If this is not primary we have no productivity, we may go evangelize, but without a love for Him, we evangelize them not into life but into death

Matthew 6:9–13 “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. 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.”

Sometimes when people reject you we are too quick to believe it is proof of our dejection when really a lot of times when people reject you it isn't proof of your dejection it is proof of the reality that you convict them in areas they don’t want to change in. So they push you away not because there is any defect in you but because there is immaturity in themselves.

We do this with God. We ignore Him when we don’t want to change. Prayer is a plea of our need for Him, Prayer is a plea for Him to come and bring to light what has been festering in the dark

This is an issue because we have so many people calling things prayer but they are ignoring the God they are praying to.

It is not prayer if its not in alignment with this book. Its not intimacy if its not biblical, its not relationship if its not doctrinal, its not loving if its not truthful, it its not conversation with Him if your form of Him is different than how He presents Himself here.

Doctrine, prayer, communion, baptism

Doctrine: Shows us jesus

Prayer: Connects us to Jesus

Communion: Reminds us of Jesus

Baptism: Raises us with Jesus

The Spirit works through all of these to reveal Jesus (John 15:26)

Its not about petition its about love.

Prayer is not just knowing God, it is also loving God

Matthew 4:7–8 “Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.”

Look why satan talked with Him. Not to love Jesus, but to love himself. So many go to God out of a egotistic love of self and call it prayer. Notice jesus never says thats prayer. Prayer is intimacy with Him, where the reward is Him. Its where your life is Him, Its where all you want and all you love and all you need is HIM

Prayer is not just talking with God. WHY? Because Satan talked with God. Prayer is loving HIM.

There is a motive of prayer - it is HIM

There is a reward to prayer - it is HIM

There is a treasure in prayer - it is HIM

There is a result from prayer - if it is not more of HIM, it is not prayer

Its not about petition its about love. Love comes from petition

1 John 5:14–15 “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.”

But notice what it says earlier in the same chapter

1 John 5:2–3 “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.”

ASKING ACCORDING TO HIS WILL. HIS WILL BE DONE

We can grow in discernment, we can grow in knowing God’s will. How do we do that?

The will of God is a common phrase in christianity.

Verse 2 says that we are to discern what is “the will of God.” It’s a very common phrase and I think that sometimes, when we use it, we may not know what we are talking about. That is not spiritually healthy. If you get into the habit of using religious language without knowing what you mean by it, you will increasingly become an empty shell. And many alien affections move into empty religious minds which have language but little or wrong content.

If you want to be a person that doesnt just operate in alien affections then the backbone of your christian life must have a why. A reason. In 1 cor 14 paul says there are doubtless many languages, BUT NONE is without meaning

What is Gods will?

1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

How can you pray according to God’s will if you do not know what it is?

Romans 12 says we can discern the will of God, by the new mind.

Romans 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

I want to talk a little bit about Gods sovereign will vs revealed will. I really think it will help us as we walk through life discerning God’s will.

His sovereign will is what is certain to happen. when you hear things like, “Nothing happens outside of the will of God” - thats referring to the sovereign will of God

 Second, there is the revealed will of God in the Bible — do not steal, do not lie, do not kill, do not covet — and this will of God often does not come to pass.

All of God’s commands are His revealed will. But we all know that every single one of His commands have been broken by someone in this world

And third, there is the path of wisdom and spontaneous godliness — wisdom where we consciously apply the word of God with our renewed minds to complex moral circumstances

God forbids murder then ordains it

Exodus 20:13 ““You shall not murder.”

Acts 4:27–28 “for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.”

Not all get saved

1 Timothy 2:4 “who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

Hebrews 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.

God cares for the wicked and destroys them

Ezekiel 33:11 “Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?”

Isaiah 11:4 “but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.”

God afflicts grief, but not from His heart.

Lamentations 3:32–33 “but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; for he does not afflict from his heart or grieve the children of men.”

This does not mean that God is at war with Himself. Yesterday I talked about when we can say “I know” - When we can understand the nature of God. In this reality i find myself in my finite mind im not sure why this is.. But i trust that He does all things for the glory of His name.

Understanding this will help you pray according to God’s will.

That there is a sovereign will of God, so that when things don’t go the way you desire, you can trust His plan.

But that also there is a desired will of God, that we see He desires all to be saved, He doesn’t want to send anyone to hell. But people do go there, because they disobey His revealed will. They disobey His commands.

It gives Him glory when people who deny Him get the punishment they deserve. If people did not get punished by denying Him, that would not give Him glory, that would not uphold the authority of His words.

What to do when you don’t feel like praying

Persistance

Luke 18:1–8 ESV

And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’ ” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Why would jesus have to say this? Probably because there is a tempation to lose heart

Why is it that at times we don’t feel like praying? Why is it that there are days where it is harder to pray than others.

Im not sure. But i do know that the desire for Him only comes from Him.

If you find yourself in place where you don’t want to pray, ask Him to reallign your spirit.

What you are experiencing is your flesh, But Romans 8:13 “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”

You want to live? Command your soul.

Want to die? Identify with the infrequent apathies of your heart and refuse to submit them to the spirit of God.

I want you to see that if you do anything outside of prayer you will die.

This should produce a fear of the lord in us. Like a little girl afraid to let go of the hand of her father.

We shouldn’t have a fear of what happens if we live a life of prayer, we should have a fear of what happens if we don’t

What will change your heart is need

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL PROMISE! - verse 7-8

300 Illustrations for Preachers Everyone Starts Praying When the Flames Come

In 1972 Joan Baez was a singer and activist who was always working on a cause. During the Vietnam War she traveled to Hanoi with a peace delegation and was there during an American bombing campaign that lasted 12 days. “We spent the whole time in the basement of our hotel. I have never been so afraid in my life. I thought I was going to die. But I learned something—when the flames start coming towards you everyone starts praying, even the atheists and the agnostics, but when the flames start fading away we all go back to the structures and beliefs that we had before.”

—Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell

Eyes of our heart

Faith is what you consider what has not yet happened. We all have eyes of our heart. If we never use them, we will never petition to God. If we never use them, we will never ask God for His kingdom to come to earth.

If we want His kingdom to come to earth we have to first see His kingdom

HAVE FAITH HAVE FAITH HAVE FAITH HAVE FAITH HAVE FAITH HAVE FAITH HAVE FAITH

The hallmark of the doubting is a refusal to look up

James 1:5–8 “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

PRAYER WILL CHANGE THE WAY WE EVANGELIZE

EVANGELISM

Ezekiel 3:17–21 ESV

“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul. Again, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. Because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, and his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning, and you will have delivered your soul.”

300 Sermon Illustrations from Charles Spurgeon Fresh from Talking with God (Ezekiel 3:17)

Facts vividly brought before the mind greatly influence a speaker. A sinner seen as lost touches the heart. Jesus seen as crucified affects the speech.

If I were to stand up in the council of a certain town to urge them to look to their fire escapes, I would do it with tremendous vehemence if I had just come out of the midst of that shuddering crowd that saw a poor woman hanging out of the window in the midst of the flames for lack of proper apparatus to reach her. Any man fresh from such a sight would plead with energy. His whole soul would burn as he thought of the poor perishing fellow creature in the midst of the fire. Would not yours?

It is just so when you come fresh from talking with God. The truth is vividly realized, an awe is upon you, holy zeal and sacred ardor inflame your breast. If you dwell away from God you do not feel the value of the gospel message, nor the weight of men’s souls. The grandest of all truths lose force when they cease to be realized facts, but their power returns when we come again under their actual influence.

The Life of Prayer

GRACE

Prayer will realign us to the vision. We can so easily see a good thing and commit to it without praying. It will become very clear whether or not you really prayed. You will know it by its fruit.

You will feel overwhelmed and burnt out when you don’t live in the posture of prayer, you will feel empowered, enabled, and purpose filled when you live in the posture of prayer.

We often say were in grace, what does that mean?

Grace is the ability to do something in peace and competency, it is the obedience enabling power that sustains you. If you do not feel sustained you are not in grace. Now do not make the fatal mistake that grace means things will be easy. This does not at all mean you will not go through hard things. Paul was in grace in prison, Jesus was in grace on the cross, Stephen was in grace being stoned, John was in grace when beheaded, Joshua was in grace in war, Isaac was in grace on the altar, Daniel was in grace in captivity, Noah was in grace in the flood, Sarah was in grace unable to conceive. Being in grace doesnt mean being at ease, being in grace means being with Jesus.

When you live a life of prayer you will never leave the place of grace.

Go to Luke 22:39-46

Luke 22:39–46 ESV

And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

Was Jesus ever outside of grace? No

you can still be in grace and be in agony,

Think about times in your life where you were in agony, where you were in pain, Maybe you were in the will of God, maybe you were in grace. Maybe the reason why you felt so off was because your heart wasn’t in the posture of prayer.

Now look at verse 45-46

Not all will stay awake. The deeper you go in the secret place the less people you will see around you. This is why its so dangerous to determine the success of something by its numbers.

What is your metric for success? What is our metric for success? Are we really okay if no one shows up?

Well no one showed up, well who were you doing it for?

If you are preaching the gospel and no one shows up, sure maybe theres a little bit of your heart thats like man, I would have loved for others to hear that.

But prayer? prayer does not require a listener other than Christ Himself.

Prayer does not require a stage or a mic, prayer requires one thing. And that is Christ seated across from you at the table.

Matthew 6:10 “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

your will BE DONE

PRAYER LEADS TO ACTION, IT CHANGES SOMETHING IN US, PRAYER DOES SOMETHING. Prayer leads us to the cross. It leads us to gethsemane

WHAT WILL MAKE OUR HEARTS BURN IN PRAYER - ONLY CHRIST

Write down when the last time you felt your heart burn in prayer

Ask The Spirit, How can my heart burn again?

So much of prayer is so simple it really is. It is wanting the things God wants, hating the things God hates, longing for the things God longs for

Daniel 11:32 “He shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.”

Self assessment

The products of a life without prayer

Busyness (you can still have a full schedule, but may it be in grace)

An Overwhelmed Heart

Anxiety

Unrighteous anger

Haste

Lack of commitment

Love of self

Lack of clarity

Bitterness

Greed

Discontentment (Always feeling like there is more somewhere else)

Self indulged life / love of comfort

Jealousy

Strife

The products of a life of Prayer

Grace

Peace

Love (for God and others)

Sanctification

Joy

Patience

Compassion

Agony (Luke 22:44)

Kindness

Contentment

Gentleness

Self Control

Righteous anger

Longing for Him to be the comforter

Wisdom

Understanding

The 5 w’s of prayer

Who: To the father (matthew 6)

Where: By yourself and with others Matthew 6 , 1 Timothy 2:8 “I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling;”

What: Worship, thanks, submission to His will, dependancy / provision, protection, repentance Matthew 6

When: Always, pray without ceasing 1 thessalonians 5

Why? To be one with Him (John 17)

How: not with repetitive words, starting with Worship, Matthew 6