The Patern for Prayer Part 3
Notes
Transcript
Las t week we looked at the Lords prayer as saw God is Father and that He is Scared.
Throughout this whole prayer are you starting to see who is the focus? God.
Ever since the fall, the human race has been in rebellion against God.
Most people from earliest childhood mistakenly believe that they can set the direction for their lives, determine their own destiny, decide their own future, and chart their own life course.
That is especially true in today’s narcissistic, self-exalting, ego-mad culture.
The two petitions discussed in this sermon, one from Luke’s account and the other from Matthew’s, focus on God’s plan.
Both acknowledge that all history is inevitably, inexorably moving toward the reign of Jesus Christ, and each expresses a strong desire for that to be realized.
God As Sovereign (v 2b)
God As Sovereign (v 2b)
We serve a Sovereign God, but what does that mean?
To be sovereign means to be truly independent and free from the effects of others.
God does not need anything or anyone to make His will happen.
His kingdom will not be effected by the plans of man or satan.
Basileia (kingdom), which can also mean “rule,” or “reign,” refers to a sovereign realm.
It is used most frequently in the New Testament to refer to the kingdom of God (called the kingdom of heaven in Matthew’s gospel), as it does here.
Combined with the imperative form of the verb erchomai, this petition could be translated,
“Your kingdom, let it happen”; “let it actually take place”; or “let it actually come.”
To see God’s kingdom triumphant and His rule manifest on earth is the believer’s desire and prayer.
The word Your indicates that the kingdom of which Jesus was speaking is the one ruled by His Father.
To pray for the coming of the kingdom is to pray for the salvation of sinners, the sanctification of believers, and the second coming in glory of the Savior.
God as Supreme
God as Supreme
This concept derives from the petition that follows the request, “Your kingdom come” in Matthew’s account: Matt 6:10
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Honoring the Father’s person and desiring to see His kingdom advance requires an inseparable concern for His will to be done.
The Christian’s desire and prayer is that God’s will, which is always done perfectly and completely in heaven, would be done on earth as well.
This petition is the expression of a heart that seeks God’s glory and wants what He wants; it is an expression of worship.
During His earthly ministry, the Lord Jesus Christ perfectly carried out the Father’s will.
In Gethsemane, anticipating his forthcoming sin-bearing and separation from the Father, He cried out, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will” Matt. 26:39
And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
Also Mark 3:35
For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”
For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.
Ultimately, all things will resolve in accordance with God’s eternal purpose, which was established before the world began.
In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,
To pray for God’s will to be done is to refuse to be resigned to the sinful status quo.
It is to wake up and stop sleeping, fainting, or losing heart.
It is to recognize that there is a cosmic war going on between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan, and to refuse to strike a truce with the forces of evil.
True prayer focuses on God.
It acknowledges His sovereign right to refuse any request that is not in keeping with His perfect will.
In every circumstance the believer’s prayer is to be that God’s name be honored by His kingdom being advanced, and that by His will being done.
