Our Desire

Introduction

If you could ask God to do one thing and you had a guarantee that he would answer your prayer in the way you asked, what would you ask him?

Key Point: Tonight, Jesus will teach us that our greatest desire should be for him to reign as King in our hearts, and that we would live out his will in our lives.

After asking God’s name to be made holy in our lives, in the next two requests, Jesus teaches us to pray that God’s kingdom would come and his will would be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Matthew 6:10 ESV

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

Tonight, as we read and study Matthew 6:10, Jesus is going to help us answer three questions:

What Do We Mean by the Kingdom of God?

What Are We Praying For. . . God’s will or ours?

How Should We Live?

1. What Do We Mean By The Kingdom God?

God’s kingdom can be defined simply as his rule and reign.

The Kingdom is his redemptive presence coming down from heaven to earth.

God’s Kingdom is not merely a place, but, more specifically, it is a relationship with the King.

It exists wherever people enthrone Jesus as Lord of their lives.

John 3:3 ESV

3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

The Heidelberg Catechism says “saying your kingdom come means: Rule us by your Word and Spirit in such a way that more and more we submit to you. Preserve and increase your church. Destroy the devil’s work; destroy every force which revolts against you and every conspiracy against your holy Word. Do all this until your kingdom fully comes, when you will be all in all.”

If you think about it, the whole Bible is about the Kingdom of God. . . where God, as King, creates a special people to dwell with him in a special place. . . his Kingdom.

Let’s examine the story of God’s Kingdom through the Bible. . .

God’s Kingdom began in the garden, where God, as King, created a Kingdom, and humanity was in perfect relationship with their king. . . but Adam and Eve were kicked out because of their sin.

God’s Kingdom was then promised in the holy land of Canaan. . . but Israel was kicked out of the promise land because of their sin.

God’s Kingdom was then promised in the temple after the Israelites came back from exile. . . but the temple ultimately pointed to Jesus, the true temple. . . who finally brought God’s Kingdom to earth through his incarnation.

God’s kingdom is now experienced in his church, where God’s laws are established, his presences is known, and the heavenly realities of love and forgiveness and salvation are meant to be experienced.

The church is not the Kingdom of God, but it is closely tied to it. . . so we can say that the church is “an embassy of the kingdom.” -Kevin DeYoung

So, this request, for God’s kingdom to come, is an expression of the hope of God’s promised rule to finally arrive in his church over all the earth.

Jesus had already inaugurated the coming of the kingdom of God when he began his ministry (Matthew 3:2), but this prayer asks for the full completion of Jesus’ kingdom to come on earth.

The Kingdom is “already and not yet.” It is present and future. Because where the king is, there is his kingdom.

Example of D-Day and V-E Day in WWII.

One thing we can’t do and two things we can. . .

However, I want to offer a clarification. . . We can do nothing to “usher in God’s Kingdom.”

But, one thing we can do is we can pray that the king would come to consummate his kingdom.

“Do we really hunger for the kingdom to come in all its surpassing righteousness? Or would we rather waddle through a swamp of insincerity and unrighteousness?” -D.A. Carson

When we pray for God’s kingdom to come, we are praying for a miracle of God’s regenerating power and redemptive grace to cover the earth as the waters cover the seas.

We are waiting, as Karl Barth said, “until Easter becomes for the world a general event.”

When we pray God’s Kingdom to come, we are not only praying that Jesus would reign on earth but also reign in our hearts and the hearts of the lost and the nations.

Praying God’s kingdom to come implies that we have submitted to Jesus as our king.

The second thing we can do is announce the Kingdom (Mark 1:14-15). . . this is our role and task.

Apply how students can “announce God’s Kingdom.”

2. What Are We Praying For. . . God’s Will or Ours?

Not only should our desire should be for God’s Kingdom to come, but Jesus teaches it also should be for God’s will to be done in our lives and on earth just as it is in heaven.

We are not merely asking God to do his will, but rather we are asking that he would give us the strength to do what he wills in our lives by the Holy Spirit.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism says “saying your will be done on earth as it is in heaven means asking that God, by his grace, would make us able and willing to know, obey, and submit to his will in all things, as the angels do in heaven.”

When we submit to God’s will and ask it to be done in our lives, we imitate the example of Jesus (Matt. 26:42). -Same phrase in the Greek.

When we ask God’s will to be done, we relinquish our desires for our will to be done.

When we ask God’s will to be done, we are following Jesus’ command to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow him.

Instead of living for our kingdom, we declare, through this prayer, that we will live for God’s kingdom and submit to him as our king.

This is a work that can only be done by the Spirit of God working in us. It is only by the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit through the Scriptures that we can deny our own will and live for God’s will.

But this begs the question. . . By asking God’s will to happen in our lives, we must know what God’s will is

God’s will encompasses both his revealed will in his commands and his divine will in his decrees.

Asking God’s will to be done in our lives implies that we know his commands and are seeking to walk in obedience to them.

Thus, we are committing ourselves to thoroughly study the Scriptures so we can learn and do all of his will.

“Nowhere in the New Testament are we commanded to seek out a mysterious will of direction whereby God tells us what to do at every fork in the road. What is important to God is that we rest in his will of decree, we obey his will of desire, and we trust that he is directing our lives through wisdom and good counsel, even when he doesn’t show us the exact next step to take.” -Kevin DeYoung

Consider what rules our desires and our prayers. . . go back to what you wrote down at the beginning of our time.

There is no shame in asking God for help in small things, like finding your homework for school, wanting your dog or cat to get better, or asking for help as you study for a test. We need to cast our burdens on the Lord.

But we also need to recognize that it does not take the Spirit of God to desire these things.

We don’t have to be a Christian to want sick people to get better, we don’t have to be a Christian to want to pass an exam, make the sports team, or get a college scholarship, we don’t have to be a Christian to want to get married.

It is only the Spirit of God that can give us a desire to plead with the Father for His Kingdom to come and will to be done. . . for Jesus to return and reign in glory on earth as he does in heaven, for all nations to bow before King Jesus and worship and glorify his name.

“The Lord’s prayer is the cry of God’s people saying, ‘Come quickly Lord Jesus.’” -Kevin DeYoung.

Is this our cry? Is this our desire?

Matthew 13:44 ESV

44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

3. How Should We Live?

Obediently

We must make Jesus our King. We must be obedient subjects to King Jesus. He must reign in our hearts.

We must obey his commands and live out his will. We must know his commands.

Jesus perfectly desired God’s Kingdom to come and he gave everything for God’s Kingdom. . . Jesus perfectly desired the Father’s will to be done, and perfectly obeyed God’s will. . .

Through faith in him, our sins and failures can be forgiven and we can receive his perfect life!

Obedient Prayer

Lord, reign in my heart as King, I submit to you.

Repentance. . . Justification.

Repentance. . . Sanctification

Lord, help me to be poor in spirit . . . for only then will your Kingdom be my own.

Lord, give me a desire for your word and help me to discipline myself to study the Scriptures to know you, love you, and live out your good, pleasing, and perfect will.

2. Outwardly

We must announce God’s Kingdom and call others to repent and get ready for the coming of the King.

Outward Prayer

Lord, please reign as King in ________’s heart and help them to submit to you as their king.

Lord, please help _______ to know and live out your will through reading the Scriptures.

Lord, please help me to have the boldness to announce your Kingdom and call others to repentance with my words and with my walk.

3. Expectantly

We don’t pray as those without hope.

Jesus is coming and he will establish his kingdom.

Regardless of how people respond when we proclaim the kingdom. . . God has promised to save people from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation.

Expectant Prayer

Lord, help me to live expecting you to return at any moment.

Remind me of the blessed hope of your return and that your Kingdom will finally come on this earth.

Remind me of your power to save ______ just as you saved me.