Pray with Kingdom Focus

INTRODUCTION

If I say the name, “Belinda Carlisle,” how many of you would know who I ‘m talking about? Give me the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear her name.

Ooh, baby, do you know what that's worth? Ooh, Heaven is a place on Earth They say in Heaven, love comes first We'll make Heaven a place on Earth Ooh, Heaven is a place on Earth

That song says, “We’ll make heaven a place on earth.” That’s the spirit of our age: We decide what heaven looks like. Jesus says the opposite: Heaven is where God’s will is done. And our problem is not that heaven won’t come to earth—it’s that we don’t want heaven’s King telling us how to live.

Heaven doesn’t come when we remake the world in our image. Heaven comes when God remakes us in His.

Matthew 6:9–10 “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.”

>>PRAY<<

We’re three weeks in this series on prayer and we haven’t even gotten to what…if I had to guess…90% or more of what our prayers consist of. We haven’t gotten to praying for people who are sick or praying for whatever crisis may be in our life—not that those things aren’t important to God…but Jesus is teaching us to fix our gaze on what is MOST important. He is continuing to show us the PRIORITY of prayer.

If God answered your prayers exactly as you’ve prayed them this week— would His kingdom advance…or would your comfort increase? Would His name be hallowed…or would your agenda be protected?

The phrase at the end of verse 10, “on earth as it is in heaven,” ties the first three requests together—“hallowed be your name on earth as it is in heaven,” “your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven,” “your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Jesus is teaching us that in this present reality—this fallen world—our hearts are to look back to Eden—before the fall, before sin, before brokenness, when God’s kingdom was on earth—and look forward to the renewal/restoration of all things.

BOTTOM LINE: Jesus teaches us to pray that the heavenly reality of God’s rule and authority become an earthly reality.

That what is true…what is a reality…in heaven would be true/a reality on earth.

So, first, we need to ask the question—what is the “kingdom of God” and the “will” of God? Jesus isn’t teaching us to pray two separate things…they are inseparable.

The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 God’s Kingdom and God’s Will (Matthew 6:10)

The kingdom of God is a society upon earth where God’s will is as perfectly done as it is in heaven.

(William Barclay)

At its heart, the Kingdom of God is God’s gracious, saving rule and reign through King Jesus—breaking into this broken world now, and coming in fullness when Christ returns.

We can understand the kingdom of God in three “phases.”

The KINGDOM of God arrived with the coming of Jesus…(PAST)

The present reality of the kingdom…

There will be a future consummation of the kingdom…

PAST

The message of “kingdom” was central to Jesus’s message and ministry. What the kingdom looks like (examples from his teaching). What the kingdom brings (healing/miracles/demonic submission).

Luke 4:43 “but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.””

Luke 8:1 “Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God.”

Luke 17:20–21 “Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.””

So, with the coming of Jesus, there is the arrival of God’s kingdom…and that means there’s a present reality to the kingdom. But, the reality is that the kingdom of God has not yet come in fullness. All things are not yet subjected to Him…in submission to His absolute rule and reign (examples). The present reality of God’s kingdom is His rule and reign over His people.

PRESENT

We enter the kingdom by repentance and righteousness.

GOSPEL

Mark 1:14–15 “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.””

Matthew 5:20 “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

A righteousness not our own…this is what the scribes and the Pharisees thought gave them access to God’s kingdom.

Romans 1:17 “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.””

So, how do we receive this? Well, Jesus tells a man named Nicodemus, in John 3:3 that, if you want to enter into the kingdom of God, you “must be born again.”

We live as citizens of the kingdom by SUBMISSION to God’s rule and authority.

I think it is helpful for us to see the Old Testament background…(RESCUED OUT OF SLAVERY/DEATH TO LIFE AND BROUGHT TO THE MOUNTAIN)…

Exodus 19:5–6 “Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’”

And, then, just a few verses later—beginning in chapter 20—God gives the people the covenant law—what life as this kingdom of priests and a holy nation should look like. Life in God’s kingdom—10 commands, ethical laws—living in submission to His rule & authority.

The LAW is, literally, God’s will for His people.

Important—the kingdom has no borders. It has no boundary lines. The kingdom made up of priests was not confined to the geographical place/land of Israel. EVEN WHEN THEY WERE SENT INTO EXILE THEY WERE TO CONTINUE LIVING IN FAITHFULNESS TO THE COVENANT LAW…SO, THE REALITY WAS THAT THE KINGDOM PEOPLE WOULD STILL BE KINGDOM PEOPLE NO MATTER WHERE THEY LIVED.

But…they failed.

IMPORTANT—the Lord’s prayer…this teaching takes place right smack dab in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount…the new covenant law…what life in the kingdom should look like lived according to the will of God.

As an American, if you’re ever traveling in a foreign country, one of the most important things for you to find…or at least to know where it is…is the US embassy. I remember my first time traveling to Nairobi Kenya and our illustrious host, Dr. Bitrus Cobongs, made sure to show us that we were staying near the American embassy. In fact…this last year, when we were there, riots broke out in Kenya…national protests…and Bitrus told us…if it gets bad or if we find ourselves in a sticky situation we’ll just go to the embassy. What is an embassy? It is a place, on foreign soil, under the governance and laws of its homeland.

As Christians, that’s what our lives are—embassies of heaven…we live on foreign soil under the rule of our king reigning over us.

The kingdom is advanced as we LIVE SENT.

We live under the rule and reign and will of King Jesus…announcing the good news of His kingdom to those who are still living in bondage to the kingdom of darkness.

Others are brought into submission to God’s rule and authority.

Missional

Future: The consummation of the kingdom—when all things will be subjected to him—no more sin, no more death, Satan banished for all eternity…new heavens and new earth…new city of Jerusalem coming down to this earth where the throne of God will dwell for all eternity.

This prayer is ultimately for the end of the world.

CONCLUSION

How, then, does this shape my prayer?

My obedience

“Lord, may your kingdom on earth…beginning with me.”

Conform my will to yours.

Kingdom without borders—“That means there is no room in your life where Jesus is not King—your phone, your calendar, your checkbook, your browser history, your grudges.”

The strengthening of the Church

The mission of the Church

That the nations would submit to the rule and reign of God/Christ Jesus

LOOK FOR KINGDOM ADVANCING OPPORTUNITIES/MOMENTS THIS WEEK…JESUS TOLD HIS DISCIPLES TO PRAY TO THE LORD OF THE HARVEST THAT HE WOULD SEND OUT LABORERS.

ARE YOU A CITIZEN OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD—REPENTANCE AND RIGHTEOUSNESS.