Agreeing With God’s Purpose

The Lord’s Prayer: You Can Pray!, Part 2

Matthew 6:10; Thy kingdom come.  Thy will be ddone in earth, as it is in heaven.

During the earthly ministry of Jesus many THRONGED Him but few TOUCHED Him; in like fashion, it is easy to THRONG Jesus by SAYING the Lord’s prayer; but few TOUCH Jesus by PRAYING the Lord’s prayer.

These 65 powerful words that comprise “The Lord’s Prayer” may be the most oft repeated Bible verses in the world, yet I dare say that few understand their real meaning.

 I challenge you to pray after this model prayer. Nothing is easier to SAY than the Lord’s prayer; but nothing is harder to PRAY than this model for us.

The Lord’s prayer contains six separate petitions along with an introduction and a conclusion. The first three petitions relate to God’s glory; the next three relate to man’s good.

Introduction: Our Father which art in heaven:

God’s Glory:

1. Hallowed by thy name

2. Thy Kingdom come

3. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven Man’s Good:

4. Give us this day our daily bread.

5. Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors

6. And lead us not unto temptation, but deliver us from evil:

Conclusion: Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and glory, for ever. Amen.

This message is on the second and third petitions: Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done.

These petitions relate to God’s purposes both eternally and earthly. Here is the sermon in a four seconds:

God has an eternal and earthly purpose for you!

Finding God’s purpose for our life brings JOY; Focusing on God’s purpose gives PEACE; Fulfilling God’s purpose leads to SUCCESS.

 1. Prayer of DESIRE for God’s ETERNAL Purpose

What an amazing statement! How brief yet how unsearchable. What is the Kingdom we pray that will come? The Kingdom speaks of the rule of Jesus Christ. But in what way?

A. The Amillennial view:

Some say it is a prayer for Jesus to rule as King in our own heart. The amillennialist does not believe in a literal, earthly rule of Jesus Christ upon the earth. Rather, his rule is NOW in the heart of the believer. There is a sense where this word is used to refer to those who have become saved. Wherever the King is, there is the Kingdom.

Colossians 1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.

Yes, if you have repented from your sin and believed on Christ, you can say that you are citizens of the Kingdom of heaven. Our conversation is in heaven, or our citizenship is in heaven. Our salvation is so secure God sees us already seated with Him in the heavenly places. Yes, when Jesus rules in our heart, and He is crowned as King in our lives, we anticipate greatly His coming Kingdom.

Yet, when Jesus gave these words for us to pray, he was not teaching that we should pray so that God would rule as a king in our heart or even in the hearts of others.

B. The Post-millennial view:

Some say it a prayer for the church to establish peace on the earth through missionary enterprise, then Christ will return after the millennium! The Kingdom of God is not the church. The church is a part of God’s Kingdom, but it is not alone God’s Kingdom. The Bible teaches no where that the church will bring about world peace or social reform. The church will not bring in the Kingdom of God. Christ will bring in His Kingdom.

It is not merely a prayer for missions. The post millenialist sees that Jesus Christ will come back after the church has brought in world peace through missionary enterprise. I don’t know what planet they are on, but I sure do not see the church bringing about world peace anytime on the near horizon.

I am all for missions. We need to pray for God to raise up missionaries. We need to pray and give toward world missions. I have news for you, however. The church is not going to establish the Kingdom of Jesus Christ through missionary outreach. No government or secular agency will establish the Kingdom of God through social reform. The United Nations will not bring about world peace and the Kingdom of God. We are to go into all the world not because we think we are going to establish God’s Kingdom on earth, but because it is obedience to His command.

C. The PRE-MILLENNIAL VIEW:

Thy Kingdom Come is a prayer for the King to Come…again and establish a rule and reign of righteousness and peace. There is no doubt in my mind that the Kingdome of Jesus Christ is a literal, earthly rule, fulfilling the promises of the Abrahamic, Davidic, Palestinian Covenants. Israel looked for an earthly rule:

Acts 1:6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel.

Jesus did not say, the Kingdom is already restored when I come to your heart. Jesus did not say, the Church will usher in the Kingdom.

This rule is centered in Jerusalem and stretches to the uttermost part of the earth. We believe Christ will return in glory and Himself establish this Kingdom for 1,000 years. Jesus Christ will rule and shine as the sun in its strength and his raiment white as the light. Thy Kingdom Come is a pray for Christ to come back and to rule and reign in His glorified body from Jerusalem. The Kingdom of God is best seen as the Messiah, of the tribe of Judah of the seed of David, ruling upon the throne of David as King over all the earth. Thy Kingdom come is a prayer for peace in Jerusalem as Jesus will rule from that great city, the city of God.

Romans 14:17 For the Kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

To really pray this prayer and mean you, you must be saved and know it!

How insane to pray this and not know for certain the coming King is YOUR KING? You must crown Jesus your King. Is the coming King crowned King in your heart?

To really pray this prayer your heart must be UNENTANGLED from this world and FASTENED upon eternity. I love and rejoice in your reign in my heart, come and set up your rule over all the earth! Have you separated yourself from this world system of the world, the flesh, and the Devil? Your Kingdom is not of this world. You love His appearing! You are not holding on to anything down here. To really pray this prayer takes a heart fastened upon heaven. The soul that breathes this prayer can say, “Who have I in heaven but thee, and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.” May your Kingdom come, Lord Jesus! Deliver us from this present evil world. You are King of my heart, come and set up your Kingdom over all the earth.

2. Prayer DEDICATING OURSELVES to God’s EARTHLY PURPOSE

“Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.”

Finding God’s purpose for our life brings JOY; Focusing on God’s purpose gives PEACE; Fulfilling God’s purpose leads to SUCCESS.

God has a purpose for you life! He had a purpose for Noah to build an ark, a purpose for Abraham to father a nation, a purpose for Sarah to bear a miracle child. He had a purpose for Moses to write the Law, a purpose for Joshua to lead Israel into the Land of Promise; a purpose for Ruth, to marry Boaz, a purpose for Nehemiah to rebuild the walls, a purpose for Esther to save her people, a Purpose for Paul to write much of the NT from jail, a purpose for Peter to preach on the day of Pentecost. God has a purpose for every one of his children! He has a purpose for your life! Jesus prayed this prayer in the Garden! 

God’s will is not a formula or a feeling; it is based on a fellowship with Him!

Psalm 40:8 I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea thy law is within my heart.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

God’s will is not a bunch of rules, but a relationship of love and trust. It is not a formula but a friendship; not a recipe but a relationship. Americans love formulas like Ten EASY steps to financial freedom or Three easy steps to business success.

Many think there are three easy steps to know God’s will!   But there are not!

The thing about formulas, though, is if you skip one step, everything is messed up. Like if you forget the baking powder in a cake, your birthday cake will end up a pancake. God’s will is not just a formula or a recipe.

QUESTION: Can God accomplish His will in us, for us, through us, inspite of mistakes, sins, and wrong decisions?

Illus. What if your father married the wrong person. Then you were a mistake. What if you marry someone, well, if you weren’t supposed to be here, you just married the wrong person, and on we could go. The point is, God can turn ANY SITUATION into good when we love Him!

We must also be careful of being experience centered. Let your mind go blank and let your feelings guide you! Watch out. Feelings are highly unreliable, and feelings change. They come and go with the weather.

Why do we need to pray this prayer? Because there are many pressures and temptations to keep us back from doing God’s will.

Beware, for both the world system and Satan have a will for you!

1 Peter 4:3 For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries.

2 Timothy 2:26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

The nations have a will for you contrary to God’s will: 1 Peter 4:2,3. Many seek the will of the Gentiles which appeals to the fleshly lusts which war against the soul.

The Devil has a will for you contrary to God’s will: 2 Tim. 2:26 Yes, the devil captures alive many souls and intoxicates them with error; he numbs their conscience, confuses their senses, and paralyzes their will.

The will of God is good and acceptable, and perfect. The Devil has a good lie: If you surrender to God He is going to make you do something you don’t want. Does God have your best interest at heart? He will send you somewhere you don’t want to go. He will call you to do something you don’t want to do. These are such lies! At the root of these lies is God is not good. He does not want to do what is best for you. Listen to what Scripture says: NO GOOD THING WILL HE WITHHOLD FROM THEM THAT WALK UPRIGHTLY. The only way we will be truly joyful and content is to surrender ourselves to the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God.

How can we be recovered from this snare? Surrender totally to the will of God. Jesus Christ came for that purpose, to do the will of God.

Hebrews 10:7 Lo, I come, ..to do thy will, O God.

Do you want to be like Jesus, then we pray, not my will, but thine be done. In all areas. If a person does not have a general desire to do the will of God, one can question their salvation: Read Matthew 7:21 and Mark 3:35!

The will of God is true sustenance for a child of God.  Jesus said “My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish His work.

Because we are in an eternal relationship with God the key ingredient to doing His will is having the right ATTITUDE. Attitude is perhaps the most important ingredient to finding God’s will. No matter your past, and no matter what lies ahead of you, what lies IN you is most important.

A. Attitude of FAITH, not fear:

Am I SEEKING GOD in prayer and His Word? If not, you do not have much faith. God’s will is found through His WORD and PRAYER. This is a model prayer the Lord gives us that can help us in finding the will of God. Our job is quite simple:

Proverbs 3:5,6: Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct our paths. God’s will is not us bending God, but is found as we let God bend us. In order to find God’s will we must TRUST in the LORD.

Am I TRUSTING GOD during uncertain times? The right attitude to have in the will of God is to BELIEVE HIM. HAVE FAITH IN GOD. Faith is trusting God when I cannot trace Him; it is being convinced that all things will work together for good to them that love Him, to those who are called according to His purpose.

 B. Attitude of OBEDIENCE, not passivity.

The will of God is doing exactly what He wants me to do. Do you know who finds the will of God for their life? It is found by the one who has a burning desire to OBEY God. The person who finds God’s will is the person who prays for God’s will to be done, then goes out and does something! Am I SURRENDERING daily to His will? Have I been saved? Am I surrendered to serve Him? Have I dedicated myself to Him? Am I free from worldly motives and a temporal value system? We need to get God’s dream for our life and not the American dream. We need to dump unnecessary baggage.

1 Thess.4:3 For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication.

God’s will is an expression of His love. You do not have to be fearful of surrendering to Him. When you surrender to God, you are giving yourself to the one who made you and loves you more than anyone!

C. Attitude of GRATITUDE, not resentment.

We need the attitude of gratitude! It has been well said, “When gratitude dies on the altar of a man’s heart, that man is nearly hopeless.” An attitude of gratitude is essential because when you are doing God’s will there will still be pressures and problems. When times of difficulty come to us, we must remember that what happens IN ME is more important than what is happing TO ME or AROUND ME.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

WHY GIVE THANKS? Because God can turn everything out for our good and His glory as we love Him!

Conclusion: Our family sometimes plays the board game, Life. You choose a career, buy a house, get married and have kids. You go around the circle. You acquire money. You retire, and then the game is over. It all goes back in the box. Life is like a board game. You play it, and then it all goes back in the box. We sometimes get so caught up in our little world, but it will all be over so fast.

Prayer: Do you just say this prayer? Will you pray this week? Spend time on each petition.

Are you a citizen of the Kingdom of God? Have you crowned the Lord Jesus Christ King of your life?

Are you living now for the will and purpose of God?

Are you walking by faith or fear?

Are you obeying God or are you stuck in a rut.

Do you have an attitude of Gratitude? Thank God for the pressures and problems in your life