Thy Kingdom Come Series

THE LORD’S PRAYER

3 – THY KINGDOM COME

THIS MORNING, we continue our phrase-by-phrase look at THE LORD’S PRAYER

And by way of reminder, the reason that we’re talking about THE LORD’S PRAYER is because God is calling our church to prayer

Because, without question, there’s no problem that you, me, or this church faces, that can’t be handled by PRAYER

If we fail, it will not be a failure of…

--programs

--property (buildings)

--prosperity (money)

--people (numbers)

It will be a failure of PRAYER

Little prayer, little power – MUCH PRAYER, MUCH PRAYER

And so, I’ve been asking you to COME ON WITH ME, AND LET’S PUSH – PRAY UNTIL SOMETHING HAPPENS!

And, if God is calling our church to prayer (and He is), then how exactly do we pray?

Phil Yancey, in his book, “Prayer”, said…

“According to Gallup polls, more Americans will pray this week than will exercise, drive a car, or go to work. Nine out of ten pray regularly.”

But my question is this: IF SO MANY ARE PRAYING, THEN WHY SO LITTLE RESULTS?

Could it be that not all prayer is…

--right

--blessed

--heard by God

Well, that’s why we’re looking at THE LORD’S PRAYER, THE MODEL PRAYER

Because we’ve been learning the fact that this 65-word, 2-minute prayer, has in it all the SPIRITUAL DNA, that we need for…

--the problems we face

--the protections we need

--the provision we lack

--the promises we have

And so far, we’ve talked about…

--Our Father who is in heaven

--Hallowed Be His Name

But this morning, as we move along in the journey – THY KINGDOM COME

Next Sunday – YOUR WILL BE DONE

Let’s pray together (not just read, but pray with me…)

Matthew 6:9-13 (KJV) 9…Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11Give us this day our daily bread. 12And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

INTRODUCTION

One of the things we learn from the Lord’s prayer is PERSPECTIVE

In other words, we get the proper PERSPECTIVE on who we are and who God is

And when we learn that, everything just falls into place

For example, we’re learning that…

--you’re the child, and God is the Father (our Father)

--you’re the worshipper, and He’s your God – Hallowed be thy Name

--you’re the servant, and He’s the Master – (thy will be done)

--you’re the insufficient one, and He’s the all sufficient one (give us this day our daily bread)

--you’re the sinner, He’s the savior (forgive us)

--He is the one who has a plan, and we are the ones needing direction (and lead us)

And in this particular phrase that we’re looking at this morning – we’re acknowledge that…

--He’s the king, we’re the subjects

--He’s the Lord, we’re the servants

You see, THIS IS SO IMPORTANT, because in our society today, we don’t really understand what the KINGDOM MENTALITY is all about

That’s because we live in a democracy

But in the Kingdom, it’s a whole different ball game

Because in a KINGDOM, it all belongs to the King

I remember what one preacher from Romania said one time that I’ll never forget…

“You talk about commitment [all the time] in America, but we talk about surrender in Romania." What is the difference? He said, "Well, you see, when you make a commitment to someone, you are in control; you decide what you are going to do, and then you do it. But when you surrender to another person you put the other person in control, and they decide what you're going to do, and you do it." Then he said, "You Americans need to get away from commitment and move toward surrender."

And that’s exactly right

Because the Prophet says…

Malachi 1:14 "But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, saith the LORD of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen."

Notice the words: I AM A GREAT KING!

Because if we’re not careful, we’ll ABUSE the father-side of God

We’ll make Him someone who…

--just kind-of gives us suggestions

--just sort-of loves us but it’s kind-of okay if we mess up

--is like an old grandpa

But NO – HE IS A GREAT KING

Yes, He’s our father, but He’s also our KING

As our Father, we can jump in His lap, but as our King, we should snap to attention and say, “Yes sir.”

As our Father, we can throw our arms around Him, but as our King, we should fall prostrate before Him