Kingdom Praying - Matthew 6:10a Series

Matthew 6:5-15 And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 "This, then, is how you should pray: "'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.' 14 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Introduction: A Ship at Sea

Imagine you are on a huge ship in the middle of the ocean. You have been adrift for as long as you can remember because the ship has no captain, and nobody seems to know where to go. So you have been sailing around in circles in the middle of the ocean for years. One day you discover that there are some documents on this ship that describe the destination and the purpose of the voyage. Those papers claim there is a place on the other side of the ocean that is an absolute paradise. It is paradise because unlike any other place in the world this place is ruled by a king who is mightier than any other king, wiser than any other king, and kinder than any other king. The place you are sailing from is a horrible place – ruled by vicious, cruel men with no regard for justice or law and order, and so life there is like hell on earth. You are glad to have escaped that place, but frankly life on this ship is not much different. The people running this ship are just as bad. Most of them do not even believe this paradise on the other side even exists. But you do, so half of you is excited at the thought of someday getting there, but the other half of you is sad because no one knows the way.

One day you hear some commotion so you climb up onto the deck and see a bunch of people pointing to a little rowboat approaching the ship. A man climbs out of the rowboat and boards the ship and gathers everyone for an announcement. He claims He is the king from this land of paradise, and He has come to serve as the captain of the ship to bring it to that port. He does not look much like a king, and most of the crew scoff and say, “Yeah, right” and walk away. But a few of you believe him and gather around him. And He starts to tell you all about this wonderful paradise. And the more you learn about how incredibly wise he is, and how kind and powerful he really is – the more you start to realize that what makes that land a paradise is the fact that everyone there follows this king totally.

Someone asks him, “How far are we from that port?” Your heart sinks when he answers, “Prepare yourself for a long, long journey.” Someone else asks about all the people who scoffed and walked away.

“Are you going to throw them overboard?”

“No, I’m going to be patient with them because many of them will be persuaded over time. I’m going to be patient with them from now all the way until we reach the port. But when we arrive at the port, anyone who isn’t with me will not be allowed into the glorious kingdom. So not only is this going to be a long voyage, with all those hostile sailors, it’s going to be a rough trip for you who follow me. But, I don’t want you to be discouraged, because things on this ship are not going to be like they have been. From now on there are going to be two cultures on this boat. In that crowd that walked away, things will stay the same. But all of you who follow me and do what I say – to the degree you do that – life on this boat will more and more resemble the paradise in my kingdom back home.”