Prayer & The Will Of God - Matthew 6:10b 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.

Review – The kingdom is not the Church

We are studying verse-by-verse through the Sermon on the Mount and we are currently working through the Lord’s Prayer. Last week we studied the second petition in that prayer – Your kingdom come. After that sermon a couple people asked me about whether it would be appropriate to simply say that the kingdom of God is the Church. And as I said in the Q&A, that is very close to being accurate but it does not account for some of the ways the kingdom is spoken about in Scripture. If we take the word “kingdom” in its normal sense and understand it to refer to the realm of God’s rule, or the realm in which Christ is obeyed, I believe that fits the biblical language. Now, obviously there is a very close connection between the Church and the kingdom in this age because the Church is the realm on earth in which Christ is obeyed. But I think it is going too far to define the kingdom that way, because the kingdom is a broader concept. For example, there is a future aspect of the kingdom that is not yet in place. If we define the kingdom as only the Church then “Your kingdom come” means “Let the Church arrive.” And if that is what it means, then there is no reason for us to keep praying the Lord’s Prayer because the Church is here. Nor would it make sense for Jesus to tell us a few verses later seek first His kingdom and righteousness (Mt.6:33). It would be odd for Jesus to tell the Church to seek the Church. But if the kingdom is the realm in which Christ is obeyed it makes sense for Him to tell us to seek that first, and then define it further with the word righteousness. Seek first more and more obedience to Christ and righteousness – they are essentially the same thing.

The Church is here but the final form of the kingdom is not yet here. That is why Jesus spoke of entering the kingdom as a future event – even for believers.

Matthew 7:21-23 Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord…

Jesus is talking about Judgment Day. And He is saying that on Judgment Day those who did the will of the Father will enter the kingdom. So the current form of the kingdom is the realm in this world where Christ is obeyed. And the final, ultimate form of the kingdom will be the new heavens and new earth where Christ will be universally obeyed. And when we pray Your kingdom come we are praying for both – that in this age more and more people would submit to Christ with greater and greater obedience, and also that the future, final, ultimate stage of the kingdom would arrive.

What is God’s Will?

And that brings us to the next request in the Lord’s Prayer: Your will be done. We are to ask God to do His will. What does that mean? Why should we ask God to do His own will? Does He need us to tell Him that? Won’t He do it anyway? Or will He do something other than His will unless we ask Him to go ahead and do His will?