Cornerstone Church March 5, 2006
“Prayer 101 - Lord, Teach Us To Pray” Series
“LESSON 3: ALIGNING OUR PRIORITIES
WITH GOD’S PRIORITIES.”
Matthew 6:10
Bruce Nolan is an average guy working as a reporter for a television station. Sadly, he is bored to death with his job. He thinks that happiness will be found in a promotion from reporter to news anchor!
When Bruce is passed over for an on-air promotion, he cries out pleading for God to take his side and give him a break. When his self-centered prayers aren’t answered, he mocks God’s ability to answer prayer.
GOD: You’ve been doing a lot of complaining about me, Bruce. And quite frankly, I’m tired of it...
GOD: My job. You think you can do it better, so here’s your chance. When you leave this building you will be endowed with all my powers.
For a week Bruce fills in for God while He is on vacation. He thinks that by having the power of God he is going to get his promotion and his girlfriend back.
BRUCE: You win. I’ m done. Please. I don’t want to do this anymore. I don’t want to be God. (sighs) Please, help me.
BRUCE: Am I...?
GOD: You can’t expect to kneel down in the middle of a highway and live to talk about it.
BRUCE: But why? Why now?
BRUCE: You knew it all along. You knew if I got everything I wanted, I would ruin my life. God doesn’t respond, just listens.
BRUCE: So I’m dead... Okay. If this is what you want. Okay, okay...
GOD: Go ahead, pray!
BRUCE: Alright... I’ve learned that I don’t know as much I thought I did...
GOD: Boy, you can say that again.
BRUCE: Hey, I’m praying here.
GOD: Sorry, continue!
BRUCE: If I could have just one thing in the world. It would be for Grace to live a happy, joyful life. And that she finds someone... (getting emotional as he realizes what he’s saying) ...that she finds someone that will treat her with the love and respect that she so deserves.
GOD: Now that is a prayer. Well, I better get on that one. See ya, Bruce.
Bruce learns that receiving everything on our self-centered list leaves us lonely. There is no room for anyone else in our own self-absorbed little world.
I must confess I’ve lived my life a lot like Bruce Almighty at times!
Concerned about my own little kingdom
Concerned with my own needs!
All of us from time to time have taken the steering wheel of our lives away from God to direct our own path or course.
“I did it my way!”
The Old Testament Patriarch Jacob struggled with this as well! He wrestled with God!
Gen 32:26-30 NIV Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” The man asked him, “What is your name?” “Jacob,” he answered. Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.” Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.” But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there. So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”
Here’s the thing: It is what makes this portion of Scripture so difficult. God saved us by His Grace! We stand before God - holy and blameless because of the righteousness of Jesus. We have been and are being set free from sin!
We are now bondservants, slaves of the LORD Jesus Christ.
For our own good He asks us to synch of lives to Him.
Synch our earthly living and values with Heaven – God’s Kingdom values!
We don’t mind synchronizing:
Our Palm Pilot
Our Date book
Our Email address book
Our Blackberry
Our Clocks to the atomic clock!
We have trouble, however,
wanting to synch our lives to heaven!
REVIEW:
Last week we began to look at the Lord’s Prayer in more detail. We started with the first phrase:
“This, then, is how you should pray:
Matt. 6:9a NIV
The phrase didn’t say this is what you ought to pray!
WE ARE TO PRAY:
“along these lines”
“in the following manner”
WHAT THIS MEANS IS:
This prayer is a prototype for us to follow.
This prayer is a blueprint for us to follow.
This prayer is a map for us to follow.
This prayer is a pattern for us to follow.
JESUS ISSUES TWO WARNINGS!
Don’t pray like the hypocrites – Matthew 6:5-6
Don’t pray like the pagans – Matthew 6:7-8
“This, then, is how you should pray:
“ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
Matt. 6:9 NIV
WHEN WE PRAY:
We Praise God
We Obey God
AS WE WILL SEE THIS MORNING WE ARE TO PRAY FOR:
His Kingdom to come
His Will to Be done
ILLUSTRATION:
“There was a little boy who kept asking his father, ‘Dad, will you come out to the back yard and help me build a treehouse?’ And this boy’s father, always with the best intentions, said, ‘Sure, son – but later, OK? I’m really busy right now, but we’ll build that treehouse really soon.’ Many times this boy asked his father that question; the answer was always the same.
But one day, this little boy was hit by a car. As he lay dying in the hospital, one of the last things he said to his dad was, ‘Well, Dad, I guess we’ll never get to build that treehouse.’”
Ron Lee Davis, Church Newsletter, First Presbyterian Church, Fresno
That’s a true story!
It illustrates what can happen when we do not have our priorities right!
Tomorrow may never come.
Today is the only day we know we have.
This father immediately regretted not taking more time to be with his son. He thought he had more time! Each of us live by priorities that we have set and established! Rarely do we stop to evaluate whether our priorities are right or wrong.
Now imagine getting to heaven and finding out that God had a much different plan for our lives than we could have ever imagined, but we missed the full potential because our priorities were wrong!
And even more tragic than missing out on God’s best for us we missed out on spending precious time with the LORD Jesus Christ, getting to know Him intimately.
Prayer takes on new meaning when we realize that God wants to use us to accomplish the maximum amount possible through us. The way we can maximize our life is to always be in the center of God’s will.
“…your kingdom come,
your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Matt. 6:10 NIV
OUTLINE:
The Priority of God’s Kingdom – Matthew 6:10a
The Priority of God’s Will – Matthew 6:10b
THE PRIORITY OF GOD’S KINGDOM
“…your kingdom come,”
Matt. 6:10a NIV
Jesus priority on earth was to obey His Father!
John 4:34 NIV “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.
John 6:38 NIV For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.
Jesus was the greatest example of an individual who lived as a Kingdom citizen on earth. He modeled what life in heaven will be like for us.
The Kingdom of God was always Jesus’ priority.
Matt. 4:17 NIV From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”
Matt. 4:23 NIV Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.
Acts 1:3 NIV After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.
Doing the will of His Father, proclaiming the Kingdom of God, and redeeming lost by His death on the cross, were Jesus’ highest priorities!
As Jesus was teaching His disciples how to pray He also revealed what was important to Him. In this model prayer He asks His followers to pray for the His Kingdom to come!
HOW IS HIS KINGDOM BROUGHT INTO EXISTENCE?
1) His Kingdom is brought into existence by the Holy Spirit living within us.
Praise the LORD! We are the citizens of His future Kingdom. He is the King and He rules in our hearts through the work of the Holy Spirit!
Phil. 3:20-21 NIV But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
Col. 1:13-14 NIV For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Luke 17:20-21 NIV Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.”
As Kingdom Citizens we are subject to the rules of the Sovereign Who rules His Kingdom!
We manifest aspects of the Kingdom:
Through the Family
Through the Church
As several members of God’s Kingdom, indwelt by God’s Holy Spirit, gather together as the church, the Kingdom becomes more visible.
That is why God’s church is so important!
We are suppose to live down here like we are going to live up there!
2) His Kingdom is brought into existence when we pray for the gospel message to be furthered in the world.
Matt. 16:18 NIV And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
The Lord wants His church built! He wants to set free those satan has trapped and held in bondage to sin!
He came to save:
The Lost
The desperate
The Hopeless
The weighed down by sin
The proud
The church is suppose to be advancing the cause of Christ in the world.
It is an offensive force and not a defensive force!
As we go forward in Jesus Name, satan cannot stop God’s work!
3) His Kingdom is brought into existence when we pray for the LORD Jesus Christ to return.
One day Jesus will return to earth to set up His reign. The rapture will take place and the saints will be removed. The unbelieving world will experience seven years of tribulation as the wrath of God is poured out on the world. Then the LORD Jesus Christ will set up His 1,000 year reign.
WHEN WE PRAY FOR HIS KINGDOM TO COME:
We are praying for the LORD to complete His plan for the earth!
We are praying for satan’s kingdom and power to be defeated.
We are praying for Christ to establish perfect righteousness and justice on the earth!
APPLICATION POINTS:
“…your kingdom come,”
Come (erchomai) = aorist active imperative = instantaneously or suddenly
God’s Kingdom is His total and complete sovereign rule over everything!
As we pray for God’s Kingdom to come there are four key areas we need to pray that Christ would rule triumphantly: Our lives, Our Family, Our Church and Our Nation.
Our Lives – Pray and ask the LORD to reorder your priorities and goals.
Our Family – Pray for God’s perfect will for each member of your family.
That they daily would honor Christ.
That their decisions would honor Christ.
That their Marriages (future or present tense) would honor Christ
That their school work would honor Christ.
That their work ethic would honor Christ.
Our Church – Pray asking for God’s perfect will for our church.
Pray that He will use us to further His Kingdom
Pray that He will use us to transform lives
Pray for the ministries and ministry leaders.
Our Nation – Pray that our Nation would honor God
Prayer does more to bring about God’s Kingdom in all areas: Our Lives, Our Families, Our Church and Our Nation than all the wasted breathe of criticism and opinions!
THE PRIORITY OF GOD’S WILL
“…your will be done…”
Matt. 6:10b NIV
Have any of you ever been afraid to pray
and ask God for His will to be done in your life?
You were afraid of what He might ask you to do!
You were afraid of where He might send you!
You were afraid of what He might ask you to give up!
We think to ourselves – “As soon as I say, ‘Yes,’ God will want me to do the worst thing we can possible think of.”
As if He is going to say, “GOTCHA!”
Don’t believe this lie! It is a lie from the pit of hell! Satan is the one who wishs to cast doubt on God’s good and perfect will for our lives! God’s will is not meant to be a burden!
Jer 29:11-13 NIV For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Living your life in the center of God’s will is the best place you can be! It is like being in the center of a hurricane! It doesn’t mean that your life will be problem free! It does mean that the LORD Jesus Christ will get the most glory from us and we will find the greatest happiness!
Praying for God’s will to be done means forsaking your will!
Praying for God’s will to be done means you can stop worrying about building your own personal kingdom and formulating your plans!
Maybe this is why there isn’t more spiritual victory and vitality in the lives of many Christians these days. We spend all of our time living in the flesh, with fleshly ideas and not living victoriously asking God’s will to be done!
If it is true individually, it might also be true corporately. Maybe this is why Churches in America lack power to advance the gospel message. We aren’t praying enough for God’s Kingdom to come and for God’s will to be done!
Asking the LORD every day to allow His will to be done through your life means He might interrupt your plans to accomplish something of greater good through you!
However, as long as we have our daytimer all filled up with appointments we will think we are accomplishing something of great value when the LORD has other plans for us!
Dr. Elmer Towns, Dean of Liberty University says that when you pray, “Thy Will Be Done” you are praying for at least four things:
1) YOU ARE PRAYING TO DISCOVER WHAT GOD’S WILL IS.
We come to understand God’s will by knowing God’s Word!
Ps. 119:18 NIV Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.
2) YOU ARE PRAYING TO UNDERSTAND WHAT GOD’S WILL IS.
a. Is your decision in agreement with God’s Word?
b. Have you faced a similar situation?
c. If difficult, seek godly counsel.
d. Ask the LORD for wisdom.
e. If unsure, be patient! Wait for the LORD to reveal His will for you!
f. Look for open or closed doors!
3) YOU ARE PRAYING TO SUBMIT TO GOD’S WILL.
Rom. 12:1-2 NIV Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God —this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is —his good, pleasing and perfect will.
4) YOU ARE PRAYING TO ACCOMPLISH GOD’S PLAN.
Col. 1:9-10 NIV For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,
APPLICATION POINTS:
God wants us to seek to fulfill His perfect will each and every day. Where did we ever get the idea that we only need to seek His will and counsel when it comes to marriage, picking a vocation or picking a church?
We should want to obey Him and follow His will and lead every day!
When we pray for His will to be done, God then wants us to take action and do what He tells us!
PRAYING FOR GOD’S WILL MEANS HIS WILL IS TO BE DONE!
Not our Way
Not our Will
Not our Goals
PRAYING FOR GOD’S WILL TO BE DONE ALSO EQUALS A LIFE OF GREAT BLESSING!
“More than a century ago Dwight L. Moody, founder of the Moody Bible Institute, was sitting in a grass mow in Ireland, listening to a preacher named Henry Barley. ‘The world has yet to see what God can do with and for and through a man who is fully and wholly consecrated to Him,’ Barley declared. Moody later said that something turned on in his heart that day. Five and half years later he was sitting way up in the balcony of Charles Spurgeon’s church in London, England, and the words of Henry Barley came back to him ‘…with a man, for a man, through a man fully and wholly consecrated to God.’ In the balcony of that great church, Moody bowed his head and said, ‘Lord if there were ever a man who would commit himself to such a way, here’s one.’ He went out from that place and set the world on fire.”
Macartney’s Illustrations, pg. 72
“…your kingdom come, your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.”
Matt. 6:10 NIV
This equals total commitment!
In heaven the angelic hosts obey and follow God’s will and God’s ways immediately! There is no hesitation in fulfilling God’s Will! God speaks and they obey!
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS:
The Kingdoms of earth are temporal!
The Rulers, Kings, Presidents, Emperors of the earth are temporal!
You and I are temporal!
The Earth itself is temporal!
God’s Kingdom is Eternal!
Ps. 145:13 NIV Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made.
Dan. 7:27 NIV Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be handed over to the saints, the people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him.’
Your obedience to help further the work of the Kingdom is an eternal investment! Daily we need to pray that God’s Kingdom would come and that God’s will be done!
Henry Blackaby gives us this advice on how to begin to live more and more for God’s will!
1) AGREE WITH GOD THAT YOU WILL FOLLOW HIM ONE DAY AT A TIME!
Start with baby steps! Commit to following Him today! Ask Him for strength and help! If He grants you tomorrow, ask Him to live His life through you tomorrow! Keep doing this until it becomes a part of your life!
2) AGREE TO FOLLOW HIM WHEN HE DOESN’T SPELL OUT ALL OF THE DETAILS!
This is hard! We want all the details laid out before we’ll trust Him. Abram had to leave His homeland to become the father of many nations!
3) AGREE THAT YOU WILL LET HIM BE YOUR WAY!
John 12:26 NIV Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
Remember Bruce?
Bruce didn’t find liberation until he gave up running his life!
BRUCE: You win. I’ m done. Please. I don’t want to do this anymore. I don’t want to be God. (sighs) Please, help me.
Jesus submitted HIMSELF to HIS FATHER’s Will!
Jesus gave us the greatest example by going to the cross and giving His life as a sacrifice for us! He was obedient and followed His Father’s will for Him!
Luke 22:42 NIV “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”
If Jesus was willing to die for each of us who are sinners deserving death, hell and eternal punishment then why can’t we, as citizens of heaven, make every effort to live for the LORD?
Allowing His will and His purpose to be accomplished through us!
He is the King Who is to be Hallowed!
We are His subjects who need to daily obey His will!
“Lord, whatever you want, wherever you want it,
and whenever you want it, that is what I want.
Puritan Richard Baxter
“…your kingdom come, your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.”
Matt. 6:10 NIV
