Praying for the Kingdom

When you pray, yes, you go into his presence is Abba, but immediately or pulled up short to the realization that the absolute priority place in your heart belongs to the glory and the honor of God and whatever it is that you're bringing in.

It is directed at that what the Lord's prayer teaches us next on Renewing Your Mind is memorized and recited millions of times around the world and what was wonderful to recited together in church, in reality, the Lord's prayer is a model.

It teaches us how to pray.

We've been focusing on cues the spiritual growth this week and you can't talk about that without talking about prayer.

So let's learn more from a long time for this ministry. Dr. John MacArthur when you pray, you go to God. His father, but immediately you become aware as you draw into intimate presence which is made available to you since the veil has been ripped that you are entering the presence of the all holy God hallowed be when we hear the word hell I don't love anybody uses hallowed anymore unless you're going through a really old kind of musty building. The word is become archaic it's dropped out of current use usually is associated with the cloistered halls. Long robes dismal chance halos musty dim churches mournfully morbid music and other traditions but it's just how yet. So again camera talk about yesterday. To be holy. So if we could just maybe replace hallowed with holy we might understand a little better. Holy be your name, that verb interesting enough is is very rare in secular Greek, but not in biblical Greek obviously because you talking about God and what we mean we we say holy be your name when it were not making God holy is already holy were simply recognizing it. We are treating him as holy.

We are acknowledging his holiness where affirming that we recognize his holiness and that's essential. As we come to him in prayer. The Greek fathers used words that they felt were equivalent to Augie Alonzo Chrysostom equates it with dockside so which means to glorify or honor origin equates it with concern which means to exalt or lift on high. John Calvin said that God's name should be hallowed is nothing other than to say that God should have his own honor of which he is worthy so that men should never think or speak of him without the greatest veneration. So this is a protection against sentimentalism.

This is a protection against overuse and abuse of Abba which is so prone to be sent a mineralized when you go back and find some of the Jewish prayer. Some of the Jewish president been used historically are still used today. Here's how a Jew prayed in the past and they still do.

If you ever are in unorthodox environment or even a conservative environment there pray like this all Lord father and ruler of my life. They just never end with father for all Lord father and God of my life is another 10. Father King of great power. Most Thai Almighty God.

Some of you have heard of the shaman Israel, which are series of 18 prayers. They all start this way all father O King and on the day of the atonement. There are 10 penitential prayers. The Jews pray they are called the abiding mall K new and in those 10 prayers. They say this, our father our king 44 times the balance between Abba and God's holiness. They guarded carefully against sentimental lies in God and so must we. When we hallow God.

We are affirming that he is set apart from everything common that he is set apart from everything profane that he is to be prized and esteemed and honored and reverenced and adored and glorified and praised and worshiped as the one who is infinitely blessed so easy to say, hallowed be your name and have actually no thought the truth is, when you pray, yes, you go into his presence is Abba, but immediately or pulled up short to the realization that the absolute priority place in your heart belongs to the glory and the honor of God and whatever it is that you're bringing in. It is directed at that. Jesus says father, glorify your name that's that's the model that's what this is saying you hallow his name.

When you believe he is who he is.

Hebrews 11 six him it comes to God must believe that he is the must believe that he is so is one who is is clearly revealed in all the wonder of the names that make up his name. It was Origen who wrote the man who brings into his concept of God. Ideas that have no place there takes the name of the Lord God in vain.

Origen was right going to go into the presence of God.

You go into the presence of the God who is the God he is, and the God he is also includes that he is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we hallow God's name. Also, when in view of who he is. We desire his glory, to the extent that we come into his presence. First and foremost to submit to him was Luther and the catechism said how is God's name hallowed among us when both are doctrine and our life are Christian, once a hallowed be thy name and then go out and dishonor God. Prayer is not just the God's name be hallowed in him or that God's name be hallowed in our words but that God's name be hallowed in us. So what I'm saying is father I come to you with my need is the source I come to thanking you for intimacy, but I come to you to hallow your name.

That is to submit myself to that which brings you glory and honor. Augustine said it's not the God's name is not already holy, but we pray that men may regarded as holy and that God may become so near and dear to us that we esteem nothing more reverent than him. Prayer begins clearly with us being on our face prayer that God would use his fatherly goodness and his eternal riches at his disposal on behalf of his people to glorify himself for us and through us. Romans 1136 for from him and through him and to him are all things to him be the glory forever. Amen. There's a next phrase and if you're wondering if are going to get to the full prayer. Probably not, but that's okay. The third element.

Here is thy kingdom come, this looks at God is sovereign us critical in your prayers.

You come to God as a loving father was the source of everything you need to come to God as sacred, absolutely holy and pursuing his glory and you come to God as utterly and completely sovereign. Immediately after the celebration of intimacy and the celebration of worship comes submission do whatever advances your kingdom. That's the point. Do whatever matches your kingdom. Here I am Lord, I have one prevailing requests do whatever advances your kingdom.

God does what he does because he purpose is to do it but the means by which he does. It is our prayer. Just as God saves us because he determined to save us. But the means by which he saves us is our faith do whatever advances your kingdom. Tell him it says that prayer in which there is no mention in the kingdom of God is no prayer at all.

The vain repetition of the Pharisees and the scribes somehow seeking to badger God into doing what they wanted is a far cry from what our Lord is telling us here the kingdom of God was central matter in his preaching. I want to get too technical, is make it real simple.

The kingdom of God is the sphere over which God rules right in their two kingdoms of God to elements of his there's the universal kingdom that is to say God is the ruler of the entire universe. But there is the redemptive kingdom and that is to say that is the kingdom of those over whom God rules by virtue of salvation, and so what we say is God. Whatever it is that brings the fullness of your redemptive purpose to pass do that Jesus came preaching the kingdom. The good news of the kingdom. He was sent by God, he said to preach the kingdom to announce that the kingdom was in their midst.

The kingdom was available.

The King was gathering his people. He told them how to come into the kingdom.

He told them what it required. He said the kingdom already existed because Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets are in the kingdom and he said in Luke 1721 kingdoms in your midst, and he was talking about the salvific kingdom the realm of salvation over which God rules we really are saying, Lord, I just want you to do would build your kingdom brings you glory through salvation. You praying for the advance of the gospel your praying for the salvation of the lost. Let your kingdom come down in the prayer in Matthew six, which I purposely didn't use because I wanted to use this one to make it clear to you that this is not a formula it's a structure and that's why the two are not the same, but in that prayer in Matthew six he says, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. What's going on in heaven. What's going on up there.

The exaltation of God. The worship of Christ and the dominance of holiness. It's where God's praise and worship by the saints, and this is a prayer to bring that down bring heaven down. That's what I've been saying for years.

The church is not to be the place where the world comes in its to be the place where heaven comes down for praying for bring your heavenly kingdom down. Build your kingdom exalt yourself, exalt your son and the true church is the answer to this prayer near the answer to this prayer.

I think you would say that immediately if I said you would you want to pray something that was contrary to the redemptive purpose of God within. This is how you line up God before I ask anything for myself.

You know, there are no personal request, yet you never sent it before you ever get to that you got go through this.

This is the structure by now you're so lost in wonder love and praise your next words probably gonna be the rest I leave you on your almost there right there is a there's an otter yielding up at this point, glorify yourself lift up the son that he may draw your own bill. Your kingdom I want you glorified.

I want Christ, exalted Paul understood this. He gave his life. He said purposefully so that people would believe he said to the Corinthians and their praise would redound to the glory of God in his whole life was given add one more voice to the hallelujah chorus that God might be glorified. You really praying redemptive leader for the purposes of salvation to be fulfilled in the first Timothy chapter 2 says to God our Savior desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth and this is God's purpose that those whom he has called would come to salvation.

What's our part. I urge that entreaties prayers, petitions, Thanksgiving be made on behalf of all men for kings and all who are in authority in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.

This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires men to be safe. When we pray for, or pray what praying for the political wisdom of people were praying for their salvation. Pray she will God already knows what is going to do, but again the means he uses to do what he does is our prayers, and I want to add something here. You can't cave-in at this point, you can never really make a truce with evil.

You can never be indifferent to the lostness of the world to me. Jesus is weeping over the city of Jerusalem bosses.

If I if I could. I literally would wish myself accursed for the sake of my brother and you can never be resigned to a passive attitude.

There can never be some kind of gray.

Acceptance of the way things are. You can never let your theology stifle your zeal for intercession, David Wells wrote what then is the nature of petitionary prayer said this is in essence rebellion is rebellion against the world and its fallenness the absolute and undying refusal to accept as normal.

What is pervasively abnormal.

It is in this its negative aspect, the refusal of every agenda every scheme.

Every interpretation that is at odds with the norm as originally established by God. As such, it is in itself an expression of the unbridgeable chasm that separates good from evil. It is the declaration that evil is not a variation on good, but its antithesis or to put it the other way around to come to an acceptance of life as it is to accept it on its own terms, which means acknowledging the inevitability the way it works is to surrender a Christian view of God this resignation to what is abnormal has within it the hidden and unrecognized assumption that the power of God to change the world to overcome evil by good will not be actualized.

What he saying is we have to rebel so I Jesus at all times, pray and do not lose heart. And that's why the next text we going to hear about Opera importunity and about perseverance. We rebel against evil in the world. We were rebel against the dishonor of God in the dishonor of Christ. I remember reading about Henry Martin missionary in India who first came there went to Temple where the Hindus were worshiping with sacrifices, and it was, say, file, experience, and he ran from that experience and he went to his room and took his journal and wrote this I cannot endure existence of Jesus is to be so dishonored. I think we understand that we never come to a truce with that isn't that we distrust the purposes of God is that we share the passion of God is that we are prompted by the spirit of God to feel the way he feels some 69 nine. The psalmist right zeal for your house is eat me up there approaches that fall on you fallen on me.

What a statement he saying God when you're dishonored I feel the pain. And Jesus experience. It didn't. He went into the temple, and he clean the place out and essentially sit on the fulfillment of Psalm 69 for he quoted zeal for your house is eat me up. But what is the passion of that prayer.

The passion of that prayer is that God would not be dishonored to Christ would not be dishonored that the kingdom would come, that salvation would come that the Lord would build his church that he would be glorified. This turned prayer and worship of the highest kind, from the heart, passion for his glory. When prayer is used as a device for eliciting health and success in other favors from some celestial vending machine is this Christianity. I think not. Jim Packer said the prayer of a Christian is not an attempt to force God's hand, but a humble acknowledgment of helplessness and dependence well verse three we get to our side of this prayer. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins, we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us and lead us not into temptation, once you put God in a rightful place you can get to you. We don't have time to develop all of this, but suffice it to say, each of these requests is tied to a promise each of them.

The Old Testament says I've never seen God's people begging what dictating bread. New Testament says my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in Christ Jesus. God already promised to give us everything we need. Seek first the kingdom and his righteousness and all these things shall be added to you. And in Paul's letter to the Corinthians. He says don't worry about giving.

Don't worry about giving generously so bountifully reap bountifully and God will give you bread for your food. So are we asking because you always ask consistent with divine promise and the second one. Forgive us our sins, that is based on a promise. If we confess our sins he is faithful and still righteous to forgive our sins, do what you said you're going to do meet our physical needs sustain our lives until our lives fulfill your full purpose. Forgive our sins the way you said you would our violations of your holy law forgive the debt we've incurred with you as we desire to do the same for others. He knew God was his supplier. He knew God was his Savior, he being any believer who comes to the foot of the cross. She knew God was the source of everything every good and perfect gift comes down from the father of lights in whom there is no variableness or shadow of turning will know that God is not only our supplier and our Savior. He's our safety. We know that the end of verse four. Lead us not into temptation is going and losing the temptation with a view to exposing us to the evil one is Matthew six says it is he gonna purposely lead us into a temptation so that we can fall no God doesn't tempt James one dozen God doesn't tempt you allows us to going to prize moss trials, but allows trials so we can be strengthened, not so that we can be crushed. We know it's going to fetus we know is going to forgive us and we know is gonna protect us and direct us in paths that produce righteousness. Not since all were really praying for is what is already promised so very simple prayer Lord you're the priority and when it comes to me. All I ask is that you fulfill your promise on my behalf to sustain my life for your glory to forgive my sin for your glory and protect me from the evil one for your glory. So whatever it is that you do about this illness, or whatever it is that you do about this dilemma. Whatever it is that you do about the suffering and the pain. Lord, may it honor you and made manifest the fulfillment of your promises.

Dr. John MacArthur's dinner guest the last couple days here on Renewing Your Mind. As we have focused on the keys to spiritual maturity, learning who God is and praying to him in a way that honors him is certainly a key to spiritual discipline. So appreciate Dr. MacArthur in the is teaching on this important subject. There are times when we feel as if we've hit a plateau in her spiritual growth or even gone backwards, but we should not lose hope. God has provided us with everything we need to mature in Christ. Dr. RC Sproul wrote about this in his book.

Five things every Christian needs to grow you pointed out the five crucial disciplines.

The Lord uses to stretch us and grow us as we diligently put them in the practice will find that we are strengthened.

We've published a new edition of this book. It's in paperback and would like to send you a copy simply send a donation of any amount to look in your ministries when you go online to Renewing Your Mind God word. You can also reach us by phone at 800-435-4343 as you send your gift please know that that we'll look at your ministries are working diligently to produce more discipleship materials for growing believers around the world. Your donations make it possible for us to translate, produce and distribute these materials just to say thank you doesn't begin to describe our gratitude to your gifts or making a difference in in ways that we may never see this side of heaven. Well, we hope you have benefited from the teaching this weekend. Next week we're going to tackle the subject. The Christians around the world need to study now more than ever it's RC Sproul series dark side of Islam.

That's beginning Monday here on renewing