Just take the first few words of Matthew 6 and verse 7 from my title, but when you pray, when you pray. Last week we looked at an overview of the first 18 verses where the Lord is telling His disciples to beware that they do not their alms or their deeds of righteousness before men to be seen of them, otherwise you have no reward of your Father which is in heaven." We looked at the principle stated in almsgiving, in prayer, and in fasting, and then the warning in those three disciplines, and then also the reward. Your Father which seeth in secret will reward you openly. But now Jesus, we see, expands on prayer. There could be a couple of reasons. In Luke 11, we don't know that that's the same occasion, but the disciples asked Him, Lord teach us how to pray like John's disciples prayed. And so He then gave them the model prayer in Luke's Gospel. Here it appears that His disciples Not only being warned not to pray like the hypocrites, we're likely starting to pray like the heathen pray, who think they'll be heard for their much speaking. So Jesus expands and gives us this window, which is often called the Lord's Prayer or the model prayer. Two purposes here. One, He obviously is teaching us in what manner to pray. This does not mean that we necessarily must use the exact words in prayer, but He's giving us categories. the manner, the way in which we should pray. So He gives us this pattern of prayer. Secondly, not only is He teaching us how to pray, He's teaching us how to live. He's going to bring certain categories into focus for us to show us that if we're praying this, we're also making a commitment to live this way before our Father. If you pray, lead us not into temptation, The implication is you're committed not to go into the temptation. And so those are the two purposes that we see in Jesus giving us this pattern, this model for prayer. So the outline we'll follow, we will not get through it all today, is first our approach. Secondly, our Father, in particular, His name, His kingdom, His will. Then our bread. our sins, and then our temptations. First, our approach. After this manner, therefore, pray ye, our Father, which art in heaven. An approach, obviously we mean the manner in which we move toward God. It's a way of thinking about something. And so Jesus says, first of all, our approach is this, our Father which art in heaven. We noted that Matthew's Gospel uses the phrase some 17 or 18 times, almost exclusively, and Jesus uses the word Father 10 times in 18 verses. And again, our Father which art in heaven. So our approach first is an intimate approach. And we see this again in the word Father. He's your Father. Your Father knows what things you need before you ask Him. The very basis for not praying like the heathen is because your Father knows. When is a repetition vain, we should ask, because He tells us not to pray like the heathen, the pagans, those who don't know God. They pray anxiously. They pray in fear. They pray because they think the whole basis for being heard is much speaking, meaning long, drawn out, repeating phrase after phrase after phrase. Now, simply to say the Lord's Prayer or to repeat a phrase in prayer doesn't make it vain. 2 Corinthians 12 and about the 9th verse, Paul prayed thrice that a thorn would be removed from him. I presume he would have kept on praying that same prayer, except the Lord answered him, my grace is sufficient for you. That wasn't vain. Jesus himself in Matthew 26, 44, he prayed the third time with his disciples, Peter, Andrew, James and John. He left them, prayed the third time, saying the same words. He repeated Himself. No prayer of Jesus Christ would ever be considered a vain reputation. Then in Luke 18, the parable that Jesus gives so that we would pray always and not faint. He uses the unjust judge and then draws this conclusion. Shall not God avenge the elect that cried to Him day and night, though He spared long with them? implying crying day and night for justice, must mean there is some repetition in the cry, day and night, to God our Father. So, a vain repetition is not vain because we repeat a phrase. What makes it vain is the reason they're using those phrases. The word is babblegeo, which we get our word babble. You can hear it in the word babble. Pointless, meaningless, phrases, loud, long, because they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Notice the contrast. But not you. You therefore don't be like unto them, because your Father..." There's the intimacy. It means familiar, close. There's a bond. "...your Father knoweth what things you have need of before you ask Him. Therefore pray like this." You see, the basis for not praying like that is it's your Father. There's an intimate connection. That's the basis of being heard. The word no has three nuances that go from broad to very narrow and specific. Broad, your father knows. He knows what you need. Now that's comforting, isn't it? There is no need that you could have but what your father already knows it. So don't pray like him. He knows. Secondly, your father knows and that he has the skill. He knows how. Matthew 7. If you being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father in heaven know how to give good gifts to them that ask Him? You know how, but your Father knows how. He's not evil. He's holy. So He knows what your needs are. He knows how. He has the skill to meet those needs. But here's the word more specific. It means to have regard for one. Your Father knows how, He knows the need, but He knows in that He has regard for you. J. F. Patrick expressed the meaning of this word in his song where he writes, Here our Heavenly Father knows all we need before we ask. He takes his song right out of the text. Here our Heavenly Father knows and He what? He cares. He cares. The basis for being heard by God the Father is not your much speaking. Did I get it right? Did I do it long enough? Was it the right words? It's that He cares and He loves you because He has a relationship with you by faith in Jesus Christ. And so He cares. So don't pray like people who are afraid and are trying to be heard. Will He hear me? Did I say it loud enough? Pray like people that know your Father in heaven loves you and He cares for you. Doesn't that make a difference? Humble yourself therefore to the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time, casting your care upon Him, for He cares for you." The very reason God sent the Spirit of adoption into your hearts is so that you would cry, Abba, Father. He wants you to know Him as your Father. He wants that to be an intimate relationship whereby you're asking out of the relationship because He loves you. It's a sovereign love. It's a divine love. It's a love that He initiated, but He loves you. He cares. He cares. Romans chapter 8 verse 15. Paul would say, For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are what? The sons of God. The children of God. For we have not received the spirit of bondage to fear. That's what the heathen have. They are gripped with the bondage of fear when they approach deity, this distant God, or the gods that they pray to. They're in bondage to fear. Jesus says, don't pray that way. You have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear. You have received the spirit of adoption, that's a family term, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. Abba is the Aramaic version. Three times in the Bible, the Greek is joined to it. Abba, Aramaic, Greek, Father. It is not as familiar as the word daddy. It's not quite that intimate, but it is less than the word father. It's somewhere in between. D.A. Carson, who's from Canada, who writes a commentary on the Sermon on the Mountain, says he probably thinks it's more like the word they use in Canada, papa. Papa. He's your father. He wants you to approach Him. Jesus says, after this manner pray ye, Father, He's your Father. The Lord does not want you to come before Him in torment and fear. He wants you to come knowing He is your Father. Second, it's a family term, isn't it? We approach God as a family. It's our Father. It's not my Father. Jesus is the only one that can say that. He said, my Father. He has a unique relationship with God that's designed to highlight His oneness and His deity with the Father. He alone can say, my Father. But He says, when you pray, you say, our Father. He's our Father. This speaks of the fact that God has adopted us into His family by His sovereign grace, and He's not just pulling a few into the family, He's bringing many sons and daughters. And the implication is, when we go to our Father, Our God, He wants us to think in terms of family fellowship and the family unity, the bond that He created. In fact, when God thinks of His children, He's always thinking in terms of the adopted family. He can think about us individually and uniquely, but He thinks about the adopted family. Jesus wants the whole family with Him. Not just one, not just a few, but all of them. And so we've been predestinated unto the adoption of children. by Jesus Christ unto Himself. So God's aim is to bring a large family into His presence where we'll all know the loving relationship that the Son has with the Father, the eternal relationship. So what are the implications of that? We should be praying for one another. How often do you think about your family, the family of God? How often do you pray for the family of God. How often do you think about the sorrows and the difficulties of members of your family? So the Lord is teaching us, rather than the rugged American individualistic kind of thinking, that's not scriptural. It's an inclusive family. Kind of thinking that God has given us the right to be called the sons of God. And with that right, we need to know we're born into a larger family, God's family, for which He's the Father. We are sons of God, as John said in 1 John 3, Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called, we, the sons of God. What an amazing thing. We can say, our Father. It's intimate. It's close. It's personal. It's family. And thirdly, under the first point, our approach, it's transcendent. That's just a 50 cent word that means surpassing, extraordinary, excelling, beyond normal experience. Now what happens sometimes in American Christianity when we get the idea of Papa, Father, we start to bring God down to eye level. And we slap Him on the back in our songs and worship like He's a chum, He's a pal. Notice what Jesus says, Our Father which is in heaven. He's our Father, but He's in heaven. Now, we noted that the Jewish, even the Islamic view of God is paradise with no presence. Their idea of heaven is just paradise, but God is not there. God is present in the kingdom of God. Jesus is with us, but God is in heaven, which means He's exalted, He's supreme, He is transcendent. But He's a Father. And so the transcendent view doesn't mean we put aside the fact that He is close and intimate, and we don't drop the fact that He is transcendent. We remember when we pray, our Father is sitting on a throne, high and lifted up. His train fills the temple, and the seraphims, With wings, they fly, they cover their face, they cover their feet with twain, and they cry, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. And the doorpost shook at the image that Isaiah had. You see these two things come together in Hebrews 4, verse 16, which speaks about prayer. The writer of Hebrews would say, let us therefore come boldly, freely, confident, with assurance. Where are we coming? We're coming boldly to a throne of grace. That we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. So we're confident, we're joyful, we're running as it were. We're assured. We have the freedom to come. But when we get to the doorway of the throne room, we see our Father. He's sitting on a throne. So we leave Him on the throne. He is sitting there. He's ruling. He's reigning. But we remember all the while, He is our Father. The Bible would speak of this as the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord sees God high and lifted up and majestic as a king. But it rejoices in trembling that the King is the one who bids us come. The King is our Father. The King is the one who invites us to sit in his lap with reverence, with godly fear. When those two things come together, it fills us with a sense of wonder and privilege that that King, that God, that glorious, majestic, transcendent God, addresses us and tells us to call Him our Father. We remove the transcendence of God and take Him off the throne. We lose the wonder. We lose the amazement. We lose the glory of the fact that our God, that God, would say through Jesus Christ, when you pray, say, Our Father, which art in heaven. Now that's the approach. That's how God wants us to approach Him. And so, whatever words we may use, we are to remember. It's familiar, it's intimate, it's family we need to remember. And God is in heaven. So that's our approach. Let's look at our Father in particular. Three things in verse 9. After this manner, therefore, pray ye our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. So there are three statements. This forms the first petition. This is the first request. The other was introduction. This is our approach. Now, the first request. We are asking God to hallow His name. What are the implications of that? For living. What are the implications for prayer? When you go to God the Father, and you're going to ask Him. Hallow your name. Now, by name, the Lord is not referring to specific proper titles of God. The Old Testament is filled with the names of God. Genesis 22, Jehovah Jireh and the Mount of the Lord, it shall be seen. That was an occasion in a context that Lord revealed himself and that name was attached. That specific attribute of God was attached to that scene when Abraham offered up his son Isaac. But here in general, by the name of God, he means the person of God, the fatherhood of God. He's your father and the character of God in general. So we say our father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. We're talking about his person, who he is. And then there's the word hallowed, which is a verb, hagiadzo, which means to set apart, to sanctify. Peter uses this word in 1 Peter 3 where he says, sanctify the Lord God in your hearts. Consecrate, set apart. But also it means to render or to acknowledge as venerable. We don't say that word anymore, do we? It's kind of hard to pronounce. Venerable. What does that mean? We're asking God to render, to acknowledge that His name is impressive. It's worthy. It is to be respected. It's exalted. It's supreme. That's all the different ways we could express that word. Now, I want to give you three implications for your life on what that means when you pray that way. And Jesus obviously wants us to pray that way. Whatever words we use, if it's not these exact words, He wants us to pray that God's name, His person would be recognized, would be acknowledged, would be rendered as supreme, impressive. Astounding, amazed, respected. Implication number one. If you're going to pray that way, that means God must be the center and priority of your life. Priority just means most important. For which you should ask, well, how important is that? How about more important than your daily bread? That's second. When Jesus says, give us this day our daily bread, He doesn't just mean food, He means whatever provision that you legitimately need. The supremacy of God must be above it. Your safety, your welfare, your marriage, your family, your children, your parents, your job, your vacation, your life is secondary to this one thing. God's name hallows That's the implication. Jesus prayed this way in John 12 when He said this, Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me for this hour, but for this cause came I under this hour. Nay. Father, glorify thy name. Now, Jesus puts the name of God above his health, above his safety, above his life, because his life will be taken to glorify the Father. Now, unless you think God might not have been pleased with that prayer and said, wait a minute, you're going a little too far. Don't put your safety before me. Don't put your life before me. The Father says, I have glorified it and I will glorify it again. Now, this is not a call to live recklessly and carelessly and dangerously. But it is a call of Christ to say, when you pray this, this is the way you need to live. That God is above everything. Everything. Oh, how the people of this planet need to recognize God that supremely through your life. So you see now how these two purposes come together. I'm going to pray that, but am I going to live that? If I say, Lord, I want your name to be recognized as supreme, but I'm not willing to go there. See? This is what Jesus is bringing into sharp focus in this prayer, not just the way to prayer, but the way to live before the Father, so that His name would be recognized as impressive, supreme, and worthy, because it is, is it not? That's the first implication. You remember that two weeks ago from Psalm 115. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us give glory before thy namesake. Not unto us. If giving us food is somehow going to belittle you to the nations, don't give it to us. Isn't that what they're saying? For thy mercy and for thy truth's sake. Wherefore now doth the heathen say, where is thy God? If the heathen are going to question where you are based on something you do for us, then give yourself glory. And the answer is, for our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever He is pleased. So we know, as we unpacked recently, the pleasure of God and what He does is the name of God, which is the exaltation of His mercy and truth. You're not the center. Now, sin makes us think so, you know. You don't have to argue with that. We know, down deep, we like to be the center of attention. We like to be made much of. We get upset when we're not. We try to hide it. Sometimes we're hypocrites. We try to act like we're not. We try to act like we're humble. But in fact, we love it. This verse means, friends, we're not the center. It would not be good for us to be the center. In fact, people are damned when they make themselves the center. That's not good. So when we pray, Lord, hallow Your name, we're saying, be the most important, be supreme, be hallowed, be consecrated. Not only in my prayer life, but in the way that I live. Secondly, you're asking God to put Himself on display. Isn't that the logic? If you say, God, hallow Your name, well, then He's going to have to put Himself on display to answer your prayer. Right? Lord, acknowledge Yourself supreme. So he must then acknowledge himself to the planet as supreme. That is the very aim of God in all that he does. God's aim is to make himself center stage in everything he does. Just a few examples that you already know. In creation, Genesis 1-1, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Psalm 19 verse 1. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth His handiwork. Just handiwork. Day into day utter the speech, night into night uttereth knowledge. There is no voice where their language is not heard. The language of glory be to God in creation. There is not a person on the planet that doesn't understand that language. They just reject it and ignore it. So why did God create by Himself, for Himself? Colossians 1, 16 and 17. So that everyone would know that He is God. And that He is a God of power. So, creation. What about salvation? Psalm 106 verse 7 and 8. Our fathers understood not Thy wonders in Egypt. They remembered not the multitude of Thy mercies. They provoked Him at the Red Sea, even at the Red Sea." Repetition means this. So soon after the wonders. I mean, it wasn't three years later and say, well, what was that that God did, you know, in Egypt? Remind me of that. It was right after. Even at the Red Sea, they provoked Him. They didn't remember, so shortly after, the plagues and the wonders and the multitude of His mercy. What's God doing? For thy mercy's sake and thy truth's sake, glorify your name. Why didn't God just say, you know what? You guys can't even remember just a few hours ago what I did? I'm finished with you. Verse 8 says, nevertheless He saved them. Why? For His name's sake to make His power known. To display it so that the whole planet would recognize the mercy of God's glory and His judgment on the Egyptians. And that name traveled. all over the world in that day. See, when we ask God to put Himself on display, we're asking according to His will. That's what He's after. And then God wants us to conform our life in that manner that He's priority. He's central. He didn't save because you were lovely. You're not. You're a sinner. He saves for His namesake. Of course, Ephesians 1 bears that out. He chooses, He predestinates, He sent Christ to the cross to the praise of the glory of His grace. Why did He save you? Why will He save anybody? To exalt the wonder, the praises, and the amazement of His glorious grace. It's not about me. It's not about you. It's about the centrality of God in Christ. Isaiah 42, about the saving work of Jesus Christ, prophesied. in verses 6, 7, and 8. I have called thee in righteousness and will hold thine hand and keep you, talking about Christ, to come. I will keep you and give you a covenant for the people, a light for the Gentiles. Why? How will He give Christ? He will give Him as a covenant of death. He will slaughter His Son. Why? To open the blind eyes, to bring the prisoner out of the prison house and those that sit in darkness out of the prison. Why? Because I am the Lord, that is my name. My glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images." The reason God opens the eyes of the blind, owing to the death of Christ, is so that you would see His glory. and stop giving your praise to idols, and give all your praise to the God of the Bible. God acted to secure His glory in opening your eyes so that you would see and know His supremacy, His hallowedness, His exaltedness. He's central in salvation. He's the center of the church. Unto Him be glory in the church. He's the center of everything. So if I pray that way, the implication is, I want to live that way. Are you living? No, not perfectly, not without failure or sin. Are you living? As you should be praying. Not unto me, not unto me, O Lord, whatever it means, and that could mean some hard things for me. It meant the death of Christ. For thy name, for thy mercy and truth seeks. So the heathen would not say anymore, where is your God? They would say, God is supreme. God is supreme. And then in Providence, Romans 11, 36. For of him and through him and to him are all things to whom be glory forever. of God, through God. Everything on the horizontal level is through the providence of God and back to God is what? Glory forever. Paul says, Amen. Amen. So we're praying for God to put himself on display and that's exactly what God aims to do. So my life should be shaped by making God central. My life should be shaped by asking God to put Himself on display and that I would be living for the glory of God. That's what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10 31. Whatsoever you do, therefore, whether you eat or drink, you say, Father, give us this day our daily bread, whether you eat or drink, do all to the glory of God. That is that even when I eat and drink, the manner and the way I eat and drink, I want God to put Himself on display. So that if I don't have anything to eat or drink, if I don't have what I would like to eat or drink, let God be magnified. Right? My attitude and my disposition. at God's provision is going to express whether I'm living to the glory of God or living to the glory of self. And then thirdly, talking about the implication of hallowing God's name, it means you're praying for God to satisfy your greatest need. That's what you pray. I want to show you that from the text. So I don't see that. It's there. You are saying to God, satisfy my deepest need. Verse 8 again. Be ye not therefore like unto them, for your Father knoweth what things you have need of, before you ask. You have a lot of needs, don't you? Imagine one of the heathen that are praying out of anxiety, and they're praying for their much speaking. And obviously they're praying because they want this deity to meet their needs. Needs like what? I just need a job. I need some money. I need some food. I need to get married. I need a vacation. I need a retirement. All of those things can be condensed to one root issue. I need to be satisfied. I need to be happy. I need to enjoy life. And I'm looking to the deity to do it. God says, okay, then the first thing you pray is your father hallowed, because that's the deepest need of your soul. God's name is hallowed when your soul's deepest need is met in God. Then we'll talk about food. Then we'll talk about other things. Because Jesus is prioritizing the prayer. And God knows that your deepest need is not food. That's a need, and He cares about that, but that's just second. The deepest need of your soul is to be satisfied with God. Therefore, when you pray, hallowed be thy name. Make sure you're seeking that name. and find your soul being satisfied in God. Isn't that what you do as a parent? What's the first need of that child when it's born? You know, the mother and dad's in the delivery room now. They're all there, happy. Now, the hospital staff, that's not their first concern. They're taking tests, getting the baby warmed up. Then the baby comes to the mother. Well, the first concern may be, you know, what do they look like? They're beautiful and all that. But really, the deepest thing that that child needs, what? They need to be fed. That's a first priority. How do we feed this? They're going to show you how to feed it because it has to have food. What's the priority of Jesus Christ, the woman at the well? It wasn't the water in the well, friend. It was living water. If you knew who it was that speaketh to thee, you would ask Him and He would give you living waters. Waters gushing up into eternal life. Oh, the physical water was secondary. The living water was primary. John chapter 6. He feeds the 5,000. He puts food in their belly. They try to find Jesus the next day. They go over to the lake of Gennesaret. They find Him and say, Master, we've been looking for You. Jesus says, You seek Me not because You saw the miracles. because you ate the bread and you were satisfied. Do not labor for that food which perishes, but for that food which endures to everlasting life, which God the Father will give you. For Him hath the Father sealed the Son. What's Jesus saying? You're seeking Me not because the miracle is a secondary pointer to my supremacy and what I'm able to do for the soul, you just want some physical bread for your body. You're just always praying, give me some food, give me my daily bread. That's all you're about. Because you don't care about petition number one, the hallowing of God's name, which happens not by laboring for that kind of food. It happens by seeking the bread of heaven. And in that context, what does Jesus say? I'm the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger. He that thirsteth shall never thirst. So, believing is a coming to Jesus as bread and water, and having your thirst quenched, and your soul filled. Or, we would say, it's having God's name hallowed. See? He knows what you need. That's why food is second. That's not the need of the soul. So gloriously, the hallowing of God's name, for which the heathen might say, what about my food? What about my needs? See, the hallowing of God's name and your soul's satisfaction in God is not at odds. I'm just praying God be sinner, God be sinner. What about my soul? Your soul's need is met in the first petition. That's how it's met, and that's the point of Christ in the order that He follows. So when we pray, Thy name hallowed, we're committing to making God central, we're committed to praying that God would glorify His name, and we're committed to Matthew 6.33, Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you. You know, that phrase is almost repeated. If your heavenly Father know that you have need of all these things, but rather seek ye first the kingdom of God. What's priority? The kingdom or the hallowing? What's secondary? Your food, your clothing. Because the soul doesn't wear clothing, nor does it eat food, but it does eat the bread of life and drink the living water of Jesus Christ. So at the priority of our prayer, God is making our souls a priority in Him. Isn't that glorious? So why aren't you seeking to have your soul saturated, content, delighting and enjoying the God of heaven. I'll tell you why. Because we are so busy trying to satisfy ourselves with everything the world offers us. Can you not see it doesn't work? Haven't you experienced already? I thought it was good. It was like cotton candy. That was and it's gone. That's the sad thing about cotton candy. It just doesn't last. I mean, I'd like it to go in there and stick around for a while. It just dissolves. Isn't that your experience of the world? It goes in and you think, this is going to be it. Then why did you go to something else? Because it wasn't it. And it never will be. Hallowed be thy name. The second one under this heading of our Father's name is the kingdom. Thy kingdom come. Here, the Lord is referring to the saving reign of God. Because if we ask Him to hallow His name, we want His kingdom to expand. See the connection? Now, the kingdom arrived with Jesus Christ. He preached when He arrived in this Gospel. Matthew records. Repent and believe for the kingdom of heaven is very near. It's at hand. And when He died, was buried and resurrected, He inaugurated the kingdom, and then it started to expand from Jerusalem to Samaria to the uttermost parts of the earth. It has arrived, it is arriving, and it will arrive in the future when it's consummated. So our prayer, based on the name of God, we want others to be satisfied, to see the love of God. And so we pray, Lord, let your kingdom be coming, is the way it would be stated in the original. Let her be coming, feminine designation there. So we pray that way, what's the implication? Well, we're spreading the news, right? We want to spread the gospel of the kingdom, because that's how God expands His saving reign in the hearts of men. John 3.3 says, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of heaven. He must be born again so that he have a heart to perceive, eyes to see, and ears to hear. Without that, he'll never see or enter the kingdom. What is it his heart needs to perceive? What does he need to see? What does he need to hear? We've learned in Matthew 5, 20. For I say unto you, except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you don't get into the kingdom of heaven. You need a new birth to hear, see, and perceive. And what you hear, see, and perceive is Christ's righteousness for you. But how do you hear it? What do you see? And what do you perceive? For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it, the gospel is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith. As it is written, the just shall live by faith. Well, how will the just live by faith if there's no revelation of the gospel to their perceiving heart, seeing eyes and hearing ears? Therefore, when we pray, Thy kingdom come, notice God says, that's priority also over your food. I wouldn't have said that, but you can look with your own eyes. His kingdom expansion is greater priority to your daily provision. I'm afraid it's not so with us, is it? I'm just going to confess it. I don't want to be a hypocrite here. It's really not so, is it? I'd go on to say it's probably not so for many Christians. Right? We're praying, God, make it so. Make it more of a priority. Sometimes people try to struggle with the issue that the new birth is sovereign and it's by the work of the Holy Spirit on the heart. And so how do you pray for that? Well, I'll just pray that they'll believe. Well, you just prayed for the new birth. They can't believe without it. So I'll just pray, Lord, make them believe. Well, you just prayed for God to open their eyes, to quicken them or for them to be born again. It gets real difficult when you try to split hairs like that. Save them! And then move out with the gospel, asking God to put you in a position to be part of the plan. Because God's going to use His gospel, friends. That's how He gets glory. How does it glorify God if He quickens a Muslim and they keep being a Muslim? No, God's not going to do that, friends. He just said, I will not give my glory to another, neither will my praise to graven images. Well, Muslims and Hindus and Buddhists worship graven images and false gods. And God says, I won't let that happen if they're mine. And so, the new birth is aiming at receiving the gospel. And the church has been given the gospel. And so, when we pray, Your kingdom come, we're asking God. To advance the kingdom and we're saying, Lord, I'm committed to being part of that, just some small way, just right here in town and whatever way your providence works out, I want to be mindful and be part of that. When you say that kingdom come, you're also saying. I'm willing to bow to your sovereign. Rule. And what I mean by that is that, how does it come? But through suffering. Right? Where in the Bible was the kingdom advanced without the church suffering? It wasn't. So when you pray, thy kingdom come, you're saying, Lord, I'm bowing in submission to your providence in my life because I know what it'll mean. I know that people will laugh at me. I know that they won't like me. I know that they may hurt me. And I know in our country today, the hurting part is more of a potential than it ever was. Right? So I'm a willing Lord to rest in your sovereignty. That's why Peter said in 1 Peter chapter 3 in a similar context. He said, Who is He that will harm you if you be followers of that which is good? But and if you suffer for righteousness sake, happy are you. Be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled. Don't be afraid, don't be troubled if they harm you for doing the right thing for sake of the gospel. Here's that word hallowed, but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. When is a person likely going to ask you the reason of the hope that is in you? When has anybody ever asked me that? Right. If I look like the world and live like the world, nobody will ever ask me. What are you, Christian, what? What are you hoping in? But you see, when trouble comes, when hardship comes. And you're hallowing God's name. And you're praying for the kingdom to come. And you're ready to answer. Because at that moment, when you're submissive to government, submissive to bad bosses, and submissive to your husband that's an unbeliever, you're showing forth the praises of Him that called you out of the darkness into His marvelous light. And people then want to know, why are you doing that? When you're suffering. And so it's a commitment to rest in God's sovereignty, but it's also a commitment to be ready to answer. And I don't take that to mean ready with all the right theological points. That's not our problem, is it? It's to be ready. not to be afraid, not to be in terror, to rest in your Father's love. Rest in His plan. Rest in what He's doing. And know that the priority, even over my comfort and convenience and what people think about me, is His name and His kingdom and finally His will. Thy will be done. Again, all three of these are priority over whatever we need in life. That's our commitment in prayer. By will, I think Jesus is talking about the will of command, not the will of decree. Will of command is when God commands us to do what He says in the Bible. Will of decree is what God Himself will do. The reason I say that, because there seems to be a distinction in heaven, what's happening, than what's in earth. Well, God's sovereignty is the same in both regions. Daniel 4.35. He works His will among the armies of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth. So there's no distinction. He just accomplishes His will. He does it. But there seems to be a distinction in the way it's done in heaven and the way that it potentially would be done on earth. That's one reason. Secondly, Matthew 7, 21. Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. So Jesus uses it there as people doing what Jesus commands. Who's in the kingdom of heaven? Who will be in the kingdom of heaven? Those that are obeying the Father. Not perfectly, not sinlessly. They're on the pathway of the narrow way, not the broad road that leads to destruction. Yes, our lives sometimes weave in and out, but the assurance of heaven is obedience, doing the will of the Father. Now, here are two implications if you're going to pray that way. And we pray that way, we should pray that way. Not my will, but thine be done. First implication, do you know the will of the Father? Yeah, that one got me too. Right? That sounds good. Lord, not my will. Whatever you will. Implication is, now you're searching the will of the Father. Right? Why would I pray that and never have any inclination to exactly know what the will of command is? I don't even know what God wants me to do, but yet I'm saying, Lord, Your will be done. That would mean for me the height of hypocrisy. For me to say to you every Sunday, Thy will be done, but never search out what the will of the Father is. What is it? Paul prayed this way in Colossians 1.9. He says, Since the day we heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and the work of the Spirit in your life, we ceased not to pray that you would be filled with the knowledge of the will and all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Now we could take that to mean, hey, Paul just prayed, he's an apostle, just sit back and it's going to start flooding in. We're going to start getting wise and understanding, we're going to have spiritual understanding, because Paul prayed, and when Paul prays, God answers. But then in Colossians 3.15, what did he say? In 16. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom. So the prayer that you be filled with wisdom, It's the prayer that when you're in the Word of God, searching the will of God, you're gaining wisdom and discernment and spiritual understanding through searching the will of God. Not independent of the Bible. And that makes sense, doesn't it? The Holy Spirit works through His Word to fill us so that we're not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. Ephesians chapter 5. Don't be unwise. Don't be a fool. Don't be drunk with wine in excess. Walk circumspectly, be wise, understand the will of the Lord. How? Read it. When you pray, say, Lord, Thy will be done. Say, Lord, I need understanding. I'm reading, I'm going to the Word of God. Second implication. If you're going to pray this prayer, and we all see that God wants you to pray this, there is no question, but Jesus says, when you pray, this is what you pray, this is how I want you to pray, and that means this is how you're going to live. And if all you're doing is praying, and you're not living, there's a disconnect. So here's the last implication in the close on this sermon. It means now you're seeking to conform your life to the will of God. Aren't you glad preaching isn't rocket science? It's just real simple in terms of explanation, but really hard sometimes in terms of application, right? I'm praying your will be done, which means I'm seeking the will of the Lord. And then when I find it, because you said you reveal it in the word now, I'm simply going to do it. What are you doing? as a result of learning what is God's will for your life. Do you ignore, maybe on some Sunday, when God clearly unpacks for us what He wants us to do? Sometimes it may be really hard, and it's going to take a lot of work to put it in place. I get that. I get it from Scripture and personally. But sometimes it's just, just do it, you know. As a church member, just, okay, I'm going to do that. Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove and see and deem worthy, is the word." What is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God implying? You're not conforming, you're being shaped by renewed mind, by the Word of God as you search it, which means you're conforming. to what God wants you to be and do in your life. And the good news of the whole issue is that the gospel provides the grace to do the very thing that God commands. Isn't that good news? Somebody ought to say amen to that. Thank you, Brother Tim. Amen, right? The gospel of the grace of God is God saying to you, I'm going to be in you, I'm going to be with you, I'm going to be for you, so whatever I command of you, I will be with you to do it. And so, God your Father, whose name we want to hallow, whose kingdom we want to come, and whose will we want to do, or to be done, means we want Him to put Himself on display. We want God to so hallow himself and show himself impressive that that impressive view of God begins to flood our soul and bring to us peace, contentment and joy. And in the kingdom expanding, we want to be a part of that as we pray. Praying in our day. In our culture that is godless. Our culture needs the gospel again, right? And it's going to mean some very difficult, hard, uncomfortable things for us. It just is. And I don't have that boldness in me. In fact, I can be rather fearful at thought. You need to pray like the early church when they were threatened. Grant unto thy apostles that they would speak your name boldly. They were threatened. And the crux of their prayer was, hallowed be your name, may your kingdom come, and may your will be done. Let's pray.