Your Kingdom Come

The second sermon in our series on prayer was preached by Pastor Mike Cosper on God's Kingdom.

Matthew 6:9-13

“Pray, then, in this way:

‘Our Father who is in heaven,

Hallowed be Your name.

10 

‘Your kingdom come.

Your will be done,

On earth as it is in heaven.

11 

‘Give us this day [a]our daily bread.

12 

‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

13 

‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from [b]evil.

What is a Kingdom?
A kingdom is a range of effective will or the realm of authority.
We all have a kingdom and each of our kingdoms exist in and/or under another kingdom. My kingdom has limits. In our kingdom we experience resistance. (If you are a parent, you are quite familiar with this.) We have authority and are under authority. This is the nature of kingdoms.

The Kingdom of God is where what God wants done gets done
Creation displayed this perfectly. When God created the world everything worked together under His perfect dominion. Then sin enters the picture in Genesis 3. In verses 17-19 we see a new kind of resistance that comes from sin. Life is now frustrating. We were put over creation and now creation resists our dominion.
Satan has unleashed the kingdom of darkness and death on the world. Death has reigned since Adam (Romans 5). We pray "Your Kingdom come" from a place of oppression.

We see the Kingdom of God best displayed in the life of Jesus.
Jesus hangs out with sinners and the oppressed. The life and ministry of Jesus is a direct assault on the power of death. This is seen throughout Scripture. Two examples in Mark are from Jesus casting out the Legion of demons and raising a little girl from the dead. Wherever Jesus goes, the kingdom of darkness is being rolled back.

We need to seek life in the Kingdom of God Matthew 13:44
The Kingdom of God is a mystery to the world and it looks foolish to those outside of it. (Colossians 3:3)
Intimacy with God is cultivated in hiddenness. Seek your Father. We are not to do this on display for everyone to see. We live in a culture where everything is on display. Let's seek to hide ourselves in Christ for our benefit!

Let's be compelled by the beauty of God's Kingdom. 
Are we willing to sacrifice all to gain the Kingdom?
In our culture we become an outcast by saying something about what others do. Our culture has put so much value on authenticity and being your authentic self. This is our cultures ultimate moral value. We are primed to think this way; "What matters is what I want."
Are we prepared to follow God even if He disgraces us in the face of our culture? Are we willing to give up our desires to follow God's ways?
If we never disagree with our God, we might be worshiping an idealized version of ourselves.

To help seek the Kingdom of God there are practical things we can do.
Gather with the church
Open the Bible and read a chapter from the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John)
Ask God to see His Kingdom
Pray the Lord's Prayer

God does not demand anything of us that He did not demand of Himself

Jesus obeyed perfectly and drank the cup of wrath so that we can drink salvation

How are you seeking God's Kingdom in your life?
What do you need to give up?