Teach Us To Pray: The Kingdom

Sermon Abstract:

Text:

“Your kingdom come.” Luke 11:2B NLT

CIT:

Jesus teaches His disciples that after beginning in praise, true prayer requires humility—aligning their will with God's.

CIS:

Spiritual maturity in prayer begins with praise and deepens through the humility to seek and desire God's will above our own.

SO:

The hearer will understand that a genuine hunger to know God's will comes only through consistent time spent seeking Him—just as in any deep relationship.

Sermon Outline:

Me:

Time spent with someone is irreplaceable. The hard part is in our world; spending time with one person is difficult. Especially in a committed relationship like marriage or with family, and more impactfully with our relationship with God.

We live compartmental lives because that’s kind of how our world is set up.

If you look at family life pre-industrial revolution, the home was the center for economic activity. Post-industrial revolution, we see jobs more outside of the home. I’m not saying it’s good or bad; it’s just the system we’ve arrived at.

The most continuous time I think I’ve ever spent with one person was when Dawn and I hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2014. I went back and looked at it, and we spent 143 days hiking the trail. Every. Single. Day. We were together, and it was one of the best things that ever happened to us.

What I noticed after that experience was how we would both go to different jobs during the day. It becomes easy to give a lot of energy to the day and then have a marriage in the margins.

Or, it’s really easy to give your best to the many things asking for your efforts and then make your relationship with God function in the margins.

The truth is, something has your commitment. And a commitment is not fulfilled in the margins or as you’re available. A commitment is prioritized first. A commitment gets your time.

Transition:

No relationship is built on the absence of time and experiences had together. Our relationship with God is no different.

We:

Recap on “why the Lord's prayer.”

It’s not necessarily a chant, though you can simply repeat this prayer; it can be viewed as a framework.

Prayer at its most basic is just a conversation with God, and like any relationship, there are productive and non-productive ways of communicating.

Prayer is also not a performance.

It’s purpose isn’t necessarily passion, though we often can and do pray with passion.

It’s the heart behind it.

One of the things about me that I’ve realized is I can be kind of monotone. I know. It’s a surprise for all of you, I’m sure.

God knows my heart even if others don’t.

Today we’re taking some time to study a second section of the Lord's prayer. Let me read it for you.

“Your kingdom come.” Luke 11:2B NLT

I actually like it better in the King James:

“Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.” Luke 11:2 KJV

Let’s look at that in relation to what we studied last week. I actually like the King James Version, mostly because that’s how I learned it as a kid.

“And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.” Luke 11:2 KJV

There’s a lot to unpack in this passage on prayer. But for us, one question is going to frame our thoughts.

If you were going to pray FOR one thing, what would that thing be?

Let’s pray.

Prayer:

God:

Jesus’ words in Luke 11:2—“Your kingdom come”—are a profound request, not just a passive hope.

They reveal a fundamental truth: prayer is not about getting our way but aligning ourselves with God’s will.

God’s Kingdom vs. Our Kingdom:

When Jesus teaches us to pray “Your kingdom come,” He is making a radical statement about priorities.

By default, we are naturally inclined to build our own kingdom—whether it’s our career, our comfort, our personal ambitions, or even our vision of how life should go. However, Jesus redirects us. God’s kingdom must come first.

This echoes what Jesus says in Matthew 6:33:

“Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

In that verse, Jesus means the “these things” are the needs of this life—like clothes, food, and shelter.

When I think about this verse, I’m reminded that God created us to have a central source. One thing is supposed to satisfy our lives. Almost like a central watering hole, a single place to get what we need from.

Example:

How many of you remember in days gone by when it was snowing where we found out school was closed from? The news in the morning. In the 80’s, 90’s, and early 2000’s, that’s where almost everyone found out because that was the place most everyone went to for information.

Today, our schools have a job to get us information.

You could send an email, but no one reads those in a timely manner.

You could put it on the news, but a lot of people don’t even watch the news in the morning or have cable.

You could put it on the radio, but this isn’t World War II. Where we get our information from a radio.

Maybe Facebook, but Facebook isn’t cool anymore.

You can’t do TikTok.

So what do they do?! All of them.

It honestly wouldn’t surprise me to open my door and find a pigeon with a note tied to its foot.

We live in an age where so many things are clamoring for attention.

“Your kingdom come” isn’t us surrendering to the shiniest object that gets our attention; it's us giving our attention to what should be our central source.

Transition:

When we pray “Your kingdom come,” we are making a surrender statement. But we are also acknowledging that the way things are is not the way they should be, and we desire God’s reign to reshape our lives and our world through the…

The Active Prayer:

“Your will be done. As in heaven, so on earth.”

This phrase lets us know there’s a difference between what’s going on in heaven and what’s happening on earth.

Have you experienced some of these things?

Jesus’ phrasing here is not just wishful thinking—it is a petition for action. The Greek phrase for “be done” (as in “Your will be done”) is γενηθήτω (genēthētō), which means to “come into existence” or “to be brought about.”

In other words, when we pray this, we are not asking for a passive acceptance of God’s will but for an active transformation of the world. We are saying:

“God, let your rule expand in my life.”

“Change the way I think, my desires, my priorities.”

“Let Your righteousness influence how I act at work, at home, in my community.”

“Make my heart more like Yours.”

If “Your kingdom come” demands our ATTENTION, then “Your will be done” demands our PARTICIPATION.

This is a prayer that demands action. We are not just waiting for heaven—we are asking for heaven’s rule to start right here, right now, through us.

Why This Prayer Is Necessary:

Why do we need to ask for God’s kingdom to come? Because the default state of the world is rebellion against God’s will. Jesus acknowledges this by adding the phrase:

“As in heaven, so on earth.”

If “Your kingdom come” demands our ATTENTION, and “Your will be done” demands our PARTICIPATION, “As in heaven, so on earth,” reminds us there’s still HOPE.

In heaven, God’s will is obeyed perfectly, immediately, joyfully. On earth? Not so much. The world resists God’s authority. That’s why when Jesus came preaching the Gospel, He announced:

“Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17)

Hope is now, and it’s real for those who would pray for it.

Transition:

God’s kingdom has broken into this world through Jesus, but it is still advancing. Every time we pray “Your kingdom come,” we are pledging allegiance to this mission.

Jesus was the Ultimate Example:

Jesus didn’t just teach this prayer—He lived it. In Gethsemane, facing betrayal, torture, and death, He prayed:

“Not my will, but Yours be done.” (Luke 22:42)

Jesus perfectly modeled what it means to desire God's will above personal comfort. If we want to be like Jesus, our prayer life must move beyond requests for what we want to a heart that longs for what God wants.

Key Thought: The Kingdom Comes When We Surrender:

The moment we stop fighting for control and start trusting God's plan, His kingdom begins to take root in our lives. We don’t have to understand everything—we just have to trust the One who does.

Next Step:

Now that we understand the depth of what “Your kingdom come” means, how do we actually live it out? That’s where we turn next. If you’re not taking notes, now is a good time to start.

You:

Short Prayers Reach The Throne:

Don’t complicate what should be simple.

This is Parkinson’s law of time and task complexity.

It’s completely unrelated to the disease of Parkinson's.

Basically, Parkinson's law states that the longer time you allot to something, the more often needlessly complex we make it.

Pray for His kingdom to come with frequency.

We often don’t need a long prayer; we need a heart prayer because, if we knew how to make it happen, we wouldn’t be praying for it to happen—we would be thanking God it did happen.

Every time life is going sideways: “Your kingdom come.”

Every time you’re lost in life: “Your kingdom come.”

In a very real way, this is the biblical phrasing for “Jesus, take the wheel.” It’s just, “Your kingdom come” doesn’t sound as good in a song.

Transition:

When turning to God in prayer becomes second nature, we then should learn to…

Hear His Voice:

God is speaking, but are we listening, and do we know what to listen for?

One of the greatest prophets in the Old Testament had to learn how to hear the voice of God. It wasn’t something he just knew.

1 Samuel 3:1-10

“One night Eli, who was almost blind by now, had gone to bed. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was sleeping in the Tabernacle near the Ark of God. Suddenly the Lord called out, “Samuel!” “Yes?” Samuel replied. “What is it?” He got up and ran to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?” “I didn’t call you,” Eli replied. “Go back to bed.” So he did. Then the Lord called out again, “Samuel!” Again Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?” “I didn’t call you, my son,” Eli said. “Go back to bed.”” (1 Samuel 3:2-6 NLT)

Samuel would go on to be a key leader for Israel in a time of chaos. He would, on behalf of God, anoint two kings.

That phrase “Man judges by appearance, but God judges the heart” came from a time when Samuel heard the voice of God. But hearing that voice wasn’t something he was born with; it grew out of his relationship with God.

In the same way, we have to learn and cultivate what it means in our lives to hear that voice. It’s a weighty thing and should not be taken lightly.

When someone says, “I’ve heard God speak to me,” there’s nothing else to be said to them. Who am I, or anyone for that matter, to challenge that?

Transition:

When we pray frequently, and we learn His voice, the next logical step is to…

Obey His Instructions:

God’s will is never found in disobedience.

Key Thought: You cannot disobey your way into God’s will.

Be Willing To Trade Your Will for His:

Our plans may seem good, but God’s plans are better.

I want to read you a couple of verses about this:

1 Corinthians 2:9: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard what God has prepared for those who love Him.”

Proverbs 19:21: “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”

Key Thought: Let go of personal ambitions to fully embrace God’s best.

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” - Jim Elliot

Conclusion:

Before we leave here today, I want to invite you to contemplate what this prayer of surrender means.

I want to ask you the question once again: If you were going to pray FOR one thing, what would that thing be?

Salvation

No PM Service tonight. Join us for pizza in the gym at 6 PM.