The Lord’s Prayer, Part 2 | How to Pray Well

Luke 11:2

So, what about us personally, for you and me? How do we personally, as God’s people, hallow his name? I mean, if we’re praying, “hallowed be thy name,” ought we not to like live that out? Should we not live consistently with how we’re praying? Absolutely. That’s what we long to do. Let me, let me give you just a few thoughts on that. Just a rapid-fire succession.

Fifth, we glorify God’s name when we tell others what he thinks about things. What he thinks about everything. We don’t just narrow it down to a few words of gospel truth, to try to get them saved, to close the deal. No. We tell them what he thinks about everything; particularly matters of sin and righteousness and judgment. We follow the example of John the Baptist, who looked at Herod and said, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”

 We speak with a prophetic voice. We don’t speak with proud arrogance. We speak with humble boldness. Humble boldness to the world around us. Why? Because they need to hear what God thinks about things. You think they’re hearing it in their schools? You think they’re hearing at their workplaces? No. God has been pushed out of the marketplace. Pushed out of the public square. Pushed out of the classroom. It’s our job to stand up and tell the truth.

The church exists, in part, to be a protest. A protest against the world and its sin. So, we glorify God’s name when we stop fearing man and we start fearing God. “The fear of man lays a snare,” Proverbs 29:25, “but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe.” People need to hear the judgments of God. They need to hear the penalty for sin, if they are ever to look to the Christ of God, for salvation from their sin.

And so, a sixth point. We glorify God’s name when we speak much of Christ. We glorify God’s name when we speak much of Christ. God’s Beloved, God’s one and only Son. We glorify God’s name when we speak much of his saving gospel. When we talk about his wisdom and righteousness and mercy. When we speak about the grace and what he accomplished on that cross. Bringing justice and mercy together perfectly, in one act, in one man. God did that in Christ.

 John 5:23, “Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.” Oh, we’d better honor the son. That’s what we long to do, anyway. We glorify God’s name by loving what God loves. By loving his beloved son. So, if we’re to act in accord with our most earnest prayer, “hallowed be your name,” how could we grow in this desire to see God’s name exalted? Very simple. We study God. We study the greatness of his name, and we do that for the purpose of love and for worship. And for that, I just need to point you to a single text. It’s all the way back in Moses. He said to Israel, “Hear, O Israel!” And today we might just repeat the same refrain; Hear, O church!

 Listen closely, all you who claim the name. All you who pray, “hallowed be your name.” You’d better know the name. Understand the power of that name. “The Lord, Yahweh, our God. The lord, Yahweh, is one. You shall love the lord your God. Love him with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.”

Next petition Jesus tells us to pray, has to do with the main way that God glorifies his own name. Namely, by the extension of his kingdom on the earth. So, the first point is pray for God’s exaltation, God’s glory, God’s, the hallowing of God’s name. The second point, here, is pray for God’s dominion. Pray for his dominion. Jesus said, “When you pray, say, ‘Father, your kingdom come.’” “Your kingdom come.” And just like the previous petition, we’re not making this petition because there is any doubt, whatsoever, that God’s will, will be done “on earth as it is in heaven.” Or that his kingdom will reign forever. It will, because God is God.

 That is abundantly clear throughout the Scripture. But especially, when God says through Isaiah, if you’re still in Isaiah, by the way, go ahead and turn back just a few pages to Isaiah 46. Isaiah 46, and see this written on the pages of scripture for yourself. You need to get familiar with these passages. So, Isaiah 46, in verse 9 and 10. This whole section of Isaiah is filled with this kind of language. It’s so glorious, if you want to understand the name. The will of God. His intention to accomplish all of his good pleasure. His purpose to extend his kingdom and his dominion over all the earth.

Isaiah 46:9, “Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.’” Through Malachi, God says the same thing, “I am a great king, says the Lord of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations.”

Just to reinforce this point, go ahead and turn back to the book of Psalms. We, were, just read for our scripture reading this morning, we read Psalm 46. I want you to look at Psalm 47. Actually, we’ll look at Psalm 47 and 48. Just a couple of texts, here, to fix this firmly in our minds. Both of these are psalms of the sons of Korah, and they call everyone to praise God as the great king: The great King of Kings.

 Look at 47, Psalm 47:1, “Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy!” Listen, if you have any doubt about how loud to sing, try shouting it, okay? That’s what it says right there. Shout to God with loud, let, let an usher come and tell you; Hey, brother, that’s, that’s a little too loud. Okay? Let an usher tell you that. But you just, you just let it belt out, okay?

Shout to God with loud songs of joy. “For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared, a great king over all the earth. He subdued peoples under us, and nations under our feet. He chose our heritage for us, the pride of Jacob whom he loves. God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises! For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm! God reigns over the nations; God sits on his holy throne. The princes of the peoples gather as the people of the God of Abraham. For the shields of the earth belong to God; he is highly exalted!”

We pray, “thy kingdom come,” don’t we? That’s consistent with this psalm, but keep reading, because the theme continues into Psalm 48. “Great is the Lord, greatly to be praised in the city of our God! His holy mountain, beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth, Mount Zion, in the far north, the city of our great King. Within her citadels God has made himself known as a fortress. For behold, the kings assembled; they came together. As soon as they saw it, they were astounded; they were in great panic; they took to flight. Trembling took hold of them there, anguish as of a woman in labor. By the east wind you shattered the ships of Tarshish. As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God, which God will establish forever.” And so, it goes. God is a great King. It says there, the king of all the earth.

 In 47:4, exalted above all kings. His kingdom is a universal kingdom, since he reigns over the nations, verse 8, sitting on his holy throne. He’s exalted. He’s mighty. he’s majestic. His kingdom is so vast and dominating that he astounds all the kingdoms of the earth. He causes them all to take flight, to panic in fear and trembling. And yet we pray, don’t we?

You can go back to Luke 11:2. We pray, “Your kingdom come.” “Your kingdom come.” Why? Here’s the bottom line, because God has chosen to mediate his kingdom glory through his one and only son, through the chosen Messiah. And we are his heralds. We are his ambassadors on the earth to proclaim his kingdom, to tell everybody to look to the son. Like Psalm 2 says, “Kiss the son, lest he be angry,” with you. This chosen Messiah “was descended from David according to the flesh.” All the promises made about David and to David fulfilled in Christ, and he’s “declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead.” He is declared to be “Jesus Christ our Lord”, that’s Romans 1.

Currently, this doesn’t seem to be what we see. As we look around us, the earth has been subjected to corruption and decay and sin. There are these interloping, intruding powers, invited in through the sin of our father Adam. And it’s not the men themselves. It’s the heart that drives them.

 Ever since Adam’s fall in Genesis 3, we’ve been living under the unrelenting dominion of sin. We all feel it. We’re all stricken by the same illness from birth, from conception and by extension, we’re under the unrelenting dominion of Satan and his demons. We are, like all the children of wrath, Ephesians chapter 2. We’re under, his, the power of his persuasion, “the spirit of the power of the air that works in the sons of disobedience”. That’s working in us, as well.

As unbelievers, we suffer the effects of the Fall. We suffer the effects of the curse that covers the earth. We’re subject to the power of evil. Cruel oppression from Satan and his demonic hosts. For some unbelievers, they’re actually possessed by demons. But all unbelievers are oppressed by demons. Blindness is over their eyes. Callousness over their hearts, as they pursue sin. We’re subject, as fallen creatures, to sickness, disease, plague, death, the fear, the anxiety that attends all those things, hover over our heads like the sword of Damocles. We’re subject to the turmoil that’s on the earth and its structures. It’s unpredictable droughts and blights, famines, earthquakes, volcanoes, tornadoes, hurricanes.

 We’re subject to the cruelties and the injustices of men themselves. Powerful men, who subdue others by might. Some of them, who enslave others, by their wealth or ensnare others by their cunning. Paul said, Romans 8:22, “The whole creation has been groaning together” groaning, “in the pains of childbirth until now.” The earth is groaning because the sovereign God planned for it to groan. “He subjected creation to futility,” Romans 8, verses 20 to 21, because he intended, on purpose, to channel all hope to be fulfilled in his son and in his son alone.

The hope of release from bondage, found in Christ. The hope of rescue from the power of sin, found in Christ. The hope of rescue from Satan’s dominion, found in Christ. The hope of deliverance from the curse, found in Christ. And most importantly, the hope of experiencing the full penalty of divine wrath for our sins taken away from us, found in Christ and in Christ alone. God chose to set us free from the bondage to corruption, so we might obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. And all of his promises are yes and Amen in Christ. They’re fulfilled in him. They’re fulfilled in Christ alone. There is no other Savior. There is no other ruler. There is no other Messiah. There is no other kingdom. It’s his kingdom. The anointed King ushers in the kingdom of God.

And that’s why, as we have been going through our study of the Gospel of Luke, ever since the beginning of his Gospel, Jesus has had a lot to say about the kingdom of God. He’s going to continue on, from Luke 11, all the way through the end of the Gospel of Luke, teaching on the kingdom of God. It’s the main subject of his teaching ministry, because it exalts his favorite subject, his favorite Person: God the Father. At the very start of his ministry, Luke 4:43, Jesus said, the proclamation of the kingdom of God was why he was sent into the world, to proclaim that message, to proclaim that kingdom. He went everywhere throughout Galilee and Judea, even to adjacent lands, spreading that message.

 He’s the king, but he’s coming as his own herald. What king runs in front of himself to proclaim his own kingdom? He sends heralds to do that. He sends slaves to do that work. He showed us how to do it. He told us the message to preach, and then he invited us to join him in that work, to herald his kingdom. He went all throughout Galilee and Judea spreading that message. He sent his twelve Apostles; it says he went through cities and villages, proclaiming, bringing the good news of the kingdom, Luke 8:1, Chapter 9, he sent his twelve Apostles to do that work. Chapter 10, he sent the 72, also, to go do that work. Same message, same herald proclamation: Kingdom of God.

 The theme of all the Gospels is that Jesus has come. God in the flesh. God’s appointed Messiah. We look back to 2 Samuel 7. We look to Psalm 2. We look to Daniel chapter 7. All those proclaiming the promise of the kingdom to him. He’s the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He’s come to bring the kingdom of God with him. It’s exactly what Gabriel told Mary before his birth, even before his conception, saying this, “He will be great and he will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

So, when he came, he proclaimed the kingdom of God, with authority. His message, as we know and as we’ve been studying, it was validated by supernatural works of power, miracles, healings, casting out demons. He calmed a storm at sea. He commanded the wind and the waves, inanimate, not living, breathing things, he commanded the forces of the world. The natural forces of the world, and they obeyed him, immediately.

He entered into the region of the Decapolis, and he cast out a legion of demons. He demonstrated his power over supernatural forces, as well, over Satan and his demons. His healing ministry demonstrated power over the curse. His ability to deliver us from disease, coronavirus, and death. He doesn’t just heal the surface wounds. He doesn’t just deal with our cells. He doesn’t just deal with viruses and bacteria and different things that plague our condition. He doesn’t just banish disease and illness. He goes down to the root cause of it all. He gets to the heart of the matter. He destroys the very reason for the curse itself, in dying for sins.

Because God sent him to do the greatest saving, healing work; overturn the curse, nullify the power of sin, pay for the penalty of sin, and deliver us, ever, forever from the presence of sin. That’s what his kingdom is about. It’s about something far deeper than just surface, surface rule and influence and authority, though he has that, too.

 Jesus came to die for sins. He came to pay the penalty. To satisfy the wrath of God, in order, to reign over the hearts of his people. He starts with the heart, and then he moves outward. In death, he defeated death. Being buried in the tomb. Being raised to life three days later. He appeared to his people bodily. He walked around. He ate and drank with them. He ascended, bodily, to the right hand of the father, and he now rules and reigns from the fathers’ right hand. Right now, he does that. He intercedes for his people. He shepherds this church and every other faithful church. He waits for the father to send him back to gather his people. Then to come to judge the quick and the dead. Until that time, Jesus tells us to pray to the father: Your kingdom come. Your kingdom come.

 What is that prayer doing for us? Even as we utter it. If we utter it thoughtfully. If we pray meaningfully. If we, if we meditate on that prayer. It is a prayer that gives us an eternal, kingdom perspective. Doesn’t it? I mean it sets all of our troubles and worries and concerns and fears in a proper perspective. It, it makes them vanish, as we think that God’s kingdom is on the march. Fills us with hope.

 It’s a prayer that fills us with confidence. It grants us full assurance. It reminds us that we belong to a God whose will cannot be stopped. His kingdom continues to advance. Even when we can’t see it, it advances. “Your kingdom come,” is a prayer that encourages us to keep holding on, to remain “steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord Jesus Christ, our labor is not in vain.” It encourages us to never “grow weary in well-doing, for in due season we will reap if we do not faint.”

 Already the Lord Jesus Christ, he rules as king in our hearts. So, our prayer is, that the rule extends to cover every heart. To reign in every place without any hindrance. Without any opposition. Without any resistance. Without any hesitation. We don’t want to see one rogue soul resisting his perfect will. His wise reign. His blessed governance. “Your kingdom” mea, “your kingdom come,” means Maranatha. It means, our Lord, come. He promises us. He promises his people, Revelation 22:20, “Surely, I am coming soon.” “Surely, I am coming soon.” Do you believe that? We respond in faith. Amen and amen. I believe. “Come, Lord Jesus!”

So how do we personally live for the coming kingdom of God. Just a couple of thoughts. First, we live for God’s coming kingdom by not worrying. By never being anxious about anything. That includes these pesky little viruses. It includes our concern about food or clean water or toilet paper, hand sanitizer; 60% alcohol and above. Right? To kill all the things, bleach. All the rest of the things that the unbelieving world is panic, panicking about, right now. We do not panic. We do not worry. We are not anxious. We will not be afraid.

 We don’t worry, because worry is a sin. It’s not only a sin, it’s a grave sin. A horrible testimony for those who profess faith in the God, as the great and mighty King. And then to worry, that this universe is not under his control. What does it say, when the citizens of the kingdom of God are in a state of unrest? When they’re worried about food. When they’re. When we act like we’re ready to stone our leaders and go back to Egypt because things were better back there. It’s ludicrous. So, we don’t. We live for God’s kingdom by not worrying. By walking through this life with no worry.

And then secondly, we live for God’s kingdom by living for God’s kingdom; like we actually live that way. We start by meditating on his wise and glorious laws. The laws of the kingdom. The rules of the kingdom, his judgments, his commandments, his precepts, his testimonies. We speak about them. We boast about them and about the glory of our king, because he’s so wise, because he’s all-powerful.

 We boast, speak about the eternal co-regence of father and son, reigning on the throne. The perfect wisdom being revealed in the eternal plan of divine redemption. And what do we do, then? We set kingdom priorities for our lives that reflect all the truth that we profess. We live consistently with what we really believe to be true, that God is good, that he is wise, that he is all-powerful, and under his dominion, we are safe.