In our journey through the Gospel of Luke,
we've slowed down for Jesus to teach us to pray
using the beautiful words of the Lord's Prayer
that James just sang.
I recall that last week as Jesus started that,
He did so by telling us to pray to our Father.
That our miraculous, incredible relationship
that we have with the person to whom we are praying
is really what's at the heart of a life of prayer.
God has adopted us into His family.
He invites us therefore always, anytime, into His presence.
He loves us.
He's interested in our hearts, not merely our words.
And we're gonna see that again this morning.
As we run and jump in our Father's lap
to talk with Him and listen to Him,
Jesus now begins directing us
in what should be on our hearts to ask Him
as we talk to Him.
Let's read again this portion of God's inerrant Word.
Luke 11 at verse 1.
Now Jesus was praying in a certain place
and when He finished,
one of His disciples said to Him,
Lord, teach us to pray
as John taught his disciples.
And He said to them,
when you pray, say,
Father, hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread
and forgive us our sins
for we ourselves forgive everyone
who is indebted to us
and lead us not into temptation.
Let's pray.
Father, we do pray these things.
We've said them already.
We've sung them.
We've heard them sung.
Would You make them not just words
that often are on our lips,
but Father, as You work by Your Spirit
among us this morning,
make them true in our hearts
that these would be the things
that we treasure,
that we value,
that we long for.
And then may we pray them more.
Teach us, we pray.
In Jesus' name, amen.
If your prayers are anything like mine,
often are,
they could probably be compared
to Christmas shopping lists.
You've made them before.
I need help.
I need to get some healing for them,
wisdom for him,
patience for her,
provision for them.
The list goes on and on.
All of the things that we need to get.
The natural tendency of our hearts
in prayer is for our prayers
to be about things that we need, right?
And I think our Heavenly Father
is not frustrated by that at all.
That we're bringing the needs
of our hearts to Him.
He loves that.
He wants to hear them.
So He doesn't want to drive us away
in those moments,
but rather what He wants
is to help us see even deeper needs,
things that we truly, truly need
that we may not even know to ask for.
We know that in general,
out of the overflow of the heart,
the mouth speaks.
And that's true in prayer too,
that what's in our heart
is what comes out when we pray.
Prayer is not merely words
coming out of our mouths,
but actually longings
coming out of our hearts.
We pray for things
that we deeply desire, right?
That's why we're praying.
And so we get this morning
to what are called
the petitions of the Lord's Prayer.
The things that we ask for
when Jesus teaches us to pray.
And we find out that Jesus is shaping
not merely our prayers,
not just trying to put some words
on our lips,
but really our priorities.
The passions of our hearts,
Jesus wants to shape with these.
God our Father desires to give us
the desires of our hearts.
And He wants our hearts shaped
to delight in the things
that delight Him
that are also what's good for us.
Isn't that amazing?
That He's that gracious and glorious,
that the things that we're most
supposed to long for
are the things that delight Him
also are the things we really need.
This morning we're gonna look
at the first two petitions.
Hallowed be your name
and your kingdom come.
Where does Jesus start
as we bring our needs to our Father?
As He says,
pray like this.
What is it we're supposed to pray for?
What's most on the heart of Jesus?
Maybe not the things
that make most of our Christmas lists.
He starts with the glory of God's name
and the coming of God's kingdom.
kingdom.
Both God-focused requests, right?
Your name.
Your kingdom.
We know that these things
are to be priorities for us.
That's not new information
here in the Lord's Prayer.
All the way back to Psalm 115.
Not to us, O Lord.
Not to us,
but to your name give glory
for your steadfast love
and your faithfulness.
In fact, Matthew 6, verse 33,
Jesus says,
Seek first the kingdom of God
and His righteousness
and all these things
will be added to you.
We're supposed to be,
as Ron has led us already,
about the glory of God,
the kingdom of God.
That's what it's about.
These are to be our priorities.
And so if those things
are our priorities,
it will change what we ask for
in prayer.
And also, in many cases,
we'll still bring the same
particular needs to God
and find it will just change
how we pray
for the things
that we're already praying for.
A loved one has cancer
and you pray for healing, right?
Anything else?
Your marriage is struggling
and you pray for restoration.
Anything else?
Kids, you may have this other kid
at school,
maybe someone in your class
who's just being unkind to you
over and over
and it's really starting to bother you
and you pray that you will grow up
to be bigger and stronger
so you can beat him up.
Anything else you would pray?
I hope so.
Well, we have needs.
We bring them to our Father
but these priorities
are going to shape
the way we pray
for everything.
We're gonna come back
to all three of those situations
and think practically
about how we pray
the way Jesus teaches us.
But first, let's look at
each of the two petitions briefly.
What priorities is Jesus
teaching us to have
as we pray?
The first one
is God's name.
Hallowed be your name.
Father,
hallowed be your name.
Some of you have great names.
Others of us
regularly get mail
addressed to Mr. Stink.
It's not funny.
You shouldn't laugh
at people who go through this.
It's really discouraging
actually, right?
Now, nine out of ten of them
it's junk mail.
Because if you don't care enough
to know my name
or at least know
that it's not Stink,
then probably we don't have
a deep personal relationship.
It's probably an indication
the way you think about my name
whether or not you're caring
for me personally.
If you don't know my name
you're not really concerned
about me usually, right?
Because what's our name?
It represents something
more than that, doesn't it?
It's our person.
It's our character.
Our reputation perhaps.
And we're very concerned
about protecting our good name,
aren't we?
Especially if you have one.
About having a good reputation
with people.
All the way back
to the Tower of Babel
people have been seeking
to make a name for themselves,
to bring glory to themselves,
to be great and mighty.
We're pretty passionate
about our names.
I'm not sure many of us
are equally passionate
about the name of God,
about His glory.
We may know the Reformation mantra,
soli Deo gloria.
You may even know
what those Latin words mean.
To God alone, the glory.
But we often live with our glory
at the front of our minds,
don't we?
Our reputations need to be protected.
Our honor needs to be defended.
But Jesus says,
pray, Father,
hallowed be Your name.
Not what will people think of me,
but what do people say of Yahweh,
the God and King of all?
Hallowed is one of those words
that we don't use a lot these days.
At least I don't.
Maybe you do.
I remember when I was a kid,
first of all,
I thought it was hollow.
And I didn't really understand
what it meant for a name
to be hollow.
And then for many years,
I thought it was connected
to Halloween.
And so Halloween
and the Lord's Prayer
were really connected in my mind.
Kids, I suspect some of you
may have made that same connection.
And you may not know
what it means to pray,
hallowed be Your name.
So if it connects to Halloween for you,
let me see if I can help a little bit
so you can remember.
What's Halloween about?
You know.
Candy.
You getting candy.
Okay?
Hallowed is different.
Hallowed is not about
you getting candy.
It's about God getting glory.
Not candy.
God doesn't need candy.
Glory.
God getting glory.
In other words,
it's saying that God is special
and worthy of all of our praise.
That He is absolutely unique.
For God's name to be hallowed
means He's honored as holy
and worthy and glorious
beyond anyone else.
Completely set apart.
And you may be thinking,
but isn't God already holy
and worthy in all of those things?
Yes.
He is.
And what we're praying for
when we say this
is that more and more
He would be honored as such.
Recognized as such.
More and more in this world.
Puritan Thomas Watson
goes through a list
of those who dishonor
the name of God.
The God who's uniquely holy
and the only true God.
And Watson writes a paragraph
about Muslims.
He writes a paragraph
about Jews.
He writes a paragraph
about Catholics.
And then He writes multiple pages
about Protestants.
His own people.
And how we dishonor
the name of God.
Fail to hallow His name.
And we do it with our lips,
He says,
in speaking God's name
carelessly or irreverently.
I mean, after all,
doesn't everyone these days?
We can even do it
in Facebook shorthand.
We can,
there's a lot of ways
that we can throw
God's name around,
but we'd never stand
for someone to treat
our names carelessly
and disparagingly.
More often though,
that's not the deepest issue.
The issue is even more serious
in our lives.
Because remember,
it's not just a name, right?
It's not just the letters
and the word that they spell.
It's the person
that that name represents.
Our Father.
God Himself.
Because God's name
is about His entire person,
Watson says,
we fail to hallow it
when we fail to acknowledge God
before others.
When we fail in our lives
to trust Him
to provide for us
as a good father would,
we're not hallowing His name.
When we fail to praise Him
for good gifts
that He's given us,
all of these ways
where we fail to acknowledge
God's unique greatness,
we fail to hallow His name.
So when we pray
for God's name to be hallowed,
we pray that in our hearts
and in our lives,
God's glory would be
our first priority.
In the second petition,
Jesus teaches us
another priority.
Again, it's focused on God.
Your kingdom come.
And in the same way,
just as God's name
is already holy
but it's not honored as such
all the time,
so God is the king.
There's no question about it.
God is the king
but His reign is not evident
everywhere, is it?
Think back to the book of Judges
all the way back
in the Old Testament.
Time after time,
it says there was no king
in Israel
and what happened
as a result of that?
Everyone did what was right
in his own eyes.
Sadly, what was right
in their own eyes
led to all sorts
of horrific acts.
The same is true today
when God's not honored
as king.
Where the reign
of the true king
is not evident,
where we and those
around us
like the Israelites
deny God's authority
and reject His rule.
Ron said earlier
as he was leading us
in confession,
we saw this happening
in the awful,
heartbreaking events
in Charlottesville
this weekend.
Listen,
there is but one king.
There is one God
who has the supremacy,
Colossians chapter 1.
He alone has supremacy,
not white people.
And when He is seated
on His throne,
when that king
is on the throne,
people from every race,
every tribe and tongue
and people and nation
gather together
to worship Him.
Amen?
That's the good news
of the gospel.
Any other group
claiming supremacy,
setting themselves up
above others,
is in rebellion
against the true king.
And any individual,
me,
or you,
who is
pursuing his own desires
and his own plans
instead of God's laws
and decrees,
is in rebellion
against the true king.
Luke has shown us
repeatedly
that the kingdom comes
in the person
of Jesus.
In word
and in deed.
Over and over again,
we've read it, right?
We've seen it happen
as Jesus shows up.
When faith in Him
displaces unbelief,
when the light
of His presence
drives out darkness
and demons,
when His salvation
is proclaimed
and His power
is displayed,
Jesus and His disciples
say,
the kingdom of God
has come upon you.
The kingdom of God
is at hand.
In Matthew's gospel,
we get further explanation
of this petition
for God's kingdom
to come.
Jesus adds,
Your will be done
on earth
as it is
in heaven.
Jesus taught
often on prayer
so it shouldn't
surprise us
that these passages
in Matthew and Luke
look a little different.
They're clearly
from different times
in Jesus' ministry.
There's slight differences there.
Matthew usually
includes a little bit more
in His account
here in the Lord's Prayer.
But that helpful
explanation
of
Thy kingdom come
meaning Thy will be done
on earth
as it is in heaven
helps us understand
that God's
kingdom coming
involves
His rule
being more
and more evident
as we follow
His will
more and more
faithfully
here on earth.
That's what it means
for His kingdom
to come.
Warren Wiersbe
says this
really helpfully
I think.
the purpose of prayer
is not to get
man's will
done in heaven
as we often
think it is
right?
But to get
God's will
done
on earth.
In other words
not to get
God on our agenda
here's the things
you need to be doing
God
but to get us
on God's agenda
to have our hearts
redirected
toward God's
priorities
toward a kingdom
of justice
and righteousness
and peace
that He's the
King of
where every person
flourishes the way
God created them
to and fills
the earth with
His glory
the way He
always designed.
When we pray
for God's kingdom
to come
in the words
of our catechism
we pray for
Satan's kingdom
to be destroyed
and the kingdom
of grace
to be advanced.
That prayer
is a declaration
of war.
A declaration
of war
on Satan
and his kingdom.
As Pastor Eugene
Peterson says
it's a subversive
activity
that involves
a more or less
open act of
defiance
against any claim
by the current
regime.
Prayer's not
passive
is it?
You can feel
that way
sometimes
it's not
true at all.
It's actually
featured in the
armor of God
passage
about our
spiritual warfare.
Prayer is how
we fight.
So Samuel
Chadwick
says the devil
laughs at our
toil when we
work hard.
He mocks at our
wisdom when we
think we can
out think him.
but he trembles
when we pray.
Do you believe
that?
Does getting
down on your
knees feel
like taking
out your
sword?
You tapping
into something
powerful?
Are you fighting
for the kingdom
when you pray?
Let me just
speak my heart
to you for
just a minute.
I hope
Lord willing
to be here
with you all
for a long
time.
And it's not
just because I
enjoy hanging
out with you.
It's not just
because I want
the years to
pass and us
to make
memories together
and build
big houses
and all of
that.
Although I do
love making
memories.
It's a lot
of fun.
Listen,
here's why I
want to be
here.
I want to
storm the
gates of hell
with you.
I want to be
about something
bigger than
just me and
seeing if I
can make it
through for a
little while and
if we can be a
little happier
than we were
yesterday.
I want to see
the gates of
hell stormed.
Souls who are
facing certain
death brought
back to
everlasting life.
To see broken
and hurting
people in
these pews
and in those
streets to
experience the
healing and
the peace of
God.
To see our
city transformed
one relationship,
one system and
situation,
at a time,
to be a
place where
justice and
righteousness
rule and are
evident everywhere.
I want to see
our kids grow up
in a community
of brothers and
sisters and
friends and
neighbors that
are teaching
them, pointing
them to Jesus,
teaching them to
pour their lives
out for each
other, not just
to live for
themselves.
I want to see
this sanctuary
full of rich
and poor and
black and white
and young and
old because all
of those things
are a taste of
God's eternal
kingdom.
I want to have
that with y'all.
And I'm more and
more convinced that
there's one thing
more than anything
else that we need
to be doing if
that's our passion
and if that's what
we want to
experience.
If we're going to
advance the kingdom
of God, our vision
tells us that's what
we're here for, we
must fervently pray.
And that may seem
strange to some of
you.
Of all the things
that we could be
doing, we must pray
individually and
corporately.
Day and night, in
the prayer room, in
the hallways, with
our neighbors, with
our coworkers, we
must pray because of
this because God is
the one who advances
his kingdom.
Wow, that was
profound.
Like you didn't know
that, right?
Who's the king?
Who's the one that
moves the kingdom
forward?
He is.
Francis Schaeffer
used to always say,
we don't advance
God's kingdom.
God is building his
kingdom and we are
praying for the
privilege of being
involved.
And he delights to
use us in that, to
allow us to be
a part of it.
He's building his
kingdom.
So the first thing we
can do is to pray and
to plead to see it
happen.
It's why we say in our
core commitments as a
church that we don't
just pray for the work
of the church, prayer is
the work of the church
because it's weak people
prevailing upon the one
strong person we have,
our strong father, to do
mighty things in us and
through us and in spite of
us because he's at work.
See, the church of Jesus
Christ is the beachhead of
the kingdom.
It's where it begins and
from which it does all of
its work moving forward.
It's the place where the
king is trusted, where his
grace and his power are to
be demonstrated and where
all other kingdoms,
including my personal one
where I'd like to build my
own things and Satan's
competing one, all of
those other kingdoms are
demolished.
So if you want to storm the
gates of hell, if you want
to be about something as
exciting and as big as
that, you're in the right
place.
Connect to the church.
Support the church.
Remember, because of the
might of her king, let's be
really clear where the
strength comes from.
Because of the greatness of
Jesus, the gates of hell
will not prevail against
whom?
The church.
We will storm the gates of
hell and so to do so, we
take out our swords and we
kneel down and pray,
Thy kingdom come.
And Satan trembles.
And God moves and he conquers
our hearts and our city and
our world and you don't
recognize any of us or any of
it when he gets through.
That seems like a lot to pray
for.
It is.
I need to remind you who we're
praying to.
Our father, the one we started
this prayer with last week, is
the king over all kings.
He is the king of kings.
Thou art coming to a king.
Large petitions with thee
bring.
For his grace and power are such
none can ever ask too much.
That's John Newton.
Amazing grace.
See, God-centered priorities
change what we pray about.
They lift our eyes beyond our
petty preferences and our
personal gripes to long for
his glory and desire his
kingdom.
To pray for faith to come in
our most hated enemies.
To pray for healing in the most
hopeless cases.
To pray for justice in the most
evil situations.
That's why this prayer guide we've
started printing and emailing to
you every week.
It always starts on the first
page with prayers that are for
the advancement of God's kingdom
in our church and around the
world with our ministry partners.
To help us remember the priority
of praying big picture and for
kingdom movement everywhere.
Everywhere.
We don't want to miss the
priority of those prayers.
It changes what we pray for.
But what's even more exciting to
me, what God's been teaching me so
much in the last few months, is
that this priority changes how we
pray for the things we're already
praying for.
Let's go back to those examples we
had earlier.
If you look on the second page of
this where we put some of our
specific needs, I know you're not
holding it right now, but if you
look on it sometime, you'll see
particular things like pray for
Mike Stanfield as he undergoes
stem cell treatment this week for
his cancer.
Pray for Mike.
Sure, sure, I'll pray for Mike.
Pray what for Mike?
This is shorthand.
Pray for Mike Stanfield.
If our priorities are God and his
glory and his kingdom, what do we
pray for Mike?
I talked with Mike this week before
he went in for his treatment, and it
won't surprise those of you who know
him to know that he's praying for
healing.
He wants healing from this cancer.
But what he asked me particularly to
pray for was that he would learn more
of who God is in the midst of this
situation and God's daily fatherly
care for him.
And then he said, pray that others
would be impacted for Christ and for
his kingdom as I undergo this treatment.
Do you see how God-centered priorities
make a difference in how we pray for
those things?
Mike is asking for the name of God,
for the kingdom of God to be promoted
even through this difficulty he didn't
ask for.
Hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come in my cancer,
in my struggling marriage.
How about that?
How do you pray for that one?
Do you just pray God fix him or fix her
or fix us because this is miserable?
And I want us to stay together?
Or could we pray, Father, how are you
teaching me to trust you more in this
difficult relationship?
Father, please give us forgiveness for
each other.
Not just so our life is better.
Not just so our kids can be happy.
But because it's about your glory.
So your glory is on display as we forgive
and love the way you designed us to in
marriage.
That's what our marriage was about.
I remember back in those days.
It's about your glory.
It's about showing your love.
God, would you help us do that?
How about that classmate being unkind to you?
What do you think, kids?
Is it wrong to pray that God would make
that mean kid start being nice
so that you can enjoy school more?
No, that's a good prayer.
God loves to hear that prayer.
What else could you pray for?
What about praying that God would teach you
more about how Jesus suffered for us?
The pain and the difficulty he went through.
What if you prayed that God would teach you
patience and teach you to trust him
in a really hard situation like that?
What if you even prayed that God would help you
show his love to that kid?
That that kid would actually know the love of King Jesus
because he experienced some of it from you.
That'd be a kingdom prayer, wouldn't it?
That King Jesus would be seen in your life.
It's easy to say those things.
It's hard for that to be what we actually want,
isn't it, kids?
When what we really want is to be able to beat him up.
Seems quicker and easier.
But this is part of how God's shaping our hearts.
It's what Jesus is doing as he teaches us to pray.
Shaping our hearts to seek first his kingdom
and live for his glory.
He's teaching us what to love,
what to long for,
what to hold as highest priority.
And isn't that the way Jesus not only prays
but also lives?
Think about it.
Think about the life of Jesus.
For all those times we fail
to seek first God's kingdom,
we need to remember Jesus' faithfulness to do so.
From his temptation,
when Satan offered him his own kingdom
instead of trusting his father's way.
A chance to make his own name great
instead of exalting God's name.
And Jesus trusts God.
Jesus hallows God's name.
All the way to the Garden of Gethsemane
where his passion for the father's will to be done
surpasses all his other desires.
including avoiding excruciating pain and suffering.
He wants God's will to be done.
Then all the way to the cross
where he even lays down his very life
to see the kingdom of God built up
and you and me brought in to be a part of it.
That's how passionately he lived for God's kingdom.
His success where we failed
is what welcomes us to this table.
We celebrate at this table this morning
a Savior who prayed and lived,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
And so we come to rest in him,
to feast on and find life in him,
and to be strengthened by the body and blood
he gave for us
to make his priorities our priorities too.
As we prepare our hearts to come to this table,
we're going to practice praying again
as Jesus is teaching us.
Here are three questions again
to guide our hearts as we pray.
Three questions, they're printed there in your bulletin
if you want to be able to take them home.
What things fight for priority over God's glory
in your heart and life?
We often call these idols.
Secondly, where do you groan
against evil and injustice in the world?
Do you see wickedness in your own heart?
Do you think of human trafficking, poverty?
Do you think of Charlottesville?
Do you think of things closer to home
and your heart longs for something different?
Finally, how do you long to see
the gospel and the church advance?
Where do you want it individually?
In each of us and in others?
What about in us as a body together?
How are you praying for God
to move his kingdom forward through us?
Take a minute, just contemplate
contemplate these words that are coming up
on the screen now for just a moment.
We're gonna pray them together
as we prepare to come to this table.
Amen.
Join me as we pray
and I'll give you three chances
to stop and pray silently as well.
Let's pray.
Holy Father, there is no other God besides you
who is like you, majestic in holiness,
awesome in glory, working wonders.
You alone are worthy of our praise.
May your glory fill the whole earth,
every people and every heart.
Father, the affections of our hearts
are pulled after so many other things.
And we confess these to you now.
Join me again.
Father, the sinfulness of our hearts
and the brokenness of this world are evil.
We cry out to you for these things now.
Amen.
Join with me.
Father, may your rule and reign come powerfully in the hearts of those we love, in the church
and community we love.
Join me.
At this table, may we see you as holy, our sin as heinous, your kingdom as gracious and
glorious.
Amen.
Our Lord Jesus, on the night that he was betrayed, took bread.
He broke it and gave it to his disciples as I ministering in his name, give this bread
to you.
And he said, take, eat.
This is my body broken for you.
Do this in remembrance of me.
And after supper, he took the cup.
He said, this cup is the new covenant in my blood, which was shed for many for the remission
of sins.
Drink from it, all of you.
This is the Lord's table.
We come, not just those who are members of this church, Southwood Presbyterian, but we
come, all those of us trusting the Lord to his table.
Those of us clinging to King Jesus as our only hope, committing to make his kingdom and his
name the focus of our lives.
We come here to feast and to be strengthened to that end.
If you know him, come and celebrate with us.
If you don't know him, don't come to this table, but we'd love to tell you more about King
Jesus so that you could come and know him.
Our host team will usher you to tables forward and back.
We will celebrate together the love of our King for us, that he gave his life in our place.
Let's do that now.