Fervent Prayer: Day 6 - "For Yours is the kingdom"

“For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen” Matthew 6:13

The prayer culminates in an acknowledgment of who God is as our Creator God, Heavenly King, and Sovereign Ruler of the Universe. It also reminds us that God’s kingdom will be the final kingdom that will overtake all others and last for eternity. We can be assured that God’s kingdom is coming and will never end! This was prophesied much throughout the Old Testament. When Daniel interpreted King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the statue, he stated, “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever” (Dan 2:44). King David’s prayer also reflects this as he praised God when he was commissioning Solomon to build the temple, “Praise be to you, Lord, the God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name” (1 Chron 29:10-13).

Also Paul in his explanation of the order of the resurrection states of Jesus, “Then the end will come, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father after He has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death” (1 Cor 15:24-26). And this is the hope that God gives us, that the Messianic King that was prophesied to come, has now indeed come and has delivered His salvation to His people and that He will be coming a second time, not to die as a sacrifice, but to bring His kingdom to completion, extinguish sin, death, and the devil, and reign as the true King of the universe. So we say along with John at the completion of the book of Revelation, “Come Lord Jesus!”

Fervent Prayer: Day 5 - "And lead us not into temptation"

The Lord's prayer teaches us some basic but very important aspects to our day-to-day walk with the Lord. However, an aspect that is often misunderstood is found in Matthew 6:13:

"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."

The misunderstanding is that we are to pray for the Father to help us avoid any (or all) temptation.

Let's start with God's nature in regards to temptation as seen in James 1:13 reads:

"Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God,' for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one."

So God doesn't tempt us nor can He place sinful desires in our hearts for He has no sin.

That said, He may bring us to the presence of temptation within our lives. Proverbs 20:24 says: "A man’s steps are from the Lord." But He doesn't tempt nor put the desire in our heart. In fact, I'd argue that due to the nature of sin and its presence in this world and in our hearts, there isn't a day that goes by where temptation or an opportunity for disobedience is present.

Ultimately, what the prayer teaches us isn't to avoid temptation but that the temptation doesn't take us in. Our prayer should be that we not be lead into the temptation itself and that we find strength and guidance in God when faced with temptation.

Fervent Prayer: Day 4 - "Forgive us our debts"

"and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." Matthew 6:12

Immediately following the ‘Our Father’ model prayer that Jesus gave in Matthew chapter six He adds, “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Most of us would respond to this with wonder at how this can be. We understand that God can forgive but can I? I trust in God but I do not have that same confidence in me that I will forgive. I needed to be saved from my slavery to sin and I need help. Can I really forgive?

In Luke we learn more about forgiveness from Jesus where He says, “Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, 'I repent,' you must forgive him." The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" ---Luke 17:3-6

Okay, now I’m seeing a connection to a brother who repents to me I must forgive. If my brother sins against me over and over again then I must forgive over and over again. But let’s pay attention here to what Jesus said, “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents forgive him.” Jesus is telling me to go to the one who sinned against me and tell him about it. Then if my brother receives it and repents to me then I must forgive my brother. I must admonish the one who sins. I have a step to take to rescue my brother! We don’t just forgive over and over again only, we correct over and over again and if my brother repents of the sin, then I am to forgive every time.

So if you are holding back forgiveness from someone ask yourself, “Did I tell them what they did wrong to me?” Think about our salvation we have freely received from God our Father through Jesus by the Holy Spirit. The Lord told us we sinned and needed to repent. We then accepted the truth, repented, and our God forgave us.

The apostles said, “Increase our faith!” in response to instruction on forgiving others. Let us trust in our God, consider the forgiveness He has bestowed on us because we repented, and obey His instruction to correct those who sin against us. Then if they repent, we are in debt to extend forgiveness back to them.

Let the mercy, grace, and peace of God be with us all through the Lord Jesus Christ!

Fervent Prayer: Day 3 - ​“Give us this day our daily bread"

"Give us this day our daily bread." Matthew 6:11 NKJV

As we look at today’s portion of the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6, we notice a request. We notice a petition for provision. In the instruction Jesus gives, we are taught to acknowledge our need and ask God for our daily necessities. There’s a part of me that finds this kind of odd. Think about it. God already knows everything about us (Psalm 139); God knows our hearts (Proverbs 21:2, 1 Kings 8:39); God knows our thoughts (Psalm 139, Psalm 94:11); He knows what we need BEFORE we ask (Matthew 6:8, Luke 12:22-34). God knows exactly what we are going through (Hebrews 4:15) and what we need before we tell him about it. So then, why are we instructed to pray for our “daily bread” or these “necessities” of life. Here’s what I think:

It’s less about the actual “bread,” and more about acknowledging the provider and sustainer of life itself: God himself in Christ Jesus.

By making the petition for “daily bread,” we are acknowledging that He is the giver of all things, Jehovah Jireh - my provider, and we need him to sustain us in all things. We are acknowledging his Lordship and his beautiful roles as Father and Shepherd.

Please take note that it is “daily” bread, that is, bread enough for the day. The Greek word used here in Matthew is an interesting one and is only used here and in the parallel passage in Luke 11. It means “a daily and needed portion of food, that which suffices for each day.” We are to not live in need or in want, nor are we to live in excess, but as the Psalmist writes in chapter 23, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.”

HE IS ENOUGH. He shall supply all my needs.

So today as we go to prayer, I’d like us to examine our hearts and ponder a few things:

• Is Jesus your provider, your sustainer and your Bread of Life (John 6:48)? Have we surrendered to his Lordship and provision in all things?
• Before we assume we know what we need, let’s ask God to reveal our deepest, truest needs.
• With thanksgiving in our hearts, let’s bring our requests before God (Philippians 4:6), asking for our daily bread.

FERVENT PRAYER: DAY 2 - "Your will be done"

"Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Matthew 6:10 (NKJV)

Today’s verse for fervent prayer week is one of immense value for us living today. First, it points towards a future time where Jesus returns, rids the world of sin and death, and rules for an eternity of peace. (Isaiah 9:6-7) Following this model prayer can bring us great hope for the future despite the dismal outlook of news stories, terrorist attacks, mass shootings, and other symptoms of the world spinning out of control. It is good and vital for us to pray and remind ourselves that through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our sins have been paid for, and our lives bought through his sacrifice. That, though we still live on this earth, we look forward to and pray for a time that He returns and the great spiritual war that we are in the midst of finally comes to a complete and total end. Yet until that time we find ourselves as appointed ambassadors of Jesus, representatives and living testimonies of the great hope and peace that He will bring, advocating to anyone that will listen to turn to Jesus and find hope (2 Cor 5:20). And in this role as ambassadors we find the second application of this verse to be of immediate value to our lives here on earth.

In our verse for today the english word for “kingdom” doesn’t completely portray the full meaning of the Greek word “basileia”. This word has a deeper meaning of royal power, kingship, dominion, and rule. It doesn’t mean the “kingdom” in the medieval castle-type sense, but rather the right and authority to rule over a kingdom. Thus when we pray “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”, we are praying that the authority and ruling power of God would be recognized and obeyed on earth the same as it is in heaven.

In his sermon “ A Heavenly Pattern for an Earthly Life”, Charles Spurgeon had an interesting concept to ponder. He wondered what sort of life a person would lead if they had spent time in heaven and came back to earth. Take a moment to think about that. You’re standing in heaven, surrounded by the heavenly hosts, angels and saints. Joining with them you glorify God, worshipping him, crying out “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty”. Then looking at you directly, Christ on the throne asks you to go and complete some task. Any task…. Do you hesitate? Do you question? Or standing in the full glory and presence of God, would you immediately obey? How do you think someone having experienced the full glory of God would live here on earth? What would their priorities be?

Now come back and consider our present lives on earth. Do we have that same obedience? Do we have that faith? If God asked us to complete a task would we obey without question? What if He asked us to lay down our lives? What if He asked us to sell everything and follow him? What if He asked us to be generous? To feed and clothe the poor? To be kind and loving towards one another? To forgive? To be selfless?

If you are like me, you will find yourself struggling with some of the above, perhaps at times with all of them. Partially this is because we do not see the full glory and presence of God, but rather dimly while here on earth (1 Cor 13:12). The core reason that we hesitate, rebel, or ignore the things that God is calling us to do through scripture is because of sinful and selfish desires. It is because of the idols that we place ahead of Jesus in our lives, such as financial security, personal safety, comfort, or even entertainment.

It is for these reasons, that in the model prayer, Jesus taught us to pray “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” In praying this we ask for God’s help, strength, conviction, grace, and mercy as we desire to be obedient ambassadors here on earth. Ambassadors that obey the rule and reign of Christ, with the same faith and fervor that the heavenly host has. To be sure, this can only happen through the assistance and power of the Holy Spirit, and it is for this which we pray today and every day.

Fervent Prayer: Day 1 - "Hallowed be Thy name"

"After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name." Matthew 6:9

“Our Father which art in heaven”
The Lord’s Prayer begins with one of the most well-known lines in all of Scripture. For some, these words present a familiar comfort. For others, they carry little more significance than the rote, bedtime prayers of their childhood. Yet, Jesus begins His instruction on prayer by saying that we are to “pray like this”. Of all the concepts and truths with which Jesus could have begun His prayer, why did He begin like this?

It shows us our identity
In verses 7-8 Jesus draws a distinction between the religious, who believe that the number or intensity of their prayers is what causes them to be heard, and those who are true children. Jesus is indicating that your ability to go to God does not rest in your religious devotion, but in your accepted position as a child of God. In Matthew chapter 6 Jesus makes twelve separate references to God as “Father”. Not king, not ruler, not creator; though all those titles would be accurate. Of all the titles that Jesus could have instructed us to use, He chose “Father”.

Because of Jesus’ sacrifice in my place on the cross I am made perfect and righteous in the sight of God. I am accepted and and adopted as His child. So if someone is struggling in their prayer life they should first ask, “What is the basis for my acceptance in the sight of God?” If my acceptance is conditional, based on my achievement, then I do not have a familial relationship with God, but a business relationship. Prayer for the Christian is not a transaction wherein my behavior is exchanged for God’s attention; it is the humble call of a child to a father.

“Hallowed be thy name”
To hallow something is to treat it as sacred and set-apart. For the Christian there is awe at the idea of being God’s child. Many Christians struggle with this concept because of the messiness of their own lives. There is a fascination at the idea that we are known this deeply and still loved so perfectly.

It gives us our confidence
Our identity as children of God grants us a very special confidence when we pray. In Matthew 6:8, Jesus says that we are to pray knowing that, “your Father knows what you need before you ask him.“ Is there anything more emboldening than to understand that God knows everything I need before I even go to him in prayer? God sovereignly begins to work on my behalf before I even ask. Yet, God still invites me into the process. Jesus’ statement is reminiscent of what God said in the book of Isaiah, “Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear” (Is. 65:24). Before I open my mouth with a request God is already working to bring out his perfect will in my life, that through his plan I may find joy in Him.

If you are struggling in your prayer life you may have lost sight of your basis for going to God in the first place: that you are an accepted son or daughter with an open invitation to share your need with a loving Father. And that your loving Father has a hallowed name: the name of God who knows our deepest needs and has the ability to work in them before you even ask.

But this is much more than a declaration of the holiness of God. When Jesus says that we are to pray that God’s name be hallowed, He is suggesting that we plea for this understanding in our own life. That we would be struck by the wonder and grandeur of our God. That we would see God for who He truly is. To see God’s name as hallowed will lead us to boldness in our prayer life.

Written by: Jonathan Mosier