Mm. Are the things that are important to God also important to you? If you need some guidance in embracing God's priorities, Pray the Lord's Prayer. Today, on Turning Point, Dr. David Jeremiah turns the spotlight on the first of the prayer's petitions and shares ways to better understand God's kingdom from Prayer the Great Adventure.
Here's David to introduce his message, praying our priorities. And friends, this may be the most practical part of the prayer for many of us. because this is where we live every day. We're to pray this prayer. Thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.
What would happen to us if everything we attempt to do down here took on the same meaning and priority as if we were doing it in heaven in the presence of the Lord Himself?
Well, that's what the prayer says. Lord, help me. To do the things I do here as if I were doing them in heaven. Thy kingdom come in heaven as it is on earth.
So, we're going to talk about how that affects our priorities every day and what an important thing this can be. This really changed my life in many respects years ago when I discovered this. that God is concerned about the priorities of my life and he will help me set them straight if I ask him to.
So we'll get to that in just a moment. I want to remind you again that we'll be sailing on Holland America Zeiterdam in October, the 4th through the 11th, when we go to New England and Canada for a wonderful conference cruise. We'll be enjoying so much fun together. We have a great group already who have registered to come with us. And we have great music and teaching and beautiful sights to see and wonderful fellowship and good food.
Yes, good food on these cruises. We'll have a lot of fun together and we hope you can come and be with us. You can find out more about this at davidjeremiah.org. We hope you will register and come. You don't want to wait too much longer because it will be here before you know it and we'll be on our way to New England and Canada New England crews will be present.
So here we go. This is part one now of praying our priorities. Thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. It begins right now.
Okay. Uh The disciples came to Jesus and said, Lord, teach us how to pray. And this is his response. And I must tell you that whenever you talk about prayer, people get their hands up and they're not sure they want to get too involved in this, you know?
Some have told me that if you want to empty a church out, just to advertise a Series of sermons on prayer, and they'll stay away in droves. And one of the reasons for that isn't that prayer is all that bad, but it's just, well, It's convicting. It's confusing. And if we're honest as we look at it, we've kind of, many of us, gone through some. different transitions with regard to prayer.
Maybe we start out praying in kind of a Knee-jerk response to what God has done for us in salvation, and we pray our humble little simple prayers, which may be some of the best we've ever prayed. And then we learn that we're supposed to pray, so we start to pray out of obligation. You know, whether we like it or not, we're going to pray today. How many of you have done that? You know, I know I'm supposed to pray.
I don't feel like praying, but I'm going to pray because I'm obligated to pray. But then we go maybe to an area of responsibility. After all, I'm a Christian. I ought to be more responsible, so I'm going to pray more. And then I've noticed as we get older, and I won't talk too much about age, but as we get older, And we start to hit a few bumps in life.
Maybe we run into a couple of walls here and there. Prayer begins to take on a little different perspective. We've tried a lot of other things, and so we start to pray. And then prayer becomes sort of a Not an obligation, not a responsibility, not a knee-jerk response, but a real necessity in our life. I got to pray just to get through this thing.
And we pray like that. And if we're not careful, We learn to pray in a way that robs God of the glory He deserves and cheats us out of the good that could come to us through learning to pray in the proper way. When the Lord taught his disciples this prayer, he gave them not a prayer that they should repeat, but he gave them a very important outline of how to pray.
So far, we've learned that when we pray, we're to know who we're talking to. Our Father. Who art in heaven. We discussed how wonderfully that brings together the aspect of God's. Condescension to come to us in his transcendence and glory and majesty.
He's a mighty, majestic God, but he's our Father. We learned that when we come into the presence of our Father who is in heaven, We do so, first of all, with praise on our lips. We come saying, hallowed be thy name. And we talked about how important it is that we begin our prayers in that whole aspect of worship and praise, which is so often neglected when we pray. We don't do that like we should, and then we miss out on what God has given us an inspired outline for praying here.
If we follow it, our prayers will be what they ought to be.
So we begin by praising God in our own simple way. We talked about the names of God and how we can understand what it means to exalt the Lord and lift him up as he is. Today we come to the first of the petitions in the prayer. Actually, there are two of them here welded together. For in the tenth verse of the sixth chapter We read That when we pray, we're to pray, Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth. as it is in heaven. If hallowed be your name is praise in the prayer. Then, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, is priorities in prayer.
And the Lord Jesus here is teaching his disciples that there's a way to pray God's priorities into our lives. There's a way for us to pray, and I like to think of this at the beginning of each day, there's a way for us to pray that the priorities of heaven will become the priorities of earth, that the priorities of God will become the priorities of each one of us. How many of you know that in this generation in which we live, this whole priority thing is really a big package? You can hardly get your arms around it. Every day it's a struggle.
Every week it's a struggle. How to know what to do? And it's not a choice between good and bad. It's a choice between good and good, and good and better. How do you know what your priorities should be?
Well, the Lord said, when you pray, You should pray like this. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. The first Prayer is one that is somewhat theological in respect to its wording. Thy kingdom come.
It is a prayer for the priorities of God in his reign over the earth. There's much discussion among theologians and pastors and Bible students over this whole concept of the kingdom of God, what it means. Long dissertations have been written about it and courses have been constructed to discover the meaning of the kingdom. And I'm not going to get into all the theological nuances today because they're really not germane to this discussion. But I will say to you that the kingdom of God was an important concept in the New Testament.
In the first words of the gospel narrative concerning the Lord Jesus, the first words of Christ and teaching recorded in the book of Mark concern the kingdom of God, Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the kingdom of God and saying, time is fulfilled.
Some of the last words that he spoke. On this earth, had to do with the kingdom of God. This gospel of the kingdom is preached throughout the whole world and then come at the end. One of his last acts. On this earth as the Son of man and the son of God was to welcome someone into the kingdom.
of God.
So the kingdom is an important concept and Sometimes, when I hear people talk about it now, it gives me the impression they believe the kingdom is far away in some distant universe and has nothing to do with us today, but I don't believe that. I believe the kingdom is something that is very much a part of who you are and a part of who I am as a believer.
So I want to talk about the kingdom in three ways, if I might. First of all, let's talk for a moment about the kingdom of God that is within us. And that's a very scriptural concept because the Bible says in Luke 17:21 that the kingdom of God is within you. What could that mean?
Well, it simply means that when you become a Christian and Jesus Christ comes to live within your heart, He's the king. And the King is in residence in your heart.
So if the King is there, the Kingdom's there. If you're a Christian, you don't have to wait for the millennium or the great kingdom that's coming someday when Christ reigns for a thousand years to get in on kingdom truth. While that might be for a national kingdom sometime in the future, the kingdom of God is in our hearts, and so much of this truth is for us individually today. How many of you know that if Jesus Christ is in your heart, He's the King, and so the Kingdom is present within you, and you need to live like a child of the King, you need to live like a kingdom person. There's a wonderful scripture in the book of Deuteronomy, and I won't ask you to turn to it, but let me tell you what it says.
Concerning one of the good commandments of the Old Testament. In the 30th chapter of Deuteronomy, we read: For this commandment which I have given thee. is not hidden from thee. Neither is it far off. It is not in heaven that thou shouldest Say, who will go up for us to heaven and bring it down to us?
Neither is it beyond the sea that thou shouldest say, who will go over the sea for us and bring it back to us.
Now, watch this. But the word is very nigh unto thee. It is in thy mouth. And it is in thy heart. That thou mayest do it.
That's really true about the kingdom of God. It's not up in heaven that we have to go and get it and bring it down. And it's not across the sea that we have to go find it and bring it back. But the kingdom of God for a Christian is in our mouth and it's in our heart that we might know what to do. The king is alive in our hearts.
And the kingdom of God is within us. And so while some theologians say none of these passages in Matthew 5 through 7 are for us today, I think that in many respects that's more out of fear than out of theology. Because these principles are for us. God expects kingdom children to live like kingdom truth. And that's what these passages are all about.
We're children of the king, the kingdom is within us. And then If you study carefully, you'll discover that the kingdom's around us. How many of you know that the kingdom's around us, for instance, if the king's in my heart and the king's in your heart and in your heart and in your, when we all get together, we're having a kingdom party, aren't we? Because the kingdom's here.
Now, please understand me, I know better theologically than to say the church is the kingdom. I know that's not true. We are not the fulfillment of all the kingdom prophecies in the Old Testament, but listen now. When God's children get together, when children of the king start to do things, we're doing kingdom things, aren't we? And so there is ascension which the work of the church is kingdom work.
And when we sing and when we worship and when we teach and when we minister, whatever we do for the king, that's the kingdom around us. And it's a wonderful thing to know that the kingdom is being represented. Here in this world, do you ever feel like you're the minority? Are we making any difference? I know we're the salt of the earth and the light of the world, and we're kingdom children in a kingdom that is not of this world.
But listen to me. The kingdom works important. And the things that we do with the kingdom around us, that all is affected by this prayer. The kingdom is around us. And then, this is what most people know about the kingdom.
I'll just put it this way: the kingdom's before us, isn't it? It's not only within us and around us, but the kingdom's before us. One of these days, the king is coming back. How many of you know that? Do you know how that works?
Let me just give you the brief outline. The Bible says the next event is the trumpet. The trumpet will sound, and the dead in Christ shall be raised incorruptible, and we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them, and together we shall be ushered into the heaven. That's called the rapture. There's nothing that has to happen before that.
It could happen right now, right here in this service. There's no events that have to take place. The rapture is immediate. The rapture is imminent. After the rapture, Now this is Theological, but let me tell you this: after the rapture, there's a period of seven years when tribulation is on this earth.
All of God's children are up in heaven, but all hell breaks loose down here.
Some of you think we're getting close, some of you think we're already there, but we're not. It'll get worse, all right? And then after that, the Bible says. That King Jesus now is going to ride out of heaven on the white horse, and all of the angels and all of God's people who've been raptured to be with him are going to come back and take control of this earth. And for a thousand years, King Jesus is going to reign supreme over the whole earth.
It's called the millennium. The reign of peace. You say, What is it going to be like? It will affect everything on this earth. The Bible says that during that time, nations will learn war no more.
In fact, the Bible says it that the people are going to take their swords, their military implements, and they're going to melt them down and make plowshares out of them. In other words, the Old Testament scripture is saying that the military world will become an agricultural world. They're going to take Their swords and beat them into plowshares. They're going to take their spears and recreate them into pruning hooks. That's the language of the Old Testament.
In other words, the military world will be no longer. There'll be peace on earth because the king of peace will be reigning and ruling on this earth. and it even's going to affect the animal kingdom. It says that the lions and the wolves shall lie down with the lamb. It says that little children will lead them.
When King Jesus comes to set up his kingdom on this earth, men and women, you cannot imagine the glory and majesty of it all. And so, listen, Jesus said, when we pray, we're to pray. Thy kingdom Come. Within my heart, All around me, and Lord, yes, even. Come.
Come, Lord Jesus. It is the last prayer of the New Testament. Did you know it? Even so, come. Lord Jesus.
Do you ever pray that when you pray? I dare say that doesn't get on my list as often as it should. Lord. Let your kingdom come. within me.
around me. And then ultimately, before me. Do you know that the old Puritans used to do this? Let me tell you how they lived. And I gotta tell you, I'm not there yet.
Obviously, I'm not a Puritan, so I'm not there. They used to get up every morning and go to their windows. Throw the window open and look up into the heaven and say, maybe today, Lord, maybe today. And the last thing before they'd go to bed at night, they'd go over to that window again and look up into the eastern sky and say, Maybe tonight, Lord, maybe tonight. What were they doing?
They were praying that the kingdom would come.
Now, as we get older and we get beat up more and more, how many of you know as you get older, you get beat up more and more? You start praying for the kingdom more, I'll tell you that. Your prayers start coming together as you get older, you start praying for the kingdom.
Now That's all theological, and that's true. And what the Bible says is that when we pray, We're to pray, Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. Francis Havergill, one of the great hymn writers. has written a lot of hymns that we sing and a lot that we don't.
And one of the hymns goes like this: Oh, the joy to see him reigning. Him, my own beloved Lord. Every tongue his name confessing, worship, honor, glory, blessing, brought to him with one accord. Him, my master and my friend, vindicated and enthroned, unto earth's remotest end, glorified, adored, and owned. That's the way it'll be when the king comes.
in the Kingdom Age.
Now As soon as we begin to pray, Thy kingdom come within us, around us, and before us, you can count on it, you're going to have some interesting days. Because do you know there's more than one kingdom? Do you know that? In fact, the Lord says, my kingdom is not of this earth. And there is another king.
Who is kind of in residence right now? I know people, especially Christian people, have a hard time with this because we know that God is ultimately in control, He's sovereign, but He's allowed Satan to have His little time. He's on a long leash. But he's sort of running things. He's the prince of the power of the air.
He's kind of the king right now. Is there any evidence of that out there? I mean God isn't running things day to day. He's let Satan have his thing. One of these days, he's going to reel him in.
And cast him down, and he'll be gone forever, and then Jesus Christ will be king in residence. But as soon as you sign on to have the king reign within you, and you get excited about what he's doing around you, and you start looking forward to what's coming in front of you, you're going to have a fight on your hands. And that's why the scripture says this. Do you know this verse, Matthew 6:33? Look down in your Bibles and find it, it's right here in this text.
Matthew 6.31. Don't worry saying, what are we going to eat and what are we going to drink and what are we going to wear? These are all the things that the Gentiles or the world seeks. For your Heavenly Father knows you have need of all these things. What are you supposed to do about all the daily needs and the problems you have?
Here he says, This is what you do, this is priority stuff. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. In other words, if you're a kingdom child and the king's living within you and you're working with the kingdom around you and you're looking forward to the kingdom who's coming. Then, what you need to do is you need to put the king first. Seek ye first the kingdom of God, get your priorities straightened out.
That's what he's saying. How many of you know that's a lifetime task? Putting first things first, the kingdom first. All right, now That's sort of the Theology of this prayer. Thy kingdom come.
But that's not really Where the rubber meets the road in praying this prayer every day. That's my priorities and the reign of Christ. But I want to talk to you about my priorities and the rule of Christ because the next part of the prayer isn't a theological discussion, it's a personal discussion. Thy will be done. on Earth.
as it is in heaven. Lord, I want your will to be done. On earth. As it is in heaven. Richard Baxter, who was a great Puritan, writer, and teacher.
Author of a book called The Saints' Everlasting Rest, and a man who preached as a dying man to dying men because he was never sure to preach again. He wrote in all of his books, and whenever he signed anything, he always wrote this. It's kind of his prayer. And it's in its old Puritan language, but it goes like this: Lord, what thou wilt. where thou wilt, And when thou wilt.
Yeah. That was his prayer.
Now, in our language today, what he was saying, Lord, is whatever you want. wherever you want it and whenever you want it, and that's what I want. How many of us can pray that? How many of us would honestly say, I'd like to pray that, but it scares me to death to pray that? Because the whenever part's going to land me in Africa somewhere, you know, or China or India or somewhere.
That's really in the back of our minds, isn't it? I know. Isn't it something we can trust the king? to take us to heaven. Forever.
But we're afraid to trust him to take care of us on the way. Jesus said, When you pray, here's what I want you to pray, disciples. I want you to pray, hallowed be thy name. Make sure you get God enthroned. And then I want you to pray.
about priorities.
Now I mentioned earlier That this prayer is an outline for our praying. And I want to tell you what a joy it was the day I finally figured that out. I've learned how to pray. And journal with this as my outline. And I don't want to give the rest of the outline away, but just let me tell you that when you pray, one of the great ways to pray is to start with hallowed be thy name.
And then you think about all the good things you want to say to God. You think about all the way you want to glorify him. Lord, I want to praise you today. I'll tell you what I've been praising the Lord a lot for lately. for his attribute of long suffering.
with me. Did any of you ever think about that? God, you have to be the most long-suffering God to put up with me of anyone. I mean, God, thank you for being patient. Thank you for your long-suffering.
Lord, I start over again on so many things so many times, and you have got to be the most. Thank you, God, for your patience. And I glorify God for that attribute.
Well, when you get done praising him for however long you do that and Reflecting on it, and you take some time, then the next thing you need to do is to do your priorities. And your priorities come under this heading: Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Now some of you I know are business people.
Some of you are real. Hmm. Co-getters. And you're into this thing where the night before, you get your yellow tablet out and you plan your day for tomorrow. You got all your list and your agenda, and everything's just in order.
And they say that if you do that, you can work on it while you're sleeping. Your subconscious mind works on it. That's probably why you're not sleeping so well lately. You know, you got all this stuff going through you. And so you get up the next day, and you got your yellow pad.
And if you're not careful, you say hi to God, and with your yellow pad, you rush into the day. I want to suggest to you there's a better way. And I've been learning that more and more as I grow in Christ. You gotta have your agenda. You gotta have your list, your stuff.
But then Pray your priorities back to God. Let God infuse His priorities into your list. You know what He will do? He'll take some of the stuff that you thought was at the bottom and He'll put it back up at the top. He'll take some of the stuff that was in the middle, he'll take it clear off the list.
And he'll take those things and begin to massage them until they reflect. His order for your life. And there is not anything in the world that is more exciting as a Christian than to walk through a day with God's order in your life being reflected in everything that you do. Everybody should have an experience like that at least once before they get to heaven. And yet God says we can know that every day.
my priorities reflecting God's priority.
So here's what I do. I have this little outline, and I have my praise thing, and I do the praise. And then I've got priorities. I have worked on my priorities, and here they are. They're just like this.
I'm a person before God, and He's first. I'm a partner. and I have a relationship with my wife. Then I'm a parent. And I have a relationship with my children.
And then I'm a pastor. And I have a relationship with this church, and I hope you won't feel bad, folks. You're number four. But I want to tell you. Any pastor whose church is higher than number four is already in trouble.
I have that little list of priorities pasted inside of one of my Bibles, and I'm reminded of it often. It is an important thing to know that we can't do everything at once, and we need to have a sequence of the things we do. God first. Our spouse, second, our children, third, our ministry or work or whatever it is, avocation, fourth. And when we keep those things in mind like that, we don't get out of perspective and life doesn't catch up with us and run us ragged.
Whenever I feel a little bit stressed out, I need to remind myself of those priorities. and make sure that I'm living them. every day. We'll have part two of Praying Our Priorities tomorrow on the Wednesday edition of Turning Point. I hope we'll have you too.
We want you to come back. And we'll finish up this discussion. from the book of Matthew. This series is called Prayer the Great Adventure. I promise you it is.
See you next time. For more information on Dr. Jeremiah's series, Prayer the Great Adventure, please visit our website where we also offer two free ways to help you stay connected, our monthly Turning Points magazine and our daily email devotional. Sign up today at davidjeremiah.org slash radio. That's davidjeremiah.org slash radio or call us at 800-947-1993.
Ask for your copy of David's new book, Everything to God in Prayer, guided prayers for your deepest needs and biggest dreams. It's yours for a gift of any amount. You can also purchase the Jeremiah Study Bible in the English Standard, New International, and New King James Versions, complete with notes and articles from Dr. Jeremiah's decades of study. Get all the details when you visit our website, davidjeremiah.org slash radio.
This is David Michael Jeremiah. Join us tomorrow as we continue the series Prayer: the Great Adventure on Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah.
