- araratchurch
- Jun 18
- 3 min read
“In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”
Matthew 6:9-13 NKJV
As we started out considering the Lord‘s Prayer, we made note of the fact that in the scripture immediately proceeding the Lord‘s Prayer, Jesus, having referenced the repetitive prayers of the heathen, tells His disciples this:
“Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.”
Matthew 6:8 NKJV
Jesus was certainly not saying that we should not ask. Rather, He wants us to know that the Lord hears us. Indeed, He already knew what we needed before we asked. Therefore, we can ask with confidence that He hears and will answer.
Jesus instructed as to what our attitude should be when asking from our Father, as well as what we need to bear in mind when asking of Him.
““Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”
Matthew 7:7-11 NKJV
Again, we must ask in expectancy and confidence, knowing that we have a good Father Who WANTS to give us GOOD things.
Now, we must also know that the Lord answers according to His will for us.
“You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.”
James 4:2-3 NKJV
Yes, we must ask to receive. However the Lord is not to be treated as a “pleasure dispenser.” If we are always asking Him for “candy,” we can’t expect that He—as a good Father—will be giving us things He knows will not be for our good.
Given, sometimes we may not know what God‘s will is in a particular situation. We may struggle with what to ask according to His will, or in line with His purposes for us. But thank God—through Jesus Christ—we now have access to His Holy Spirit Who prays within us with words we often may not even understand. Even so, we can be sure that that prayer is in line with God‘s will. And as such, we can expect that the Lord will answer.
“Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”
Romans 8:26-27 NKJV
For today’s examination of the Lord’s Prayer we pause at just those two words: “Give us . . . .”
Child of God, the Lord wants us to ask, and when we learn to ask according to His will and purpose, we can be sure that what we ask, we will receive.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Jun 16
- 3 min read
“In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”
Matthew 6:9-13 NKJV
King Nebuchadnezzar found out the hard way that although he was a very powerful king, God still rules over all people, even over powerful kings.
“They shall drive you from men, your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make you eat grass like oxen. They shall wet you with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over you, till you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses.”
Daniel 4:25 NKJV
The psalmist declares that God’s rule is above all other rules and rulers.
“The Lord has established His throne in heaven, And His kingdom rules over all.”
Psalms 103:19 NKJV
Jesus told His disciples that all power had been given to Him in heaven and on earth.
“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”
Matthew 28:18 NKJV
Yet, as well, throughout the Bible a future rule of God on earth is foretold.
Isaiah speaks of God’s rule on earth as bringing peace and the end of strife.
““The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, The calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; Their young ones shall lie down together; And the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord As the waters cover the sea.”
Isaiah 11:6-9 NKJV
Paul speaks of the coming end to all other kings and kingdoms,
“Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.”
I Corinthians 15:24-26 NKJV
John the Revelator speaks of the coming eternal Kingdom of Christ.
“Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.”
Revelation 19:11-16 NKJV
So how is it that God rules over all now, and yet there is a coming Kingdom where, as we are told, all other rulers will be cast down?
Well, in the Kingdom that is coming, the rule of God will be established on earth. It will be a Kingdom where all will be able to see our King and interact with Him in a tangible way.
Indeed, the Lord’s rule will be on earth as it is in heaven. All will be subject to Him. All evil will be cast out. There will be no more wars over who will rule.
In today’s portion of the Lord’s Prayer we see that we are to pray for the will of God to be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Oh, what a day that will be when our King rules and reigns among us. And child of God, those who are His at His coming will rule and reign with Him! Now that’s something to shout about!
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Jun 14
- 3 min read
20 “In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”
Matthew 6:9-13 NKJV
Back in the 50s there was a TV show called Father Knows Best. I dare say that the sentiment expressed in that show’s title has become a foreign concept to much of the world today.
That being said, rebellion against authority is as old as the fall of Satan. And for mankind, rebellion against authority marred what was meant to be a beautiful existence in the garden of God.
Think of it: The drive for self-determination is one of the first things that shows up in human development. Any parent—or one who has dealt with small children—knows the frustration of trying to help a toddler learn to do anything, as they resist, asserting with, “Me do it.” Indeed, it seems that very early on there is the desire to do it our way, to make our own mistakes.
Now, the drive to become who we were created to be is a quality instilled in us by our Creator. However, the sin nature has perverted that desire, often turning us away from being teachable to becoming stubbornly attached to our own misguided ways of being and doing.
In our model prayer, the Lord teaches us to request that God‘s will be done. Indeed, this is something He modeled for us in the Garden of Gethsemane, as this perfect Lamb of God: all God, all man, struggled to set His face directly toward His cruel death on the cross.
“And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”
Luke 22:41-44 NKJV
The Lord wrestled with the humanity in Him that did not want to suffer. Yet, He was obedient to the will of His Father, even to His death on the cross.
“You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.”
Philippians 2:5-8 NLT
Friend, our way may seem right, but as the writer of Proverbs has attested, our way ends in destruction and death.
“There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.”
Proverbs 14:12 NKJV
Paul expresses this same sentiment in his letter to the Christians in Rome:
“When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 6:20-23 NLT
Remember, our Heavenly Father does know best. Jesus wants us to know that. Jesus wants us to pray for God’s will to be done.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!