20 Days With the Lord’s Prayer Day 16: He must be King of your heart.

“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

On Day 5 of “20 Days with the Lord’s Prayer,” we discussed the fact that our Heavenly Father has a wonderful Kingdom, a Kingdom that will one day consume all other kingdoms.

Now remember, a kingdom has to have a king. And—as we discussed—our Lord Jesus Christ will reign as the King in the eternal Kingdom of God.

Let’s remember what Daniel‘s interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar‘s dream revealed :

“And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold—the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure.””

‭‭Daniel‬ ‭2‬:‭44‬-‭45‬ ‭NKJV

Yes, Nebuchadnezzar’s dream told the story of the coming Kingdom of God that would put an end to all other kingdoms.

Even so, as we discussed on Day 7, King Nebuchadnezzar had to find out the hard way that even though he was the greatest king on the Earth, he was still subject to the rule of God.

We discussed that another of Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams (interpreted by Daniel) warned of what would happen to Nebuchadnezzar if he didn’t humble himself before the Lord.

“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

Nebuchadnezzar did not heed Daniel’s advice and the prophetic dream came to pass.

“All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of the twelve months he was walking about the royal palace of Babylon. The king spoke, saying, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?” While the word was still in the king’s mouth, a voice fell from heaven: “King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: the kingdom has departed from you!”

‭‭Daniel‬ ‭4‬:‭28‬-‭31‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

The lesson we must glean from the experience of Nebuchadnezzar is that the Lord, Who is the King of kings, must be king over our own hearts. Recognizing Him as King over all is meaningless if we don’t live in such a way that indicates that He is sitting on the throne of our hearts.

The Lord, in speaking to the children of Israel, told them what they must do if they wanted to be in fellowship with Him.

“And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭29‬:‭13‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Yes, the Lord responds when we seek Him with all our heart. In fact, this truth is found several times throughout the word of God.

Today’s portion of the Lord‘s prayer for our consideration is, “For Yours is the kingdom.”

Having come to the closing part of the prayer, we again extoll the attributes of our Heavenly Father. And remember, professing something that isn’t confirmed by our behavior can never please God. Therefore, in addition to declaring the preeminence of the Kingdom of God, we must make sure that he is preeminent in our own hearts.

Peace to you.

Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!