Pray Like This: Your Kingdom, Your Will - Pastor David Houck | 8.23.26

I'll start with just a quick public service announcement.

There are 17 Sundays until Christmas.

All right.

So uh just a little over 17 weeks.

So who has started their Christmas shopping?

Anyone?

Anyone?

Hey, we got a couple.

Awesome.

Congratulations.

I think for a lot of us, Christmas shopping nowadays just looks like the Amazon app, right?

Just looking on the Amazon app.

Either you're looking for other people, you're making um wish lists for other people, or you're making your own wish list because you know, if you're like our family, typically what we do now is we just give each other our wish lists, right?

And it's this different things we've added throughout the year.

Uh in my family, we actually have um Benjamin's first birthday will be in October.

My birthday is in November, November 29th, write that down.

Uh, then Christmas in December, and then Kate's birthday is in January.

Uh so we've got quite a big few months coming up, and uh so lots of Amazon uh wish lists being made right now.

And uh for better or for worse, you might have your own opinion on whether or not it's great, it's made everything uh very easy and convenient, or there's some people who say, well, it's taken all the creativity out of the holidays and out of gift giving.

But whatever you think about that, long before Amazon existed, that is kind of how many prayers looked.

Just wish lists, just lists of items and different things that we want, and we just float them up to God and say, all right, you do you, you got it from here, and that's it.

Right?

I mean, let's be honest, even even now, even going through the series, still a lot of us struggle with that.

I get it, I struggle with it too.

We can kind of just treat God like a genie in a bottle, or just an app.

Jesus knew that there are a lot of misconceptions about prayer and false teachings about prayer.

And so, as we will continue to look at today, he gave us the Lord's prayer.

Beginning in verse 9 of Matthew chapter 6, Jesus said, Pray then like this: our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

As we have said, and we will continue to say, this is a model for prayer.

Jesus gave us this prayer, he taught this prayer so that it would be a model for how we can structure our own prayers.

There's nothing wrong with memorizing this, there's nothing wrong with praying this as long as your heart actually matches the words that you're saying.

But Jesus didn't intend for this to be something that is quoted or something that is repeated as a religious tradition.

He meant this to be an example of what true prayer looks like.

And we've broken it down into different sections.

First of all, it was the person, the person we address our prayers to.

Who's that?

It is our heavenly father.

That is a title that communicates both the intimacy we can have with God through his son Jesus and also the power that God has.

He is the God in heaven, the Father in heaven.

And then, secondly, it was praise.

Hallowed be your name.

It is a request that God's glory and righteousness and holiness would be revealed and be recognized.

And we talk about how we can't truly pray those words if our lives don't try to match up with it, if we're not trying to glorify God in all that we do.

Number three, we have priority.

Now, not that any of you probably noticed, but before uh this was labeled as purpose, but I changed it this.

All right, so we got one person.

Thank you for paying attention.

Changed it to um priority, the priority of prayer.

Then there's the petition, and then finally protection.

But today we're gonna focus on the priority of prayer.

And I've got three that I want to share with you this morning.

First of all, Jesus revealed that we should prioritize the eternal over the temporal.

He said, Your kingdom come.

Now, in Jesus' day, that was a very common prayer among the Jewish people.

For centuries it had been a prayer of the Jewish people as they awaited the Messiah, this promised, prophet, prophesied king who would come from God to rescue the people of Israel.

And in their minds, it would be some sort of warrior king who would rise up from the Jewish people and who would free them from the oppression of Rome.

That's what they were expecting.

They wanted someone to overthrow the Roman Empire and establish God's kingdom, God's final kingdom on earth.

So this came as no surprise to them.

They were already praying, your kingdom come.

As Christians today, we understand that God's kingdom is a little bit different than what they were expecting.

That God's kingdom is not of this world.

That we are a part of God's kingdom here and now.

There's this uh description that is often used to describe God's kingdom, and it's already but not yet.

God's kingdom is already, but not yet.

What does that mean?

It means it exists today on earth in the form of us.

When you receive Jesus as your Lord, meaning as your master, as your king, and as your savior, you become a citizen of the kingdom of heaven.

And we are actually ambassadors of this kingdom.

And we can take part in the kingdom by doing God's will on earth.

So that is the aspect of God's kingdom that exists today.

But it is not a literal physical kingdom yet, but that will come.

One of many prophecies about this kingdom is found in Daniel chapter 2, verse 44.

Daniel 2:44

And in the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people.

It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever.

There will come a day when Jesus, our king, returns, and when he does, he will establish a literal physical kingdom, an eternal kingdom that we will dwell in with him forever.

This home is temporary.

This earth is temporary.

God's kingdom is eternal.

But most of what we pray about is just temporary things.

Most of the things that we pray about are just about this earth, not the earth to come, not God's kingdom to come.

But Jesus said in Matthew chapter 6, verse 33, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Matthew 6:33

Well, all these things.

He's talking about you wanting money and clothes and food.

He says, no, no, no, seek first the kingdom, the eternal kingdom, and the kingdom that you can be a part of here and now.

Seek that first, and then God will take care of the temporary things.

This is the priority of the Christian life.

This is why Jesus prayed, your kingdom come, before he prayed, give us today our daily bread.

That's not a mistake.

That's not by accident.

It's not a coincidence.

That is the priority.

So understanding that, a question that I am asking myself and you should ask yourself is are you ready for the kingdom?

Are you ready for the kingdom?

Do you pray, as the Jews did, as Jesus did, for God's kingdom to come?

Do you pray that Jesus would return and establish his perfect reign over all of creation?

John did when he wrote Revelation, chapter 22, verse 20, he who testifies to these things says, Surely I am coming soon.

Revelation 22:20

Those are the words of Jesus.

And John says, Amen.

Come, Lord Jesus.

Prayed.

Come, Jesus.

Praying for the kingdom to come.

Now I might wonder, well, why do we need to pray for that if it's inevitable?

I mean, we know it is going to happen.

So why do we pray for it?

Well, that prayer says a lot about your heart and your priorities.

Are you eagerly anticipating Christ's return?

Am I eagerly awaiting expectantly for Jesus to come back?

It can happen at any moment.

Jesus said, Therefore, you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

If you've ever prayed the Lord's Prayer, you pray your kingdom come.

But are you actually ready for his kingdom to come?

Or are you ready to be called home to the kingdom?

I mean, Jesus could return at any moment, but maybe he doesn't.

Maybe we will pass away before he returns.

Are you ready for that?

Have you lived your life in such a way that you are prepared to meet your Savior and King?

Not that, don't get me wrong, it's not that you have to earn your way there.

It's not that if you've accepted Jesus and you get there, he's gonna say, no, no, no, you didn't do enough.

It's not about that.

But will you in your heart, if you're lying on your deathbed or you see Jesus up in the cloud, will you in your heart say, Yes, I'm ready?

Or in that split moment, will you look back and just have a life of regret?

Now, don't get me wrong, we're all gonna have regret.

And we're all gonna be overjoyed to see our Savior.

But just ask yourself right now, do you feel like you have been faithful to God's calling for your life?

Are you ready for that?

Or if you just always picture that as you know what, that's someday down the road.

I've got plenty of time.

I got plenty of time.

You know, down the road, once I get my life together, once I get a, you know, a better job or career, once my kids are a little bit older, you know, once I've got a little bit more money in the bank, then I will start being obedient.

Then I will really start serving others.

But right now, I've just got to focus on these things.

Jesus said, No.

You focus on the kingdom, and I'll take care of those things.

Are you ready for that?

The second meaning behind your kingdom come.

We really realize that, or we understand there's a second meaning when we take into account the next phrase, your kingdom come, your will be done.

This is about prioritizing God's will over our wants.

Because God's kingdom is not just a future kingdom, God's kingdom on earth takes the form of God's will being accomplished on earth.

Takes the form of us being obedient citizens of the kingdom of heaven.

Us prioritizing God's will over our wants, including as Jesus showed in our prayers.

Now we want a lot of things.

I certainly want a lot of things, and this is often reflected in our prayers.

And to be clear, and we'll talk about this in a future message because Jesus gets to this.

God invites us to present our needs and desires before Him.

That isn't wrong.

I mean, He already knows what we want, He already knows what we desire and what we need.

We're not giving Him new information, but He invites us to tell Him.

He invites us to give them over to Him.

Jesus said He is a good father and He gives good gifts.

God wants to bless you.

But that shouldn't be the priority of our prayer.

For so many of us it is.

Maybe you'll say, no, no, no, that's not my priority, but if you were to just examine all the prayers you've prayed in your life, it certainly would look like that's your priority.

I'm ashamed to say it would look like that's what my priority is.

But the order of prayer laid out by Jesus is first of all acknowledging who God is, praising him, and then seeking his kingdom and his will.

Before Jesus prays for us, he prays about God.

Hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done before he gets to give us, lead us, forgive us, protect us.

The priority is God's will.

Seek God's perfect, eternal will first, rather than our own selfish, temporary wants.

That's what Jesus is saying here.

John wrote, For all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and the pride of life is not from the Father, but as from the world.

And the world is passing away, along with its desires.

But whoever does the will of God abides forever.

There are good desires, there are good wants that we have.

To be clear, God gave us all of creation to enjoy.

He wants us to have joy.

He wants us to enjoy the fruits of our labor.

He wants us to have hobbies and to pursue activities that bring us some pleasure and some happiness.

That's not wrong.

But oftentimes we cross the line.

Oftentimes we go too far into our own selfish desires.

The desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, the pride of life.

And John says that those things do not come from God.

That's from the world.

The world is very quickly passing away, and so do those things.

Why do you desire those things so much when, as we all know, you can't take it with you?

We say that all the time, yet our lives don't reflect it.

That's all temporary.

But whoever does the will of God abides forever.

Those are eternal rewards.

Those are everlasting treasures by doing the will of God.

We earn rewards, we build up treasures in heaven that will not fade, that won't pass away with the rest of the world.

It's about prioritizing God's will over our wants.

We see a perfect example of this in Jesus in the garden, moments before he is arrested.

Matthew 26, verse 39 says, and going a little farther, he fell on his face and prayed, saying, My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.

Matthew 26:39

Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.

To be clear, this isn't about the torture.

This isn't about the crucifixion.

This is about Jesus, the Son of God, taking on the full weight, the full penalty, God's full wrath upon himself.

The cost of our sin laid on his soul.

And this isn't a wrong desire.

This isn't a selfish desire or a sinful desire.

Jesus is perfect.

He had no selfish or evil desires.

This is the desire that God has to not experience the punishment, the wrath of God.

So as we see, he prays to God saying, If it's your will, take this from me.

He lays out his desire before his father.

So that's not wrong.

But then he ultimately submits to the will of God.

He says, God, you know my heart.

God, you know my desire.

But regardless of how I feel, I want your will to be done.

This requires great faith.

This requires faith that God's will for your life is better than your own.

As long as you are trying to control your own life, as long as you are trying to be in the driver's seat, to have both hands on the wheel, to be the captain of your own ship, you will never be able to honestly pray these words.

Your will.

Nevertheless, your will be done.

Because you want your own way.

I want my own way.

We think we know what is best for us, and we're just giving this information to God and expecting Him to follow through.

But faith is understanding that even if you cannot see the full picture, even if you cannot right now see the final outcome, faith is understanding that what God has.

Has for you is so much better than what you could ever desire for yourself.

Romans chapter eight, verse two says, and we know, and we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good.

For those who are called according to his purpose.

For those who love God.

People say everything works out in the end.

Not necessarily.

Because for so many people, the end is eternal punishment in hell.

That's not everything working out.

But for those who love God, for those who follow God's will for their life, all things will work together for good.

That's a promise we have.

That's a promise to place your faith in.

And when you understand that, then you can pray like Jesus did and say, God, this is what I want.

This is what I desire.

You know that.

But regardless of those things, I trust in you.

There are people who think that praying, if it be your will, is somehow a cop-out.

There are people who will say, No, no, no, that's a lack of faith.

That's giving God an out.

You just want to pray.

You want to name it and claim it.

In Jesus' name, you want to say, hey, Jesus' name, I want a million dollars.

I believe you can do it.

And they say, don't follow it up with, be it your will.

It's not what Jesus said.

We pray according to God's will.

We believe, we have faith that he hears our prayers and he answers prayers, but we ultimately submit to his plan and his authority.

But only for those who seek his will.

This is one of the greatest determining factors between true Christians and a Christian in name only.

Do you seek God's will?

Jesus said, Matthew chapter 7, beginning in verse 21, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

On that day many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name?

And then I will declare to them, I never knew you.

Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.

There are a lot of people who say Jesus is their Lord.

There are a lot of people who identify as a Christian.

They go to church, they sing the songs.

But God is not their master.

God is not their king.

They do not serve Jesus as Lord.

He is not the ruler of their lives.

And at that day, Jesus will say, I don't know you.

Because it's only those who do the will of his Father in heaven.

Question for us is do we know what God's will is?

Do you know what God's will is?

Do you know what God's will for your life is?

And this is something people often talk about.

I just want to know what God's will for my life is.

I just want to know what God wants me to do.

And oftentimes when we say that, we're just thinking about where we live or where we work or who we marry or what car we drive.

You know, I just want to know God's will.

God has told us his will.

We can know God's will for our lives.

Paul wrote Romans 12, uh, verse 2 do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

We can know what God's will is for our lives by testing it.

How do we test it?

We hold it against Scripture.

We examine God's written word to see how He desires that we live our lives.

Next time you hear someone say, I just want to know what God's will for my life is, you should just say, then read your Bible.

Because it's all in there.

Now I want to give some examples of specific commands that include the word will that specifically say this is the will of God.

1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verses 16 through 18, rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

1 Thessalonians 5:16–18

What's God's will for my life?

That you rejoice, that you constantly pray, and that you're thankful.

1 Peter 2, verse 15.

1 Peter 2:15

For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.

It's the will of God for my life.

Do good.

This is the same chapter, the same passage that we've read so many times about honoring everyone, including government leaders.

Just minding your own business, working for a living, living a quiet life.

So that people who try, outsiders, enemies of Christ, who try to point their fingers at you and blame you of something, they have no ground to stand upon.

That's God's will for your life.

1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verse 3.

1 Thessalonians 4:3

For this is the will of God, your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality.

The will of God is that we be sanctified, that we be set apart, that over the period of our lives we become more and more like Jesus.

And he says, specifically, you need to abstain from sexual immorality for that to happen.

Sexual sin.

Any sort of sexual act or expression outside the context of a married man and a woman.

He says, if you want to be obedient to the will of God, you abstain from sexual sin.

We make it so much more complicated.

See, what's God's will for my life?

Where does God want me to go to college?

Who does God want me to marry?

What career does God want me to have?

When you're obeying the will of God as written in Scripture, you have freedom.

When you seek first the kingdom, meaning I am going to rejoice always.

I'm going to pray always.

I'm going to give thanks.

I'm going to do good.

I'm going to honor everyone.

I'm going to abstain from sexual immorality.

When you do those things, seek those things first, then pick your college.

Marry a godly man or a woman.

Accept that job offer.

Is this God's will for my life?

If you're being faithful to those things, then yeah.

Now, might God lead you certain directions one way or another?

Yes.

But you seek first his kingdom and he will take care of those things.

It's about God's will over our wants.

Lastly, it's about God's glory over our gain.

Our prayer should be for God's glory over our gain.

We're invited to present our needs and desires before God.

As we said, sometimes our prayers can become selfish.

Sometimes they're about our desires only, the desires of the world, the desires that fade.

And those prayers often are not answered.

James wrote in chapter 4, verse 3: you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly to spend it on your passions.

God hasn't answered my prayers.

Because maybe your prayers are just about you.

I pray every single day that I win the lottery.

And he just hasn't answered.

Well, probably, God knows, you're going to ruin your life if you win the lottery.

I mean, we all like to talk about what we would do if we win the lottery.

And I'm sure all of us say, well, you know what?

I'm going to give 20% to the church, all right?

I'm not tithing.

I'm giving 20%, you know.

I'll be honest with you, if I won the lottery, it would not be good.

All right.

Do you know how many Batmobiles there would be in the parking lot?

All right.

So let's.

I'm glad.

I mean, I've never prayed that, but if I did, I'm glad that God wouldn't answer it.

Because it wouldn't be good.

We ask and we don't receive because we ask wrongly to spend it on our own passions.

When our prayers are only about us, God is under no obligation to answer them.

Oftentimes He won't.

Now, sometimes God will to teach you a lesson.

I mean, that happens.

God will say, Fine, have it your way.

I'll be here when you're done.

Like the story of the prodigal son who came to his father and said, I don't want to wait for you to die.

I want my inheritance now.

And the father said, All right, here you go.

And he ruined his life and came crawling back to him.

Sometimes God does that.

But he's under no obligation.

Even if we pray in Jesus' name, even if we name it and claim it, like some people say to do, he's under no obligation to answer our selfish, greedy prayers.

The promise of answered prayer is given to those who seek God's glory.

Jesus said, John chapter 15, verse 7, if you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

John 15:7

If you abide in Jesus, meaning if you live in Him, if you are walking according to the Spirit, not the flesh, if you are following God's will for your life, those commands we just read in Scripture, if we are constantly reading His word and aligning our lives to it, then we are told, whatever we ask, it will be done for you.

And this isn't some sort of manipulation tactic or some sort of loophole to use, okay?

It's not like saying, you know, God, I submit to your will, you know, and so um, you know, if you would just give me this, then I I will be even, you know, I'll be an even better Christian, you know, uh I'll I'll I'll give more money to the church.

No, it's saying if you're living in Christ, then your desires are going to become more and more aligned with his desires.

Meaning, when you're praying for God's kingdom to come, when you're praying for God's will to be done, it's going to be done.

Because that isn't a prayer for yourself, that is a prayer for God's glory.

Jesus tells us why God answers those prayers.

Said, Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

Why does God answer our prayers?

So that He would be glorified.

It all goes back to hallowed be your name.

Even when we present our needs, our wants, and our desires to God, our main desire should be that He is glorified through it.

That His name would be hallowed, that His glory would be seen and praised by others.

So the question is: do you give God glory for answered prayer?

That's why God answers prayer, that he might be glorified, that he might be praised, that he might be thanked.

How often do you do that?

How often do I do that?

God has answered so many of our prayers.

How often do we stop to actually thank him for it?

Kate and I prayed every single day of her pregnancy that we would have a happy and healthy baby boy.

There's a lot of people who don't get that.

And to be clear, we didn't get that because we deserve it.

But God chose to answer that prayer for us.

So I thank God all the time.

To be honest, not every day.

But most days I just stop and I thank God for our baby boy who is healthy, as you've all seen, incredibly happy.

He always has a smile on his face.

But there have been so many prayers in our lives.

So many times we have laid a need or a want or a desire before God, and he provided.

And sometimes we just move on past it.

But the entire reason why he gave that to us is so he would be glorified.

Psalm chapter 66, verses 19 through 20 says, But truly God has listened.

Psalms 66:19–20

That should be what we say.

That should be what we tell others.

Praise be to God because he answered my prayer.

It's one of my favorite parts of our connection time service.

We have a time that we call praises and celebrations.

And people just share something good that happened to them that week.

Whether it is a direct answer to prayer, you know, I prayed for this and God did this, or whether it's just, I'm grateful for a beautiful week, or I'm grateful for my job, whatever it might be.

I love that.

So often we get caught up in prayer requests.

And to be clear, we are to pray, we are to pray for others.

But oftentimes that is all you really see in churches, prayer requests and not many praises.

Now we will take prayer requests from time to time in connection time, but that is never the main focus.

The main focus is to praise God, to thank God, because we do not see enough of that in churches because we're just focused on ourselves.

We're just focused on what we need and what we want.

But God answers prayer for his glory.

So this week, when you pray, just stop for a moment before just take some inventory of your heart and your soul and ask, Whose gain am I praying for?

Whose will am I praying for?

Am I praying about temporary needs or eternal needs?

Am I giving God a wish list?

Or am I seeking to align my life with his will?

It's not easy.

It goes against human nature.

And God understands.

He does.

He is patient, he is beyond patient with us.

And don't let that deter you away from praying.

But every day we should ask for God's help in this.

Every morning, say, Father, help me seek your will over my own.

Because we need help with that.

We can't do that on our own strength.

But that is a prayer that God will answer.

Amen.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank you and we praise you for how great you are, for your love for us, for your patience for us.

When we all too often are just focused on our own temporary lives, the desires of the world, our needs, and our wants.

Lord, I say that because I know that's true of me.

And too often that's what my prayers look like.

A wish list just given to you.

Lord, I do have faith that your will is greater than my own.

That what you have planned for me is so much better than anything I could desire for myself.

But God, I need your help.

We all need your help to have our wills and our desires align more and more towards your own.

That when we pray, we would be praying for your glory, your will, and your kingdom.

So I ask that the Holy Spirit would help sanctify us, transform us, that the power of your word would lead us and guide us to seek first your kingdom.

We love you, we praise you, and we thank you.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.