8 March 2023
Matthew 6:10
“Thy Kingdom Come”
ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου
“May your royal reign come”
Friends in Christ, I urge you all to life up your hearts to God and pray with me as Christ our Lord has taught us and freely promised to hear us…
May Your kingdom God to us and expand. Bring all transgressors and those who are blinded and bound in the devil’s kingdom to know Jesus Christ, Your Son, by faith that the number of Christians may be increased. Lord, in Your mercy…hear our prayer.[1]
Father, reign in our hearts through the gospel of Jesus. Make our faith in him stronger so that we serve you better. Establish your reign in the hearts of others by bringing them to faith in Jesus. When Jesus returns in glory, unveil your perfect reign and let us see You face to face.
We pray, “Dear Father, give us first Thy Word that the Gospel may be preached properly throughout the world and second that it be received by faith and live and work in us that the Kingdom may prevail among us and the Kingdom of the Devil be put down that he have no right and power over us until at last, sin, death and hell shall be exterminated, that we live forever in perfect righteousness and blessedness.”
The Kingdom of God is nothing else than what is learned in the Creed – that God sent His Son into the world to redeem and deliver us from the power of the Devil and to bring us to Himself.[2]
___________
The Kingdom of God.
God’s kingdom is a powerful and yet sometimes a misunderstood phrase. What goes
through your mind, what are you thinking about, when you mention the words “Thy kingdom come”? What “kingdom”
do we mean when we pray the second petition?
I. In
the 2nd Petition, we pray that God would graciously grant us
true faith and a godly life.
A. Jesus, as He
began His public ministry began with these words “The time has come, the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the
good news” (Mark 1:15) True faith and a godly life simply means that we
repent of our sins and believe the good news of the gospel. That we
simply cling to the words and promises of Jesus.
B. A godly life
simply means that we remain rooted, grounded and built up in Christ. St.
Paul bears this out in Colossians 2:6 when he writes, “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in
Him…”
TRANSITION: We pray that the Lord would grant us a godly
life and true faith. We also pray that the faith would grow as the gospel moves
on in our life
II. When
we pray “Thy Kingdom Come”, we pray
that God would extend His Kingdom of grace on earth. In a word, we pray
that the work of missions would prosper.
In this season of Lent, you and I as Christians
have an excellent opportunity to witness of our faith and to present Jesus to a
scared, dying, and frightened world.
A. Jesus prayed: “Ask the Lord of the harvest therefore, to
send out workers into His harvest field” (Mathew 9:38) There are people in
our world today who do not know Jesus. Jesus came into this world to save
sinners. We share with others Jesus Christ who came to suffer and die on the
cross to forgive sins and offer to the people of this earth salvation and life.
B. As we pray this
petition, “Thy Kingdom Come” we are
doing exactly what Paul prayed for two thousand years ago when He wrote in 2
Thessalonians 4 as he said: “Finally,
brothers, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be
honored, just as it was with you”. (v.1) When the gospel message is honored
by all then it will spread and God’s Kingdom will be enlarged.
III. When
we pray “Thy Kingdom Come” we pray
that He would hasten the coming of His Kingdom of Glory. In short, we pray,
“Come Lord Jesus, come even today!”
A. As we wait for
Jesus’ return to this earth in power and glory we realize that even now the
Kingdom belongs to Christ already. The kingdom is not something Jesus has to
obtain in the future. It’s His already! Jesus says in Luke, chapter twelve
“Do not be afraid, little flock for Your Father has been pleased to give You
the kingdom” (v.32)
B. We have this
promise from Jesus that he is coming and will come very soon. The last
verse of His Revelation to the Apostle John gives us these five sure words “He
who testifies to these things says, Yes, I am coming soon” (v.20)
What do we need to concern ourselves with when we consider the 2nd Petition?
When we pray, “Thy Kingdom Come” all
we need to say is this, “Amen, come Lord Jesus!”
Passive Sentences – 2%
Readability – 75.8
Reading Level – 7.7
[1]
Lutheran Service Book, Divine Service Setting Five, © 2006 Concordia Publishing
House, St. Louis
[2]
Luther’s Large Catechism
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