Your Kingdom Come
Can you believe that we’re wrapping up our March in the Kingdom Series and Easter is just around the corner?
I’ve found it so encouraging to consider King Jesus and the power and life that He brings as we declare with Him, “The Kingdom of God is here,” (Mark 1:15)
It was such a joy to teach on Kingdom Authority and Love in Equipping Hour last Sunday. If you missed it, we studied the reality that, as Christians, we’re never in neutral territory. That Jesus displayed in His life and ministry Two Kingdoms in conflict—a lower and a higher kingdom: the kingdom of the enemy and the Kingdom of God. (Matthew 12:28)
And as Royal Priests (a royal priesthood – 1 Peter 2:5), the Kingdom of God arrives through our lives.
It begins in our identity as beloved children of God, the King. And flows through our call to be priests to the world (Exodus 19:3-7), intercessors who bring the love and power of God’s Kingdom into the broken needs around us.
But how does this actually happen? Our faith, our lives, sometimes can feel small…what can we offer to God’s Kingdom?!?
Well, I’m glad you asked!
Dallas Willard writes this about the Kingdom of God in The Divine Conspiracy:
"We must be sure to understand what a kingdom is. Every last one of us has a “kingdom”—or a “queendom,” or a “government”—a realm that is uniquely our own, where our choice determines what happens….
Our “kingdom” is simply the range of our effective will. Whatever we genuinely have the say over is in our kingdom [internally & externally]. And our having the say over something is precisely what places it within our kingdom. In creating human beings God made them to rule, to reign, to have dominion in a limited sphere….
Now God’s own “kingdom,” or “rule,” is the range of his effective will, where what he wants done is done. The person of God himself and the action of his will are the organizing principles of his kingdom, but everything that obeys those principles, whether by nature or by choice, is within his kingdom….
[Jesus] came [and] opened access to the governance of God with him, and set afoot a conspiracy of freedom in truth among human beings….By relying on his word and presence we are enabled to reintegrate the little realm that makes up our life into the infinite rule of God. And that is the eternal kind of life."
For Christians, within our limited “reign” which God has gifted to us for our lifetime, the Kingdom of God can “come” and “move through” every aspect of our living.
Imagine: What would it look like for the Kingdom of God to "come" in your:
· Mind
· Emotions
· Decisions
· Possessions
· Relationships
· Prayers
· Family
· Friendships
· Roles/Career
· Weaknesses
· Limitations
· Dreams
· Whole Life
This is what we mean, when we pray, “God, Your Kingdom come.” We’re opening our whole lives for God to take up His residence. His presence in every area of our lives.
This might look like:
· In our thoughts, becoming aware of judgement, self-aggrandizement, stubborn independence, or twisted ideas about God.
· In our emotions, being honest with God about areas of fear, anxiety, unforgiveness, anger that aren’t yet authentically connected to His love and influenced by His Presence.
· In our possessions, honoring Him and blessing the spaces we own, the furniture being prayed over, the finances being held loosely, and gratefulness and generosity flowing up as we recall the Father who provides.
· In our relationships, trusting someone to pray for a need or support you in a season.
· Or it may mean opening our home or our hands, being inconvenienced for a time to show love to someone else.
· Or it might mean holding the Words of scripture, and the promises of God, over an area of suffering, pain, or sin—and prayerfully declaring the truth of God into a broken situation.
There are countless ways to see the Kingdom of God come, until one day “the earth is filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea,” (Habakkuk 2:14).
How might God be prompting you to pray for His Kingdom to come now? Is it in your own inner life? Or perhaps it’s in the life of those around you?
Let’s get really practical:
Right now, we’re in our fourth day, of 21-Days of Prayer Campaign at 11:02 each day (until April 16). This prayer movement is strategic for our upcoming Alpha class. You are the “first line of offense” as we pray and let God lead us into conversations.
We do this by praying "Your Kingdom come" over three people who God has placed on your heart as a person who might be open to spiritual conversations, curiosity about life, God, and faith.
Know I’m praying with you—see you Sunday, don’t forget your palms ;)
Pastor Dave