THY KINGDOM COME
Luke 12:31-32, Luke 13:18-29, Luke 21:27-31, 2 Tim. 4:18

God’s kingdom or the dominions of this world, which do we choose? We are all born into a kingdom of sin, and first God’s kingdom must grow in our hearts and minds. It is now that we must “seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness,” and lay up our treasures, not here upon earth where moth and rust will corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. When we pray “Thy kingdom come” the first part of that petition is for Christ to set up His throne in our hearts and in the hearts of the people.

For those who’ve prayed for the kingdom to be set up in their hearts, the promised coming physical kingdom of glory will be glorious, but it will be darkness and terror for those who have given themselves to serving the kingdom and prince of worldliness.

“As used in the Bible, the expression “kingdom of God” is employed to designate both the kingdom of grace and the kingdom of glory. The kingdom of grace is brought to view by Paul in the Epistle to the Hebrews. After pointing to Christ, the compassionate intercessor who is “touched with the feeling of our infirmities,” the apostle says, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace.” [HEB. 4:16.] The throne of grace represents the kingdom of grace; for the existence of a throne implies the existence of a kingdom. In many of his parables, Christ uses the expression, “the kingdom of Heaven,” to designate the work of divine grace upon the hearts of men. {GC88 346.4}
“The throne of glory represents the kingdom of glory, and this kingdom is referred to in the Saviour’s words, “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory; and before him shall be gathered all nations.” [MATT. 25:31, 32.] This kingdom is yet future. It is not to be set up until the second advent of Christ.” {GC88 347.1}

“The kingdom of God’s grace is now being established, as day by day hearts that have been full of sin and rebellion yield to the sovereignty of His love. But the full establishment of the kingdom of His glory will not take place until the second coming of Christ to this world. “The kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven” is to “be given to the people of the saints of the most High” (Dan. 7:27). {AG 347.3}

To pray “Thy kingdom come” we have a part to play. We must, like the disciples, go forth and share the message, “the kingdom of God is at hand, repent” (Matt. 3:2.) Millions have no real knowledge or experience with the “kingdom of grace”, and for them the coming of the kingdom of glory will be a terrible day of great darkness and despair.

“Just as long as men and women will be led and guided by the Holy Spirit for the magnifying of God’s law and the advancement of the kingdom of grace, the work will go forward. Just so surely as they give evidence of the fruits of the Spirit in heart and life and character, souls will be reached and saved. Go to all nations, Christ says; my Spirit shall go with you; and angels of God that excel in strength will be present to aid every soul who by living faith will make God his strength. {RH, March 11, 1909 par. 13}

The heavenly gates are again to be lifted up, and with ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands of holy ones, our Saviour will come forth as “King of kings, and Lord of lords.”….. But before that coming, Jesus said, “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations.” His kingdom will not come until the good tidings of his grace shall have been carried to all the earth. Hence, as we give ourselves to God, and win other souls to him, we hasten the coming of his kingdom. Only those who devote themselves to his service, saying, “Here am I; send me” to open blind eyes, to turn men “from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God,”—they alone pray in sincerity, “Thy kingdom come.” {RH, November 14, 1912 par. 20}

THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN

READ: John 6:38-40; Luke 22:40-42; 1 Thess 4:3-4

Psalms 143:10 Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.

The Lord will never force His will on you, because of the precious gift of freedom. He’s not going to force you to pray, “Thy will be done.” You have to choose to do it, to surrender your will, to be His servant, and give Him permission to activate His power and plan in your life. When you understand that secret, you’ll unlock the storehouses of heaven’s power.
But be advised, it works the other way too. Many of us are harassed by the devil because we give the devil our will. You may choose who your master is. And when we through constant surrender comply with the temptations that the devil puts in our path, we start giving him increased power to activate his desires in our lives. And ironically, when we exercise our freedom to submit to the devil, we, inch by inch, lose our freedom! The devil possesses our natures, and we become his slave.
If we surrender the will to God, we shall not work in order to earn God’s love. His love as a free gift will be received into the soul, and from love to Him we shall delight to obey His commandments. {COL 283.2}
Eternity alone can reveal the glorious destiny to which man, restored to God’s image, may attain. In order for us to reach this high ideal, that which causes the soul to stumble must be sacrificed. It is through the will that sin retains its hold upon us. The surrender of the will is represented as plucking out the eye or cutting off the hand. Often it seems to us that to surrender the will to God is to consent to go through life maimed or crippled…. Only through the surrender of our will to God is it possible for Him to impart life to us. Only by receiving His life through self-surrender is it possible, for these hidden sins, which (He has) pointed out to be overcome. {MB 61.2}

It will require a sacrifice to give yourself to God; but it is a sacrifice of the lower for the higher, the earthly for the spiritual, the perishable for the eternal. God does not design that our will should be destroyed, for it is only through its exercise that we can accomplish what He would have us do. Our will is to be yielded to Him that we may receive it again, purified and refined, and so linked in sympathy with the Divine that He can pour through us the tides of His love and power.–MB 61, 62 (1896). {2MCP 693.4}

You cannot control your impulses, your emotions, as you may desire; but you can control the will, and you can make an entire change in your life. By yielding up your will to Christ, your life will be hid with Christ in God and allied to the power which is above all principalities and powers. You will have strength from God that will hold you fast to His strength; and a new light, even the light of living faith, will be possible to you. But your will must cooperate with God’s will.–5T 513, 514 (1889). {2MCP 694.2}

When the will is placed on the Lord’s side, the Holy Spirit takes that will and makes it one with the divine will.–Lt 44, 1899. {2MCP 694.4} The first step in the path of obedience is to surrender the will to God. When we pray, “Thy will be done” we are saying “Not my will, O Lord, But Thine be done.

How do we pray? Do we come before God telling Him what He must do, thinking our faith in knowing what we desire will force God to do our will? Do we make bargains with the Lord thinking if we promise Him something we can twist His arm into using His power to do our will? Or do we seek His Will in all things?

God is waiting for us to place our wills on His side. The grace of Christ can then be bestowed upon us. His Spirit will take control of our heart and conscience, presiding over our words and deeds, as we co-operate with His leading.

God will not force His will upon us, we must pray “Thy will be done.”
The angels in heaven attain unto no higher knowledge than to know the will of God; and it is their greatest delight to accomplish the perfect will of the heavenly Father. There is perfect unity between them and their Creator. Obedience is to them no drudgery. Love for God makes their service a joy.
For God’s will to be done upon earth, let it begin with us.

Give Us this Day Our Daily Bread
READ MATTHEW 6:25-34

When we pray for our daily bread, we are asking our heavenly Father to supply the basic necessities of our everyday needs.
We recognize that it is He who provides all good things. We can come with confidence for scriptures show us that God does supply for the needs of His children. When the Israelites went through the wilderness, they prayed for food and water. God rained manna from heaven, and caused water to flow from a rock, showing His continual, loving provision.

When Elijah fled from King Ahab the Lord led him to the brook of Cherith and sent ravens to feed him. Later he sent Elijah to the widow and kept her barrel of flour and flask of oil filled with enough for each days supply of bread.

God still expects us to do our part in getting the necessities of life in going out and working. The commandments include “six days shalt thou labor”and 2 Thess. 3:10 reads, “If any would not work, neither should he eat.”

Yet even as we go forth and earn “our daily bread” we are indebted to God for the ability to do so. It is through his power that vegetation flourishes, that the fruit appears, and the wheat ripens. He “maketh grass to grow upon the mountains,” and by him the valleys are made fruitful. All the beasts of the field seek their meat from God, [PS. 147:8; 104:20, 21.] and every living creature, from the smallest insect up to man, is daily dependent upon his providential care. He gives the breath of life and strength to the body. In the beautiful words of the psalmist, “These all look to Thee to give them their food in due season when you give to them they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.” [PS. 104:27, 28.]

Conversely though, we must remember that even the good things can work to our deteriment. Prosperity can stall or derail our longing for God and cause us to loose our sense of dependence upon Him. The love of riches can bring destruction to the soul, when these become the motivation, security and pride of the person.

The words, “Give us this day our daily bread,” refer not only to temporal food and necessities, but they also refer to the spiritual food which brings everlasting life to the receiver.

How often do we need to be spiritually fed? All through its sacred pages, the Bible speaks of praying daily. “Evening and morning, and at noon, will I pray” (Psalm 55:17). Daily bread, daily communion with the Lord, should be our top priority.
Why not simply “eat our spiritual bread” once a month, or once a week? We do not eat temporal food only once a month or once a week and expect it to give us strength and vigor for the entire month or week. In the same way we can’t expect to feed on spiritual things once a month, or once a week and expect to have spiritual strength and vigor.

We must daily partake of food. So we must daily eat the Word of God that the life of the soul may be renewed. In those who feed constantly upon the Word, Christ is formed, the hope of glory. A neglect to read and study the Bible brings spiritual starvation…. {OHC 209.6}

Just like the children of Israel collected manna every day, we need to collect spiritual nurishment every day. We cannot live tomorrow solely on what we’ve collected today. True the memorized Scriptures can sustain us at times, and that will be a tremendous blessing when the Bible is not accessable to us, but if we want our Christian experience to be growing and vital and full of life, we must have daily devotions. We must go out and gather that spiritual manna.

“In teaching us to ask every day for what we need–both temporal and spiritual blessings–God has a purpose to accomplish for our good. He would have us realize our dependence upon His constant care, for He is seeking to draw us into communion with Himself. In this communion with Christ, through prayer and the study of the great and precious truths of His word, we shall as hungry souls be fed; as those that thirst, we shall be refreshed at the fountain of life. {MB 113.1}

And finally, we receive wonderful blessings from the Lord to share with others.