Largely Passed Over Matthew 6:5-15 Aug 13, 2006

Sermon August 13, 2006 Matthew6:5-15

Largely Passed Over

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven

This section of the Lord's Prayer is a plea that we would live God centered, not self-centered lives

Daily bread

1. Bread, not steak, not the buffet line
2. Lord, give it to us...we are beholden to him for so many blessings

Daily Bread...How much do we need anyway?

• can only survive for 3-4 days without water
• need 10 cups of water per day for normal living
• a person can live without food for quite some time, usually for many weeks. The body will use it's fat and protein stores (muscles) to help it survive

You need approximately 2904 calories per day to maintain your healthy weight based on your current activity level.

• whopper 760
• starbucks frapachino 430
• general zao chicken 844
• taco bell burrito 440

when considering Daily bread....
There exists a Gulf between the 2 planes...what we need and what we want

Asking for what you want...Luke11
9"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
11"Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13If you then, though you are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?

Scripture interprets scripture

James4:3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done
Again there are 2 planes of existence - Thy kingdom and my kingdom

Monday - my bad day...the world won't allign itself to make me happy...

My kingdom
Living in the world where it is all about me...

• We ask God for what we want, it is not good for us, we don't get it, and then we are mad at him because he didn't give us what we wanted
• Or because he did give it to us and it didn't work out
• if you were not actively engaged in making yourself miserable you would stand a chance of being happy
• you are clinging to the very things that bring death
• the very things that we are praying for may be keeping you from finding the kingdom
• our chase for things has robed us of joy. Where is your joy? Job, wife, money, kids, if so then these are the things that are your prison. Kids are nice kids, but bad gods
• If you let go of the earthly things, then you are able to cling to the one thing that will not let you down...Jesus

Two kingdoms, each with their own kinds of prayers
Mu kingdom, I offer prayers for what I want...
its okay to pray for your friends who are sick...

remember...God is not primarily concerned about the size of our house or that our car runs
When we pray for God's kingdom to come, we are no longer praying for our desires, but for his.

I wonder where are the prayer requests...

• God make me a better husband
• Give me the power to forgive
• God teach me about brokenness
• Let me understand the sufferings of Jesus Christ

These are the prayers of his kingdom

So what is The Kingdom of God like?
Different from our kingdom...anew principle is coming soon...new sheriff in town
Byron Gilbreath vs Steve Johnson

Tough for humans to imagine tge world where God's kingdom reigns
A zookeeper allegedly discovered the key to the peaceable kingdom. In the same cage he kept a lion and a lamb. Someone asked him how he did it. "Oh, I just put in a fresh lamb each morning."

Kingdom of God
In kingdom of God, gods will is done
In kingdom of God, he is loved
Lives are focused on him, not ourselves

Ann Weems...I keep thinking...one...morning...I will wake up and
The hungry [will be] fed. The dying held.
The maimed will be walking, The violent calmed
The oppressed freed, The Oppressors changed,
And every tear wiped away...

I would add to her thought
when the kingdom of God arrives
the selfish will become generous
the broken will become whole
resentment will be replaced with forgiveness
our insecurity will be swallowed up in confidence and trust
our sins are forgiven
the driving force in our living will be the love God and each other

Romans14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost,

An honest talk about this section of the prayer
We don't want a cure, we want relief
Give me what I want
Cess pool story...can you help me...make the people stop making waves

When you pray do you want help, change or relief?
would you trade sucess for happiness
This is a plea not to live our lives for ourselves, but to throw ourselves in faith upon the greatness of God...its not too late.

Closer...fisherman with precious stones...threw them into the sea all night...still have 4 left

Why not give the stones that you have left i nyour life, to the purpose and will of God

Let us pray