January Series Study Guide - Day 12

Read Matthew 6:9-15

It is fascinating to notice how this pattern of praying progresses. The power of the pattern is found in the pronouns Jesus uses next. Before we ever get to OUR or US we start with YOUR. Jesus spends the next part of this pattern focusing on YOUR NAME, YOUR KINGDOM, and YOUR WILL! This is not a suggestion, but the power of this progression is what aligns our praying rightly and frames our prayers in the right context. We should not take a shortcut from what Jesus is trying to teach here!

First He says, “Hallowed by your name…” Hallowed is simply an old English word that means to make holy, revere, or respect. It meant something that is given ultimate concern and is treasured above anything else. Jesus says prayer is revolutionized when God is our Ultimate Treasure. God’s name reflects all that He is, and Jesus says if we want our prayer to be aligned it starts with making God our ultimate treasure, concern, and object of worship! Hallowed be your name means I want to be consumed with you and all that your name points to about you!!

Then He says, “Your kingdom come.” Prayer begins to revolutionize in my life when I see that I am talking to my Father for sure, but my daddy is a king who is advancing and will establish His kingdom! That means I come to His table and I want to know what He is doing and how I can be a part of that versus prayer being me coming to Him to inform Him of what I am doing and how He can be a part of that! This changes the way you pray!! Prayer revolutionizes when God’s kingdom becomes our priority.

Finally, Jesus says, “Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” What is the point here? I think Jesus is saying that our prayer revolutionizes when our will and God’s will wrestles because God wins and we change! There are times when we wrestle God in prayer and try to pin Him down to our will and He graciously will wrestle with us but, at some point, He must touch our will whether gently or decisively and in so doing break our will to see the beauty of His will. I surrender to His will. WHY? Because I cannot separate the God I treasure from the will of God. His will is the outflow of His name and that is what I long for more than anything. So prayer does change things, namely me!! Your name, your kingdom, and your will become the rails upon which the rest of prayer rides!!

Q: What do you think it means to make God our ultimate treasure? How can you tell that God is your ultimate treasure? What are the things we treasure instead of God, and how does what we treasure affect the way we pray?

Q; What do you think it means to seek first His kingdom? How do you and I allow the kingdom of God to advance in us? How can you and I be part of advancing God’s kingdom through us?

Q: How does the fact that Jesus is the King who will establish His kingdom on earth change the way you pray?

Q: Have you ever felt like you were in a wrestling match with God in your time of prayer? Are you wrestling with God right now? What about?