The story is told of a father who sent his son off to college with just enough money to last for the first month. When the young man called asking for more money a month later the father already knew his need. The father simply set it up that way so he would hear from his son.

God is like that father. He wants to hear from us in prayer, not to find out our needs-he already knows our needs before we ask. He wants the relationship with us that prayer facilitates.

Author Earl G. Hunt, Jr. has written, "Prayer is a kind of calling home every day. And there can come to you a serenity, a feeling of at-homeness in God's universe, a peace that the world can neither give nor disturb, a fresh courage, a new insight, a holy boldness through calling home that you'll never get any other way."

At the heart of prayer is a relationship. Prayer itself is the communication that facilitates that relationship. As Oswald Chambers has said, "Prayer is not getting things from God . . . prayer is getting into perfect communion with God. I tell him what I know he knows in order that I may get to know it as he does."

Jesus affirmed that prayer is a relationship when he said to his disciples, "This, then is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven . . ." This morning we are going to begin looking at this pattern for prayer that Jesus taught his disciples. You will see as we move through our examination of this pattern for prayer that it arises out of Jesus' own practice of prayer. Who better to teach us needy children about how to communicate with our Father than the only begotten Son? Let us read together what Jesus had to say about prayer in Matthew 6:5-15,

The context of Jesus' teaching about prayer is the Sermon on the Mount. This teaching is directed to Jesus' disciples, those who have already made a focused commitment to him. If you have committed to following Jesus as your leader and forgiver then this passage is addressing you directly. If you have not yet made that commitment to follow Christ, then you can listen in and hear what this kind of relationship is all about.

If you are Christ's disciple then he says to you that you should not perform so-called "religious" acts such as giving to the poor, prayer, and fasting in order to be seen by others. Rather, you should do these things out of your relationship with God as your Father, in order to please him, not people.

Jesus is saying in effect, "Don't pray to be seen by people. Prayer is communication with your heavenly Father. So pray to him in private." Jesus is not saying there isn't a place for corporate or public prayer. Jesus is driving us back to the essence of prayer: that prayer is, at it's root, communication between the Father and his children. The Father is not going to be impressed with many words. As his child we can talk to him in a simple, straightforward manner.

So, how does Jesus say we should address God? He says: "This then is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven." Each of these simple words is packed with meaning. Let's look at each in turn.

First of all, Jesus says: Our Father. Jesus is teaching us to address God in the same way that he addressed him. Jesus constantly referred to God as his Father. There are more than 150 recorded references in the Gospels.

This must have been nothing less than startling to the Jews of Jesus' day. They no longer referred to God as "Our Father", even though God called himself the father of Israel at the time of the Exodus. By the time of Jesus the Jews had lost that sense of intimacy with God that God wanted them to have.

Jesus was able to call God "Father" because he was his unique, his only-begotten Son. Jesus shared deity with his Father. They were the same in being. That is why Jesus could truly say he was one with the Father, that the Father was in him and that he was in the Father, and that if anyone had seen him they had seen the Father.

So, it is only through Jesus that we can call God our Father. God is our creator. But sin has broken that Father-child relationship God wanted to have with people. That relationship is only restored through Jesus, through his life, death and resurrection. Out of the countless times Jesus addressed God in prayer there was one time when he didn't call God Father. That was on the cross when he cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Jesus experienced feeling forsaken by his Father so that we never have to be forsaken.

And notice that God is our Father, not just your Father or my Father. Author Mark Galli tells the following story:

You cannot have a privatized relationship with God; you cannot have a relationship with God apart from a relationship with the rest of his children. To be in relationship with the Father through his Son is also to be in relationship with his Church. The word our is vital.

The second important word in this prayer is Father. Our perception of God as our heavenly Father is shaped, for good or ill, by the character of our earthly fathers.

The story is told of a man whose son had become very ill. After the boy had undergone an exhaustive series of tests, the father was told the shocking news that his son had a terminal illness. The boy had accepted Jesus as his leader and forgiver, so the father knew his son would be with the Lord when he died. However, the father wondered how to tell his son this news. After much prayer, he went with a heavy heart through the hospital ward to the boy's bedside. First he read a passage of Scripture and had a time of prayer with his dear son. Then he gently told him that the doctors could promise him only a few more days to live. "Are you afraid to meet God?" the father asked his son. Blinking away tears, the little boy said, "No, not if He's like you, Dad!"

No human father is perfect in this life. But fathers who know the heavenly Father help their children to have a more accurate view of God.

I realize that some of you have fathers who have not contributed to you having a healthy view of God. If that is true for you then you may resonate with this story from Howard Hendricks:

God can help us get a clearer view of his Fatherhood through father figures beside our own biological fathers; he can also give us a better picture through the Scriptures.

No matter what our relationship with our earthly father was or is like, we need to let the Scripture shape or re-shape our image of God as our Father, so that we can experience the healing power of that perfect Father-child relationship. Psalm 68:5 says that God is a "father to the fatherless."

Perhaps you have lived your entire life without an earthly father, or perhaps you had an earthly father who abused you emotionally or physically. Or maybe you have had a very good earthly father who knows the Lord and tries to model the heavenly Father's love for his children. Whatever your experience has been, you can experience a relationship with a perfect Father when you come to God through Jesus His Son. He alone can heal all the hurts you may have experienced through life in your human and imperfect relationships. Will you let him begin or continue to do that healing work in your life?

Our Father in heaven is one who draws near to us, and One to whom we can draw near without fear. James 4:8 says, "Come near to God and he will come near to you." We can draw near to our Father in heaven without fear of eternal punishment for our sin because Jesus has already taken that punishment upon himself. 1 John 4:18 says, "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." And the writer to the Hebrews says, "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." (Hebrews 4:16)

And when we draw near to God, he will draw near to us. God is like the waiting father in Jesus' parable. . . .

God is like that father in the parable. When we begin to draw near to him, he will draw near to us. Even though our repentance is not perfect, even though it may not be fully genuine, even though all we are looking for is a good meal, God in love will come running to receive us. He will overwhelm us in his grace and celebrate our homecoming.

You probably know that when Jesus called God "Father" he often used the Aramaic word "Abba" which means something akin to "Daddy." Only a father knows what it is like to hear his child call him Daddy, especially for the first time. The Lord loves to see us run to him; he loves to hear us call him "Daddy." And we can do just that because of what Jesus has done for us. It is by him that we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children (Romans 8:15-16).

How often do you call God "Father"? Do you know the intimacy that the Father wants to have with you? He wants to scoop you up into his arms and encircle you with his love. Do you believe it? Are you willing to receive it? Or are you living as if you were an orphan? You are God's child, a son or daughter of the King through Jesus.

I have a friend who is a pastor and who grew up not knowing an earthly father because his earthly father abandoned his family when my friend was a child. I have seldom heard a pastor so often refer to God as "Father". How wonderful it must be for my friend to know that his heavenly Father will never abandon him. Do you realize that today?

Finally, Jesus teaches us to address God as our Father in heaven. The fact that God is our Father in heaven does not mean that he is remote. Just because God is in heaven it doesn't mean that he can't be right next to us and in us, by the Holy Spirit. Psalm 46:1 says, "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble." In Jeremiah 23:23-24 God says, "Am I only a God nearby and not a God far away? Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him? Do not I fill heaven and earth?"

Thinking about God being in heaven can actually help us to draw near to him. Colossians 3:1-3 says, "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God." Thinking about God in heaven will actually give us a better perspective with which to approach our earthly life.

Because God is our father in heaven this also means we need to approach him with a sense of awe as well as childlike boldness. Nehemiah's prayer in Nehemiah 1 gets the perfect blend: "O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands . . ."

The fact that God is our Father in heaven means that he has all supernatural resources to draw on to meet our needs. Paul says, "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus." Ever since my earthly father died I miss not being able to call him on the phone to draw on his resources of wisdom and finance! But his passing has helped me to see more clearly that I have had a Father in heaven, all along, upon whom I can call at any moment, to meet any need.

A man once asked Alexander the Great to give him a huge sum of money in exchange for his daughter's hand in marriage. The ruler consented and told him to request of his treasurer whatever he wanted. So the man went and asked for an enormous amount. The keeper of the funds was startled and said he couldn't give him that much without a direct order. Going to Alexander, the treasurer argued that even a small fraction of the money requested would more than serve the purpose. "No," replied Alexander, "let him have it all. I like that fellow. He does me honor. He treats me like a king and proves by what he asks that he believes me to be both rich and generous."

As John Newton says of our relationship with the Lord in prayer, "You are coming to a King, large petitions with you bring!"

What great problems do you have weighing on your heart today? Take them to your Father in heaven knowing that no problem is too great for his power and no person is too small for his love!

Let me close with the following story. . . .

"There was a time in our world during both the First and second World Wars when men and women who served their country would go off and many times would be gone four or five years before they ever came home. The story is told of a good Marine serving his country who went off to fight. When he left, his wife was expecting a child. That child was born, and that child was a beautiful little girl.

"Because this was a special home, the mother would never let the little girl forget her father. Every day she talked of the girl's father and showed her pictures of her father. She talked about the father's love and care for her, and about how someday her father would come home.

"When the little girl was 4 years old, she was playing in the front yard. A man came to the gate. She looked up. She looked into his eyes with love, and he looked into her eyes with love. Then she said, ?Daddy, you're for real. Daddy, you are for real!'" [Citation: Richard H. Flick, "Memorial Service for Heather Gillan," Preaching Today, Tape No. 71.]

One day, you too will be able to look into the eyes of your heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ his Son, and know that he is for real. In the mean time, we all need to keep looking at his picture in the Scriptures, and communicating with him "long-distance" through prayer, so that we are ready for that day when it comes.

One evening, a little girl was saying bedtime prayers with her mother. "Dear Harold, please bless Mommy and Daddy and all my friends," she prayed. "Wait a minute," interrupted her mother, "Who's Harold?" "That's God's name," said the daughter. "Who told you that was God's name?" asked the mother. "I learned it in Sunday School, Mommy. You know - "Our Father, who art in heaven, Harold be Thy name."

For many of us, saying The Lord's Prayer has become such a ritual that we don't even understand what we are saying. This week we are going to examine the first of six petitions contained in The Lord's Prayer which is: "Hallowed be Thy name." God's name may not be Harold, but he does have a number of names which he is called in Scripture. Jesus teaches us to hallow God's name. But what does that mean?

First of all, it means that the Lord wants us to set apart his name as special. To "hallow" means to set apart or to hold in reverence. The Greek word comes from the same word that means "holy."

Why is God's name so important? What's in a name anyway? To know someone's name is absolutely essential to intimate communication. Last week we looked at the introduction to The Lord's Prayer and the fact that Jesus teaches us to call God "Father." "Father" is one of God's names. Calling God "Father" not only revolutionizes prayer but it changes our whole relationship with God.

A name is more than just a name. A name represents character. As parents we took time and put a good bit of thought into choosing our boys' names. James is named after his great-grandfather, his grandfather, and me, all of whom were named James and all of whom were preachers. James means "successor." Our middle son is named Jonathan David because we love the Old Testament story of the friendship between Jonathan and David. Joshua is named after another favorite person in the Bible, the Joshua who led the Israelites into the Promised Land. Joshua is the Hebrew equivalent of Jesus and means "Yahweh saves."

Names are powerful and conjure up different images in our minds. What do you think when you hear the name "Mercedes Benz"? Quality, excellence, advanced engineering, proven character, expensive. How about "Ford Pinto"? Defective, cheap, unsafe.

We value our names don't we? No one likes to have their name mispronounced or misspelled. People have such difficulty spelling my family name that I always spell it out when I am giving my name over the phone. Some people even misspell my first name. Will has two L's and comes from William, not Wilbur or Wiliford or Wilson! My name is Will. That is the name to which I will respond, as well as a few nicknames I have gotten from friends. But I will not respond to Tom, Dick or Harrry.

If we value our names so highly, how much more ought we to value God's name? You cannot have significant communication with me and I cannot have the same with you unless I call you by name, the correct name. In the same way, we cannot have intimate communication with God unless we know his name.

As we have already seen one of God's names is "Father", but you cannot call him Father unless you have been adopted as his child through Jesus. You would not call my dad "Father" and I would not do the same with your dad. In the same way, you cannot call God "Father" until you become his child through adoption.

How can you know if you have been adopted as God's child? It's as simple as A, B, C, D. First, you must Admit that you are a sinner. That's what the prodigal son admitted to his father when he came home: "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son." Secondly, you must Believe that Jesus is God's Son, that he died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sin, and that he rose again from the dead. Thirdly, you must Confess with your mouth that Jesus is your leader and forgiver. Fourthly, you must Decide to turn from your sin, your self-centeredness, and follow Christ. The only way you can take these steps is if God's Holy Spirit lives in you. If he lives in you then he will assure you that you are God's child. "For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, 'Abba, Father.'" (Romans 8:15-16)

God has many names which he is called in Scripture, and each of those names represents a different aspect of his character. He wants us to hold each of his names in reverence. He is:

• Elohim which means creator God.
• El Elyon which means possessor of heaven and earth.
• Adonai which means Lord or absolute sovereign.
• Jehovah or Yahweh which means I AM.
• Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord will provide.
• Jehovah-Nissi, the Lord our banner.
• Jehovah-Rapha, the Lord who heals.
• Jehovah-Shalom, the Lord our peace.
• Jehovah-Raah, the Lord our Shepherd.
• Jehovah-Tsidkenu, the Lord our Righteousness.
• Jehovah-Sabaoth, Lord of hosts.
• Jehovah-Shama, the Lord who is near.
• Jehovah-Maqodeshkim, the Lord who makes us holy.
• Immanuel, God with us.
• Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
• The Bread of Life.
• Living Water.
• The Way, the Truth, the Life.
• The Resurrection.
• The Good Shepherd.
• The Vine.
• The Bright and Morning Star.
• The Lamb of God.
• The Rose of Sharon.
• The Lily of the Valley.
• The Door.
• The Messiah, which means Anointed One.
• High Priest.
• King.
• Jesus, which means Yahweh saves or Yahweh is victorious.

To hallow God's name means to enjoy his name, to adore God, to relish just being in his presence.

One mother has said, "As much as I enjoy talking, laughing, shopping or playing thought-provoking games with my two teens, I have to admit that sometimes I miss when they were babies. As infants, they would display sheer joy whenever I walked into the room. They simply wanted to be with me-and found comfort in being carried or held on my lap.

"I wonder if God sometimes feels that way about me. Now that I've 'grown up,' do I still express excitement about simply being in his presence? Does God miss me lifting up my arms for him to hold me?" (Lynette Kittle, Today's Christian Woman, "Heart to Heart.")

I think sometimes God does miss our simple adoration and enjoyment of him, that perhaps came easier to some of us when we were new Christians.

That leads to a second point which is that we need the Lord's help to pray and live out the meaning of "hallowed be thy name."

The Scripture says that no one can say "Jesus is Lord" without the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:3) To proclaim "Jesus is Lord" is to recognize and submit to Jesus as the leader of our lives. To proclaim "Jesus is Lord" is to hallow his name, and for that we need the help of the Holy Spirit.

Why is this the case? It is because of our sin, our basic self-centered nature. It is that nature which leads us to hallow our own names more than God's name. It is part of our sin nature to take control of our lives and other people's lives, rather than letting God be in control. It is our sin nature to put self first, others second and God last (if he has any place at all in our daily lives). God wants to reverse that order. The only way that can happen is if his Spirit comes to live in the control room of our lives.

We can see the dilemma very clearly if we look at our own prayer lives. If you are anything like me, when it comes to communicating with God, your natural tendency is to think of yourself first. We usually tend to think of prayer merely in terms of asking for things, and thus we treat God as if he were some sort of cosmic vending machine.

Haddon Robinson writes, "When our children were small, we played a game. I'd take some coins in my fist. They'd sit on my lap and work to get my fingers open. According to the international rules of finger opening, once the finger was open, it couldn't be closed again. They would work at it, until they got the pennies in my hand. They would jump down and run away, filled with glee and delight. Just kids. Just a game."

"Sometimes when we come to God, we come for the pennies in his hand.

"'Lord, I need a passing grade. Help me to study.'

"'Lord, I need a job.'

"'Lord, my mother is ill.'

"We reach for the pennies. When God grants the request, we push the hand away.

"More important than the pennies in God's hand is the hand of God himself." ("The Disciple's Prayer, Preaching Today, Tape No. 117.)

Because we are all like that, because we all are more interested in God's pennies than in God, we need God's help to turn things around.

That leads to a third point, which is that we need to ask the Lord to enable us to set apart his name as special.

First, we need to ask God to help us as individuals to set apart his name as special. Phillip Keller suggests praying in the following fashion, "Father, Your reputation is at stake in me today. May I live in such a way as to do Your person great credit. Because of my behavior, may men see You in me, and so honor your name because of me."

Second, we need to ask God to help other believers to set apart his name as special. If each of us prayed this way for each other, imagine what could happen! John Wesley once prayed, "God, give me a hundred men who hate nothing but sin and love no one more than Christ and I will change the world." If we begin to pray for each other in this way, and really keep God as our number one passion in life, we too could change the world.

Third, we need to ask God to help non-Christians to "hallow his name" by becoming Christians. Can you imagine what our society would be like if we no longer heard anyone taking the Lord's name in vain - let alone cutting out all the other profanity in the world? When you pray: "Hallowed be your name" you are asking God to arrange circumstances and transform the lives of non-Christians so that his name would be revered as special in all places.

I'll never forget the night, many years ago now, when I was watching the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and Johnny had baseball player Orel Hershiser on the show. Orel had just pitched for the L.A. Dodgers in the World Series that year. During the interview Johnny asked Orel how he kept calm during the series. Orel told him that he would sing in between innings. When asked to sing one of his favorite songs Hershiser sang the Doxology:

Johnny was so taken aback by Hershiser's pure and simple praise to God that he was speechless. It was the only time I ever saw Carson at a loss for words.

When you begin to praise God, to hallow his name, to set apart his name as special, not just in private, but in public, it will be nothing less than startling to those around you. And your hallowing of God's name can have a transforming effect upon others. Johnny Carson was so moved by Hershiser's praise to God that he personally chose that taped segment to conclude his 27^th anniversary prime-time television special.

The Lord wants us to pray for ourselves, for other believers and for unbelievers to be enabled to "hallow his name."

But how do we do it? How do we set apart the Lord's name as special? How do we do it on a daily basis?

For starters, let me suggest two "don'ts". Don't try to be super-religious like the Jews of Jesus' day who tried to keep God's name special by not even using God's name. The Jews would not even pronounce the name "Yahweh" because they thought it too holy to utter. God doesn't want us to go to such extremes.

But on the other hand God doesn't want us to misuse his name. The third of the ten commandments is: "Don't misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name." (Exodus 20:7) Do you misuse God's name by referring to him in a trivial manner, or by cursing, or other profanity? God doesn't want us to do that if we are his children. Ask him to help you clean up your language and he will. He'll take away the very desire to talk like that and he will plant in our hearts the desire to keep his name special.

Thirdly, spend focused time in worship every day. Perhaps you could start by setting aside just five minutes per day to worship the Lord in prayer. You might use a psalm as a guide to get you started, or use a passage from the book of Revelation; chapters 4, 5, 7, 11 and 19 all contain excellent words of praise to the Lord.

To worship God means to ascribe worth to his name. We are told in Scripture to "bless" the name of God which means to "speak well of his name." The Hebrew and Greek words which are most often translated "worship" in the Bible mean "to prostrate oneself." Posture in prayer is not essential, but it is important. If you haven't spent any time on your knees, or prostrate on the floor in prayer lately, try it; it may just revolutionize your prayer life.

Try letting worship seep into the otherwise wasted moments of your everyday life. When you are in the car this week, why not pop a worship tape or CD into the player? Travel to and from work singing praise to the Lord. Remember, you don't have to close your eyes!

Or why not use your exercise time as a time to worship the Lord? C. S. Lewis used his daily walks out in God's creation as an opportunity for adoration. He says we can begin where we are to praise God by splashing our burning faces and hands into a little waterfall and praising God for it.

Lewis notes how "Gratitude exclaims, very properly: 'How good of God to give me this.' Adoration says: 'What must be the quality of that Being whose far-off and momentary coruscations are like this!' One's mind runs back up the sunbeam to the sun.

"If I could always be what I aim at being, no pleasure would be too ordinary or too usual for such reception; from the first taste of the air when I look out of the window-one's whole cheek becomes a sort of palate-down to one's soft slippers at bedtime." (Letters to Malcolm, p. 118)

"I wish I could pray like that," you say, "but I so often seem to be in the nursery school of prayer." Don't despair. You are in good company. The disciples would not have asked Jesus to teach them how to pray if they already knew it all. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer once pointed out,

For then we confuse wishes, hopes, sighs, laments, rejoicings-all of which the heart can do by itself-with prayer. And we confuse earth and heaven, man and God. Prayer does not mean simply to pour out one's heart. It means rather to find the way to God and to speak with him, whether the heart is full or empty. No man can do that by himself. For that he needs Jesus Christ. (James Burtness, Shaping the Future: The Ethics of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Christianity Today, Vol. 30, no. 9.)

I have a fascination with royalty. That fascination began one day when I was a young child and saw my parents' slides of The Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace.

My interest in royalty grew when my parents took me on vacation to London when I was ten years old. On the night of our arrival my father hired a cab and the driver took us on a tour of all the famous sites in London. My favorite was Buckingham Palace. I sat on the edge of my seat, staring through the window of our cab in awe. Here was the residence of royalty. I looked intently past the golden tipped wrought iron gates into the cavernous darkness of one of the entrances to the palace. I tried to imagine what it would be like to enter that residence.

I have never met a person of royalty. The closest I came was when Lady Margaret Thatcher visited the United States on her first book tour. Our eldest son James was less than a year old. Becky, James and I waited in line for hours outside Warwick's Bookstore in La Jolla, California, just to have the chance to meet the Iron Lady. Not only that, but we paid thirty dollars for a book just so we could meet Mrs. Thatcher.

What electricity there was in the air-news teams flitting about, a helicopter flying overhead! Soon we were standing inside of the bookstore, but still unable to see the great lady, seated at a table behind a bookshelf with several others standing around her. We were still rather far back in the line when one of Mrs. Thatcher's assistants began motioning in our direction. Finally I realized that this prim, proper young British woman was attempting to speak to me. "Families with young children first!" she said. Little James was our ticket to be immediately ushered into the presence of the closest person to royalty we had ever met. Soon Lady Thatcher was signing our copy of her book. She asked us how old James was and whether or not he was teething. I mumbled something about Lady Thatcher being one of my heroes. And then, as soon as it had begun, the great moment was over! In a matter of minutes we were outside on the street again, thirty dollars poorer, but feeling rich for that brief encounter with the former prime minister of Great Britain.

Despite the fact I have never met royalty, I can tell you this-I have royalty residing in me. So do many of you. And if the King of kings has not yet taken up residence inside of you, today can be the day you ask him to do just that.

Today we are going to examine the second petition of the Lord's Prayer: "Your kingdom come." Out of all the petitions contained in the Lord's Prayer this is perhaps the biggest.

What does this petition teach us to ask? First of all, it teaches us to ask for the kingdom of God to become fully present. We do not pray "to be snatched away from earth to heaven, but for the glory and beauty of heaven to be turned into earthly reality." (N. T. Wright)

The word "kingdom" may also be translated "rule" or "reign". The picture Jesus is conveying is not that of castles, lands, golden thrones and courtiers, but that of God our Father residing, ruling, reigning in our lives and in the world around us.

The kingdom of God was at the heart of Jesus' message. He preached the good news of the kingdom, the good news of God's reign (Matthew 4:23). Even after his crucifixion and resurrection Jesus was still teaching his disciples about the kingdom (Acts 1:2-3).

But how do we even see this kingdom or begin to realize it when the whole world around us seems in such a mess? Jesus said to Nicodemus, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

Nicodemus in turn asked Jesus, "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?"

Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." (John 3:3-6)

The kingdom of God can begin in us when the Spirit of God is born in us. God doesn't want to have merely a brief encounter with us on Sunday morning, exchange a few pleasantries with us as I did with Lady Thatcher, and then be gone. He wants to take up residence in our lives. He wants to have intimate fellowship with us. He wants us to know him, in the fullest sense of the word. And that relationship begins, the kingdom commences in our lives, the moment the Holy Spirit is born in us. If you want to see the kingdom of God, ask the Spirit to be born in you today.Jesus said, "If 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!" (Luke 11:13)

Many of you have already done that. The Spirit is already living in you. God has already begun his reign in your life. But you may be asking, "How does God continue his reign in my life?" He continues his reign as we daily submit to the sovereign control of his Holy Spirit. As John MacArthur has written, "You need to respond daily to the royalty residing within you."

Ephesians 5:18 says, "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit." When we drink too much wine, we come under it's influence or control. In a similar way Scripture tells us we can come under the influence or full control of the Holy Spirit. To do that we must surrender control of our lives to the Spirit on a daily basis. In order for God's kingdom to come, our kingdom must go. Only one person can sit on the throne. Either God reigns or we reign.

During the years from 1016 to 1035 there ruled over England a Danish king named Canute. A legend is told of how King Canute tired of hearing his subjects flatter him with extravagant praises of his greatness, power and invincibility. So one day he ordered his throne to be set down by the seashore where he commanded the waves not to come in and wet him! Of course, no matter how forcefully he ordered the tide not to come in, his command was not obeyed. Soon the waves lapped around his throne. As the story goes, King Canute never wore his crown again, but hung it on a statue of the crucified Christ.

Even earthly kings must face the fact that there are some things they cannot control. We can try to control our own lives only to fail in the end. Or we can turn control of our lives over to the one who knows best how to run them.

If God has already commenced his reign in your life, what areas in your life do you need to surrender afresh to his control? Is there some room in the castle of your life that you have tried to keep locked up, out of view, separate from God's reign? If so, give him the key to that room, let him go in and clean house, set things in order and rule over the entire castle of your life.

When we pray, "Your kingdom come," we are not only asking God to commence and continue his reign in our lives, we are asking him to commence and continue his reign in the lives of others as well.

Who are the people for whom we need to be praying that God would take up his reign in their lives? Do we pray for them? How often?

Do we pray for the advancement of God's Kingdom through his Church? His Church will advance only as he reigns supreme. Pray that God would reign supreme in this part of Christ's body.

When we pray, "Your kingdom come," we are asking God to bring heaven to earth, to fully establish his eternal kingdom. Paul talks about this future conjunction of earth and heaven in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18,

Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. [14] We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. [15] According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. [16] For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. [17] After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. [18] Therefore encourage each other with these words.

In ancient times when a conquering king would return from the battlefield, all of his subjects would go out to meet him in the fields and then return with their victorious king to the city. This is the picture Paul is building upon in this passage. Some day Jesus is going to return to earth to fully establish God's eternal kingdom, to bring heaven to earth. We who are his followers will, so to speak, go out to meet him, and we will accompany our glorious king. When we pray, "Your kingdom come," we are in effect saying, "Come back to earth soon Lord Jesus to establish God's forever kingdom."

Phillip Keller tells the following story about a royal visit to Kenya where he grew up:

One day, the whole country was suddenly electrified with the startling news that the colony was to be visited by royalty from London. In fact, King George V had, in response to our request, agreed to send his son, the Prince of Wales, to take up residence in Kenya. We were to receive royalty!

Never before had I seen such elaborate and painstaking preparations for anyone's arrival. We rough-and-ready youngsters were scrubbed and brushed until we shone. Our clothes were washed and ironed to perfection. Our rough boots were cleaned and polished until they glistened.

Finally, the tremendous day for the prince to arrive had come. We were carefully instructed that, as his loyal subjects, we were to march down to the little dusty railway station where his royal train would stop. There we would stand at attention and present ourselves to him as his people. "The prince is coming! The prince is coming!" was the cry of excitement and elation on our lips.

Finally the royal train rolled into the little frontier station. We boys and men stood stiffly at attention. All the girls and ladies, erect and beautiful in gorgeous white gowns, were alert with eager anticipation. The prince stepped from the train. Graciously he walked up and down our little lines, greeting us personally and proudly. He had come to his people, his subjects. He had come among us to take up residence. He was establishing a bit of the British Empire, a bit of his father's kingdom, right there in that untamed, foreign soil of Africa.

It was explained to us that the keys to the city of Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, were to be handed over to him. He was to set up a bit of Britain on African soil. Since he was the king's son and his personal representative, it was exactly the same as if the king himself was in residence among us. The king had come!

It was a grand event in the life of the whole country. It bound us to the British crown and to our king as no other action could have done. We had received royalty!

And the test of our loyalty was soon to be made, when war broke out and most of us were glad to give ourselves freely for king and country. We were then faithful subjects, glad and willing to obey our king's commands.

One day this earth will receive royalty, and not just any royalty-the King of kings and Lord of lords. What are we doing to prepare for his coming?

We can prepare for his coming by beginning to live as citizens of the Kingdom of God here and now. How do we do that?

We do it, first of all, by communicating with our king on a daily basis. Bishop Taylor Smith of the Church of England once wrote, "As soon as I awake each morning I rise from bed at once. I dress promptly. I wash myself, shave and comb my hair. Then fully attired, wide awake and properly groomed I go quietly to my study. There, before God Almighty, and Christ my King, I humbly present myself as a loyal subject to my Sovereign, ready and eager to be of service to Him for the day." If each of us began every day that way we would be well prepared for our King when he comes.

But there is also a second thing we can do each day. We need to allow our king the opportunity to speak to us every day. We need to read our marching orders from the king which are given to us in the Bible. Our king wants to speak with us in a personal way each day.

I had the chance to speak a word to Margaret Thatcher and hear a word from her for about a minute. I seized that opportunity. How much more should we seize the opportunity daily to speak with the Sovereign of the Universe and for him to speak to us through his written word in the Bible!

A third way we can prepare for his coming is to celebrate the kingdom with his other subjects. That is what worship every Sunday is all about-celebrating the kingdom! Jesus often unashamedly likened his kingdom to a party. It's amazing how excited we can get about a football match or some other sport when our local team is playing. How much more should we celebrate and get excited about the kingdom of God in our weekly worship services!

Finally, one more way we can prepare for the coming of the king is by talking to others about him. During the golden years of ancient Greece the runner-warrior Pheidippides ran exhausted into Athens with the news of the Greek victory at Marathon shouting: "Rejoice! We conquer!"

We have the privilege of running into other people's lives on a daily basis and communicating the good news: "Rejoice! He conquers! Rejoice, there is hope even in the midst of your marriage falling apart. Rejoice, there is hope even in the midst of losing your job. Rejoice, there is hope even when you have family struggles." Jesus said, "In this world you will have trouble. But be of good cheer. I have overcome the world."

In a third century debate on Christianity, Celsus said to Origen,

When most teachers go forth to teach, they cry, "Come to me, you who are clean and worthy," and they are followed by the highest calibre of people available. But your silly master cries, "Come to me, you who are down and beaten by life," and so he accumulates around him the rag, tag and bobtail of humanity."

Origen replied to Celsus,

Yes, Christians are the rag, tag and bobtail of humanity. But Jesus does not leave them that way. Out of material you would have thrown away as useless, he fashions men, giving them back their self-respect, enabling them to stand on their feet and look God in the eyes. They were cowed, cringing, broken things. But the Son has set them free.

That is what Jesus can do in our lives today. He can bring the reign of God to us, giving us back our dignity, making of us people more beautiful than the world would ever dream we could be. He wants to make us free citizens of God's kingdom and enable us to pray with all our being, "Your kingdom come."