PRAYER AND ITS IMPORTANCE FOR THE KINGDOM

MF Blume
January 19, 2014 in Winkler, MB

Mat 6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Mat 6:10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Mat 6:11 Give us this day our daily bread.
Mat 6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
Mat 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Rev 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
Rev 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

Jesus told us to pray for the Father's Kingdom to come, and Revelation 12 shows the Kingdom coming and the saints overcoming the devil.

Heaven and earth are key points in the Lord's prayer.

Our Father's will in Heaven must be prayed down into the earth.
Prayer is the key.

I want to share with you the seriousness of prayer and how the Book of Revelation, where we read of the Kingdom actually coming, bears witness with that importance.

When you read Revelation with the need for the will of God in heaven to be done in the earth, all of the references in Revelation to heaven and earth come alive.

One other point as we begin.
In the same sermon on the mount in which Jesus gave us the Lord's prayer, we read these words about heaven and earth.

Mat 5:34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:
Mat 5:35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.

This concept comes from Isaiah:

Isa 66:1 Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?

So we can actually pray:

"Our Father which art at the throne, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done at the footstool even as it is at the throne."

And that really comes into focus when we read the most popular Old Testament verse ever quoted in the new.

Psa 110:1 A Psalm of David. The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

Jesus went to heaven when he sat on the right hand throne.

Mar 16:19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.

And we find the Father speaking to the Son of God and informing Him of His will.

The will of the Father is for the Son to remain seated while the Father makes the Son's enemies His footstool.
And the throne is there in heaven when he makes mention of the footstool.
The kingdom coming is the enemies on earth being made his footstool.

Psalm 110 is a picture of the kingdom.

Jesus is on the throne.
He's in heaven.
All is A-okay in heaven.
But the Father wills for the Son's enemies to be made his footstool on the earth.
That is where we come into the picture.

We're told to pray for the Father's will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

At the footstool las it is at the throne.
And if the Father's will is to make Christ's enemies His footstool, then unless we pray, the will of the Father will not be done.

Jesus' seating is again referred to in Hebrews 10 where the writer of Hebrews got a revelation of what the thought of being seated was all about.

Heb 10:11 And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:
Heb 10:12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
Heb 10:13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool

It meant WORK WAS DONE that other priests in the old covenant could never complete.

That work was offering a sacrifice that takes away sins.
They offered millions of them and continued standing since the work was not done, but Jesus offered ONE and SAT DOWN.

After Psalm 110 mentioned the will of the Father, we read what it involved.

Psa 110:2 The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.

Rule in the midst of your enemies.

In heaven where He rules on the throne there are no enemies.
So how can he rule in the midst of his enemies while He is seating in heaven where there are no enemies to be in the midst of?
The clue is that we are the body of Christ in the earth.
So, He rules in the midst of His enemies by US RULING WITH HIM.

And that is the reason the Lord's Prayer involves all the things we need to deal with in order for God';s Kingdom to come to the earth and his will to be done in earth as it is in heaven.

FORGIVE US AS WE FORGIVE.
LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION.
DELIVER US FROM EVIL.
Prayer against the enemy is how we rule.

And to indicate that all these things are necessary in order for the kingdom to come, we are then told to say that we pray all these things, "FOR THINE IS THE KINGDOM."

Did you ever stop to think that Jesus told us to pray about forgiveness only if we forgive BECAUSE THE KINGDOM IS HIS?
Why would the kingdom being HIS KINGDOM be the reason for us to seek forgiveness as we forgive others?
It is because His kingdom cannot come if we do not receive forgiveness and do not forgive others, and if we do not cover the other elements.

Notice that John weeps because there is a book in the right hand of the one on the throne in Revelation 5 that nobody can take and unseal.

Rev 5:1 And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.
Rev 5:2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?
Rev 5:3 And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.
Rev 5:4 And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.

When we go to Ezekiel 2, the Old Testament version of Revelation, we read about the same picture.

Eze 2:8 But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee.
Eze 2:9 And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein;
Eze 2:10 And he spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.

If we go to Revelation 10, we read:

Rev 10:8 And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.
Rev 10:9 And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.
Rev 10:10 And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.

The same thing is said about the roll in Ezekiel 3.

Eze 3:1 Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel.
Eze 3:2 So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll.
Eze 3:3 And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.

Eze 3:14 So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the LORD was strong upon me.

Why would John weep over someone unable to take such a book full of woes and lamentations and judgments?

It was because God's will must be done on earth by making Christ's enemies His footstool, and unless those judgments are poured upon the earth to deal with the wickedness of man His will simply is not going to be done in earth.
And we read this, which shows us how OUR PRAYERS are involved in all of this.

Rev 5:8 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.

The prayers of the saints are associated with the opening of the sealed book!

And the people who were praying then are heard to say this:

Rev 5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;Rev 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

WE SHALL REIGN ON THE EARTH!

We shall tread down the wicked beneath our feet.

Luk 10:19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Even the souls of those slain by wicked men are seen in Revelation 6 under the altar like blood flows underneath an altar when something is sacrificed, as they gave their lives in sacrifice to God.

And they PRAY for what is going on in the earth AT THE FOOTSTOOL.

Rev 6:9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
Rev 6:10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

Later in Revelation 12 we read of the devil cast out of heaven.

Rev 12:8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
Rev 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Rev 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
Rev 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

The brethren who were accused were the ones attributed with the victory of having the devil cast into the earth.

They were the kings and priests who overcame the devil by the blood.
The same blood that made them kings and priests in Revelation 5.

And part of the reason the devil was cast out was because THEY OVERCAME the devil who was distinctly called their ACCUSER.

In other words, they PRAYED the Lord's Prayer and covered the very things in that prayer that REMOVE THE DEVIL'S INFLUENCE FROM OUR LIVES so that HE CANNOT
ACCUSE US ANY MORE!

They prayed for daily bread of the WORD.
They sought forgiveness when they sinned, and God heard them because they were forgiving other people who sinned against them as well.

Jesus said:

Mat 6:14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
Mat 6:15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

They prayed to not be led into temptation and to be delivered from evil.

They prayed all of this because they knew the Kingdom they are praying to the Father to come is His kingdom.
And His kingdom will not come unless we take away the opportunity for the devil to accuse us by covering all these bases.

Luk 11:20 But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you.

Satan is cast into the earth in Rev 12 and the KINGDOM IS COME.

Jesus said devils are cast out and the kingdom is come.

Rev 8:3 And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.Rev 8:4 And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand.
Rev 8:5 And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.

Again we see reference to the earth being judged in answer to these prayers of the saints.

This will put steroids in your prayers!

SERMONS