Kingdom come on earth as in Heaven

Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven: Matt 6:9-10

Today’s reason for praying – it releases God’s Heavenly Kingdom on earth!

Believing for transformation and creative solutions to the city's needs.

We are living with the dilemma of hearing the call of God but living as part of a world ‘system’ that doesn’t
acknowledge God. The good news is that while we are in the world we are not of it and we can live with a
different agenda that seeks to bring transformation and blessing.
We are all officially world changers as a result. We are empowered and equipped by God to do this!

When Jesus calls His disciples to do something, He gives the resource and the authority to make it happen – for
example when he sent the disciples out to heal the seek, preach the good news, etc – they went out and saw it
happen – they were empowered and resourced to do it. Whenever Jesus spoke His words carried power to carry
out what was proclaimed – your servant is healed – boom, it happened!

Bill Johnson: The Kingdom is the Holy Spirit. When Jesus spoke, His words were Spirit and released
God’s Kingdom on Earth; His words contained the supernatural, the miracle, the healing, and the
impossible within them, to displace the natural. We speak and the Kingdom is manifested because we
host His presence. Through our declaration, words become Spirit and the Kingdom comes upon
situations. We must learn to host the presence by treasuring His presence through affection for, and
intimacy with, Him.

Jesus calls us to change the world – which means we are all empowered and equipped to do just that. The
disciples asked Jesus how to pray – Jesus instructs them and teaches them the Lord’s prayer – why would He
teach a prayer that God would not answer – answering this prayer is the will of God and as we are instructed to
pray it, the expectation is that we can see the answer through our lives.

Last week Paul spoke on the opening line of the Lord’s prayer – Our Father in Heaven…
Today we’re on the next line beginning…

Your Kingdom come (W hose Kingdom?) – it is probably helpful at this stage to note that intimacy with the
Father is key for this next line. This is not a disjointed statement and is inherently linked to the first part of the
prayer. Recognising God as our Father, and therefore us as His children is essential.

Jesus did what He saw God do, said what He heard. Intimacy ensures we are set apart and carry authority and
power.

A family business gets passed to the child who invests in the relationship and learns the ways of the
business – those who do business with this child know they carry the authority of the owner. The child
who is estranged or hasn’t got involved with the family business won’t inherit it and those who do
business will have had no dealings with them and they will carry no authority.

Not just God’s but ours – we are sons and daughters – we are part of this Kingdom. We have authority to
establish the Kingdom. There needs to be a sense of our owning the Kingdom together – we are co-labourers
with Christ in it. Don’t get me wrong – it is still God’s kingdom, we haven’t taken it from him, but we need to
recognise we are inherently part of it, and that being part of it is part of our identity as His children. Just as the
Queen is monarch over the nation – it is still our nation – we are still British, it is inherently part of who we are – it
defines our culture. Or just because Mel and I bought our house doesn’t make it any less Bethea and Joha’s.
It is even more so within God’s Kingdom because we aren’t just subjects of the Kingdom – we are children and
heirs of the Kingdom!
The Kingdom comes on earth through our prayers – it’s not new, it has always been that way. But it is prayers
that flow out of intimacy with the Father that make the real difference – as we pray in relationship with him, our
identity is cemented as children of God and we are enabled and empowered to release Heaven into any situation
we find ourselves in – just as Jesus did. In prayer and resulting action (having heard from God) we play our part
in the family business and bring Heaven to earth.

We have an active part to play in seeing this part of the Lord’s prayer answered – faith is a necessary part of this
journey. Faith is easier to grow and hold on to when it flows from intimacy – ultimately our faith is in God, and
through prayer and relationship with Him we capture His heart and understand His character which solidifies
our faith.

Faith necessary – cast mountain into the sea. Matt 21:21

Mountain speaks of Kingdom, Sea speaks of nations – this is not so much about getting rid of things we don’t
want and casting out sickness, poverty, etc.
Faith brings the Kingdom to the nations - this is about bringing God’s Kingdom into our world. When the
Kingdom of light comes, darkness disappears. This is not so much praying against sickness but releasing health –
releasing that which Heaven holds – as such this makes this all about presence – when the King comes, the
Kingdom is present.

It sounds simple doesn’t it? On one level it is because God’s word is true and is not limited by life or
circumstance. His Kingdom is forcefully advancing (Matt 11:12 NLT) whether we see it or not. The plans of the
enemy cannot stop the Kingdom being established in the earth.
On the face of things, it can look difficult and circumstances may seem to be the opposite of this. Long standing
illness and pain – like my shoulder, Vix with her brain tumour that shrunk miraculously then grew more rapidly
and has become more aggressive. Broken relationship, society in a mess, the poor getting poorer.
But God says His Kingdom does not include pain, sickness, tumours, brokenness, poverty. His Kingdom is full of
goodness and will be released.

Our challenge is to live according to what God says is true – to align with His word, to be citizens of Heaven living
with a Kingdom culture in a world that doesn’t recognise this and being agents of transformation within it. This is
only possible through intimacy with God – without this we will naturally grow cold to the word of God, we will
lose faith and find ourselves aligned with the world in cynicism, lacking hope and robbed of the future God has
planned. The world doesn’t need people like that – it needs life bringers, light bearers, peace makers, hope
restorers. It needs Kingdom children.

Your will be done… The Kingdom comes with God’s will being done – The Father and His will must matter
more than us and ours (only possible through intimacy).

As a church we have had this experience – we had a building fund for years - it had been prophesied that we
would be given buildings – yet we were saving to buy one (and getting nowhere near being able to afford one).
Shortly after we took the decision to give away this money and invest in buildings overseas in Thailand and India,
things begin to shift and we move here with the Methodists talking about this building becoming ours – we’re still
moving towards this (albeit slower than we’d like). In 2 weeks time,Townhill Park Community Centre becomes
ours – effectively given to us by the City Council. We are paying them £1200 a year for the building, and then
they are paying us £13.5k to rent two offices there.

The logical decision would have been to keep hold of our building fund and try to grow it, yet in giving it away
something was unlocked and God’s promises moved towards fulfilment.
I’m sure we all have examples in our own lives of God seemingly leading us to do what looks odd in worldly terms,
but ending up leading to the best for us. I only ended up working for the church and stepping into some of the
promises of God in my life by turning down a job 16 years ago with a good salary, funding for a PhD and great
perks to give a voluntary year working for the church unpaid.
Who carries out God’s will? We do – and prayer is vital to this, to our understanding of God’s heart and what His
will is in any given situation. To see God’s will done and His Kingdom come we need to align with Him - it starts in
our own lives – discovering His will for my own life and then putting that into action. Which isn’t always easy –
often God speaks and says something that seems contrary to what would seem natural. Probably because He is
super natural, and is leading us into a supernatural, heavenly lifestyle.

Obviously this line of the Lord’s prayer is about more than just us carrying out His will, although it starts here,
and don’t underestimate the importance of this. Ultimately this prayer is a call for everyone to carry out His will.
We’re praying here for God’s will to be carried out throughout the earth – we desire to see God’s will carried out
in our nation, through our government – again we have a role to play here through our engagement with society
– influencing the mountains of society – education, business, arts and entertainment, family, government, media
and religion. It does happen – there are examples of people who don’t know God being used by him, and others
where those who don’t know God are influenced into carrying out His will by those who do know God.

Joseph and Daniel are great examples of this… They were thrust into Kingdoms that were nothing like God’s, yet
as they remained committed to God in prayer themselves, they were given influence that brought transformation
and saw elements of Heaven released on earth.
Daniel refused to bow to the ruler of the day and committed to praying to God regularly. God protected him
from the Lion’s den and the fiery furnace and he was given a position of influence that saw transformation result
– the King of Babylon that stood itself up against God and His Kingdom received salvation through Daniel’s
influence.
Joseph thrown into slavery and prison, yet refusing to bow to the ways of the world and remaining faithful and
true to God, found himself propelled into influence as the second in command in Egypt, rescuing a nation and
bringing provision to God’s people. Joseph was part of releasing the Kingdom of God.

These two took hold of what God gave them, took creative solutions from God and ran with them to meet needs,
seeing huge transformation and incredible influence – amidst a world that, more than didn’t acknowledge God,
was hostile towards Him.

The situation looked bad. They believed God. God came through as promised.

The question therefore is, do we truly believe and are we holding onto and standing on God’s
word to us?

Some years ago God spoke to us as a church and instructed us to go to the streets, to the poor and those on the
margins. We looked at what this meant and responded in a number of ways – starting the CLEAR project working
with refugees – I remember being involved in starting this in a room at the Goodall’s house – I remember starting
a bike repair workshop and teaching the first English course, writing a basic curriculum – look at it now, blessed
and well regarded within the City – taking the lead on initiatives.

We took The Gate under the City Life charity to work with those trapped in the sex industry and we are seeing
this project grow and transform, engaging with other agencies and looking at models for chaplaincy in strip clubs
and more.

People here started a soup run which is still going, we’re exploring homeless housing opportunities, we engaged
with the community café for street homeless and vulnerably house and been key in running a missional
community. We’re now starting a volunteering and employment project called Greenhouse to reach others on
the fringes.

All these things are great and are about the poor and marginalised, but it feels to me like we are now beginning to
see fulfilment of God’s word as we literally go out onto the streets with the Swaythling Outreach. The promise of
God as we went to the streets was that we would see salvation, the growth of a multicultural church, prodigals
returning – all things we’ve longed for, but it feels that like we’re entering a time of fulfilment!
It takes courage and faith to step into this. It is certainly not something I’m naturally inclined towards. To walk
straight up to a stranger and speak to them is not an easy thing to do. Even harder when it is someone you know
and know you will be seeing again!
It takes an intimacy with God because it is His presence with us that makes the different.
I went out on Tuesday evening and Wednesday lunchtime this week…. Nervous… fear of people’s reactions and
what they’d think by being accosted in the street. Felt like I needed to overcome something to go… I enjoyed
Tuesday night though (and it was great to see a good crowd of people having turned up to go) – by the time we
went out after spending time in God’s presence I wasn’t nervous and it didn’t feel too unnatural a thing to do.
Wednesday I was a bit more rushed, with a lot in my diary that needed doing. I was tired and not feeling
particularly well but went anyway.

Not as bad as you’d think. Didn’t feel too nervous. Didn’t speak to everyone who went past, some discernment –
body language, people turning away from us etc, some because I hadn’t quite geed myself up enough! Didn’t
allow condemnation to take hold as some walked by. Spoke to people, some outright rejections, generally still
polite though – one guy, as soon as he heard we were from a church just turned and walked off, some were warm
and willing to chat. Prayed blessing for 6 or 7 people, got contact details for one to follow up – not too bad for
two lots of about half an hour. Maybe not the highest numbers but a million times more than I’ve done like that
over the past few years!
I’ve been in touch with the one person who gave contact details and have arranged to meet him for coffee this
week to follow up and chat some more about Jesus!

We’re called to pray for the Kingdom to come and God’s will to be done – it is the desire of God to answer our
prayers. The Kingdom coming is Gods, but also ours because we are sons and daughters, heirs. Our faith causes
mountains to be cast into the sea, seeing the Kingdom of Heaven released in the nations. God’s will is carried out
through his people and our influence in the world.

We’re looking for creative solutions to the world’s problems, to transform our world into the likeness of God’s
Kingdom, to meet needs with Heaven’s provision, to see health triumph over sickness, to see salvation break out
in lives and more besides. The encouragement today is that God’s ultimate creative solution is us – a people who
are known as God’s children, partnering with Him to release His Kingdom and will into the earth by living in
intimate relationship with Him, operating in faith and being obedient to His call and His will.

Questions for connect groups:

1. What do you think it looks like to see God’s Kingdom Come?

2. What does God’s will being done look like for you?

3. What role do we have to play in this happening?

4. How does our understanding of who we are in God affect this?

5. Do we see our walk with God, and intimacy with Him, as vital to seeing God’s Kingdom come on
earth? How are we cultivating this?

6. What stories do you have of following God’s will, even when it seemed illogical to do so? What
was the result?
7. Are there things God is calling you to do at the moment? Pray together into these things.

8. How do you feel knowing that God’s creative solution is us?