February 6, 2025 / The Lord’s Prayer

Hey, Calvary Fremont –

OUR FATHER – not our King or President or Prime Minister or Pharaoh or Caeser or Boss or Master. We are children in a family – not citizens of a state, employees of a company, or slaves of a master.

WHO ART IN HEAVEN – our Father is not in the White House or 10 Downing Street or the Kremlin or in a palace or in the corner office or in the room at the top of the stairs. Our Father is above and beyond the earth. He is not subject to kings or judges, parliaments or presidents. He is outside of time and yet inside His children.

HALLOWED BE THY NAME – God is not arbitrary, fickle, random capricious, or mean-spirited. God is holy and full of lovingkindness and delights in righteousness and compassion. God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.

THY KINGDOM COME – this is where the previous three movements of the Lord’s Prayer come together in a significant way. Who He is, where He is, and what He is are so critical to what He wants. What does God want? He wants to take over the world! Yet if He is our Father and if He is holy and if He is above all earthly corruption – that’s OK! Bring it! We are told that Islam wants to take over the world and we cry out, “Oh no!” We are told that Communists want to take over the world and we cry out, “Oh, no.” We are told that the Globalists want to take over the world and we cry out, “Oh no!” And we cry out, “Oh no!” because they are not fatherly or holy and they reek of earth’s corruption and defilement.

THY WILL BE DONE – the prelude to the Father’s Kingdom is the submission of His children to His will. Obedience gives entrance to God’s kingdom – the domain of the King! This is the question of authority. Someone once said, “Authority is the most important issue in the universe.” This being so, who and what you submit to is the most important issue in your life. Will you ultimately submit to your own passions and desires? Will you ultimately submit to another human being? Or will you surrender and submit your life to your Heavenly Father? When you submit to yourself, you’re seeking to establish your own kingdom. When you surrender and submit to another human being or ideology or philosophy, you’re seeking to establish that kingdom. When you surrender and submit to God, you’re establishing His kingdom.

GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD – many seek God’s provision without any thought of His kingdom. The prayer for provision follows the prayer of submission. Here’s the order – “Seek first the kingdom of God and all provision will be given to you.” In the Scriptures, bread refers to physical food, the spiritual nourishment of His Word, and physical healing. “Give us this day, our daily bread.”

FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO TRESPASS AGAINST US – submission to God’s will is submission to the character of God. As He walks in mercy and grace with us, we seek to extend God’s mercy and grace to others. This is the kingdom of God. This is life in the domain of our Father. We extend the Father’s heart to others.

AND LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION, BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL – submission to God, surrendering to His authority, leads us into resisting anything that would challenge His kingdom and His authority in our lives – anything that would undermine the beauty of the life He has called us to live.

FOR THINE IS THE KINGDOM AND THE POWER AND THE GLORY FOREVER – the Father’s kingdom transcends all other kingdoms, all other power, all other glory. The Lord’s Prayer brings us into and keeps us in the supreme place in the universe.

Every day, pray the prayer that the Lord Jesus has taught all His disciples.

Be blessed and stay healthy and follow Jesus. Pastor Tim