Prayer & The Kingdom

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This is good Truth Network encouraging prayer, God offers an open invitation for his people to talk with him anytime about anything encouraging prayer Dr. James Banks authored the best-selling and many other books on prayer provides weekly for insight help you learn to mom and now only have a bit of scratch or fortitude, something really good to ponder.

Start out by asking two questions this morning. Why and what if such a go ahead and take it from here. Probably Christmas Eve where we think about the greatest gift of all, God's son and it also the Advent season where we recognize Jesus not only entered human history once is coming again, and we need to be ready and are our prayers have something to do with that.

Some to dad like to talk about a very specific request. Jesus taught us to pray the Lord's prayer.

That request is your kingdom come, which of course means I want your kingdom to be fully realized Lord's come soon. Lord Jesus, so what that really means is that there will be a new heaven and a new earth, all of creation will be fully restored by God. That's right. And when God's word talks about in second Peter 312 it says we should look forward to the day of God" speed its coming.

Some other good translations use the word hasten, but think about that God's word seems to indicate that we can speed up the day when his kingdom comes when when all of this happened we can hasten its coming. I think I see where your havoc with this prayer. Your kingdom come, is really a part of that is I really believe it is Robbie and I think Scripture backs that up is a very important lesson in this for all of us and I like to go there in a moment, let's do that.

But before we do. James what you say to the person who responds God is sovereign and he will do what he will do so how can our prayers have any effect on when the Lord returns to good question. I absolutely agree with the truth. The fact that God is sovereign but what's clear from Scripture is that Jesus is clearly taught us to pray for his kingdom to come. So I believe there's no inconsistency there.

This is where that question why comes in where in Scripture. Does God ever tell us to pray for something and then say he won't give it to us. He wants us to come to him and ask. So why would he have a ask for something where a person would make any difference. God never tells us to ask for things just as way going through the motions. He is a reason for teaching us to pray that way and that doesn't conflict with his sovereignty at all, singer plant, but do you think is teaching us to ask that way because he just wants to focus our hearts, to seek his kingdom first I think that's an important part of it, but it's definitely not all of it and this is where it really gets interesting because you have to take a look at the end of the book in Revelation 5 and Revelation 8 first. Revelation 58 describes these golden bowls full of incense that are presented before God and it says these are the prayers of God's people, and I love that passage because it shows us you know how precious our prayers are to God or like incense to.

We talked about that before, but then move forward to Revelation 8 and you see something else. An angel comes and stands before God in heaven now. Now listen to this. I'm going to read it.

Starting Revelation 8 starting verse three. So we don't miss a word. Another angel who had a golden sensor came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God's people on the golden altar in front of the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God's people went up before God from the angel's hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled with fire from the altar and hurled it on the your and there came peals of thunder rumbling's flashes of lightning, and an earthquake, then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them out so trump the ribose signal the beginning of the dry right when the seventh angel sounds his trumpet the last trumpet. This announcement comes with the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah and he will reign for ever and ever. That's a lever. Revelation 1115 but where so here's the point what's in the censer mixed with the fire from the altar. We've already seen that right primary care prayer that is hurled to the earth would be incense in the fire from the altar and you can see in chapter 5 word. The incense is prayer. So the point is our prayers have something to do with the end of days.

Something vital, something important. It's right there clearly laid out in Scripture. The connection between our prayers and that request, Jesus taught us to kingdom come. That's amazing, James. No wonder the devil wants to keep us from praying really, that's exactly right. And it also shows us the priority God has placed on our prayers and that brings us to the second question, what is why we played more for his kingdom to come. The message of Scripture is clear that our prayers are an important part of that kingdom come in the are a vital part of how did Peter put it, how we speed its coming right awesome reasons want to pray more coming to pray for those who don't know Jesus, to pray that we can be ready to pray for sin and death to be done with in God's kingdom to come forever on mass pretty exciting. What if it really is.

And there's more power in our prayers and we know God in his mercy has placed it there. He wants us to avail ourselves of the opportunities are absolutely stunning, and the consequences of not doing so are heartbreaking.

We've got to pray our our prayers matter deeply and accomplish great things that the imbalance put it, God shapes the world by prayer. Yes he does. James wraps up this time of the prayer that we really take this to heart. Absolutely. Let's pray Lord Jesus come soon. Your kingdom come. Help us Lord to pray this want you to return. Help us to be ready help our loved ones to be ready to fill us with your spirit so that you may well be ever hear more from Pastor James by visiting the website James Banks.org or by visiting these church in Durham, North Carolina.

May God bless you and encourage you to pray. This is the Truth Network