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Tuesday, October 23rd (Day Nine)

Read:
Matthew 6:5-15

"Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

Reflect:
Like many of you, I learned the Lord's Prayer when I was very young. I could say the Lord's Prayer in church while simultaneously wondering what our family would do for lunch and counting the number of pipes in the pipe organ. That is to say, I often said the Lord's Prayer, but I rarely prayed the Lord's Prayer.

If I had truly prayed the Lord's Prayer, I would have wondered what Jesus meant when he told us to pray for the Father's "kingdom to come...on earth as it is in heaven." I believe what Jesus is teaching is that we should be prayerfully expectant that the Lord will do what he promised to do - redeem his creation from sin and its effects. Therefore, we should pray that he would bring his promise to fruition.

But how does he do this? One of the ways God promises to extend his Kingdom is through us. This partly explains the very difficult teaching he gives in verses 15 and 16 regarding forgiveness. One of the things that should characterize us if God's Kingdom has penetrated our hearts is forgiveness. Forgiveness is "un-natural" - we are predisposed in our fallen nature to harbor bitterness and not to forgive. If we are able to forgive, it shows the reality of God's Kingdom - that it has come to us and that we are able to extend it to others. This is something worth praying about. It is also something worth pursuing with all our energy and resources.

Apply:

1. When you pray the Lord's Prayer, do you really expect the Lord to answer you? Why or why not?
2. Do you actively pray for and work toward the expansion of God's Kingdom in Houston and beyond? How can Christ the King's permanent facility be used an instrument of expanding God's Kingdom?

Pray:

1. That God's Kingdom would invade your own heart first - making you able to forgive others and be zealous to work toward the extension of his Kingdom.
2. That God would use Christ the King (and particularly our new facility) to extend his Kingdom in Houston and beyond.