Week 5 – Devotional 2 - Jesus Teaches About Prayer – His Sanctified Name, His Kingdom in Us, His Will

01/04/2014 - Tuesday – Read Matthew 6:9,10



1 – When Jesus says “Hallowed or Sanctified Be Thy Name”, He is not meaning to making Him holy, but acknowledging, and declaring Him to be holy, and a glorifying Him, and all His perfections. He is sanctified by Himself, by declaring Himself to be holy; by glorifying His perfections in His works; by implanting grace and holiness in the hearts of His people; by restoring the purity of His worship; by diffusing the knowledge of Himself in the world; and by taking vengeance on the wicked: and He is sanctified by others, when they fear Him, believe in Him, call upon His name, use it reverently, submit to His will, acknowledge His mercies, regard His commands and ordinances, and live a holy life.



2 – In which way can you “sanctify” God’s name today and during this week?



3 – The Messiah's kingdom had not yet come (Matthew 4:17), but was proclaimed by the Lord as at hand. It did speedily come (Luke 17:20,21) but in its fullness, and in its final triumph over evil, it has not yet come. For this coming we may now pray, and the prayer is answered in part by each success of the gospel. In this petition the disciples were taught to pray for the success of the Gospel, for the conversion of God's elect (in which the kingdom of God would greatly appear), to the destruction of the kingdom of Satan.



4 – What is God’s Will? His Will is basically two things. All the other things are an unfolding of these two things. The first is His glorification and adoration (Isaiah 43:7) and the second is the expansion of the Gospel (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15). The interesting part is if the Kingdom of God comes and advances ahead, then Jesus becomes the King in people’s lives, so this will result in more people worshiping God. This means that the very one will of God is His praise. Also, when we are evangelizing we are at the same time praising the Lord (declaring who He is). Finally for the will of God to be done our will has to be in one accord with His will. God wants the whole Earth to become just like heaven. For this to happen our lives on Earth have to reflect what happens up in Heaven, i.e., our total submission to God’s will. After seeing this, what is God’s will for your life? What is hindering you to accomplish it?