Recap:
Most of us have prayed the Lord’s Prayer at some point in our lives. Some of us grew up saying it in church. Some of us memorized it as kids. Some of us can still say it without even thinking. “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name…” It is familiar. It is beautiful. But because it is so familiar, we can sometimes say it without realizing what we are actually praying.
Jesus did not give us the Lord’s Prayer as empty religious words. He gave us something powerful. He gave us words that are meant to change us. And right in the middle of that prayer, Jesus teaches us to pray one of the most dangerous prayers we could ever pray: “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
That sounds spiritual. It sounds holy. It sounds like something we should say in church. But when we really understand it, we realize we are not simply asking God to bless our plans. We are not asking God to help us build our own little kingdoms. We are saying, “God, Your kingdom, not mine. Your will, not mine. Your way, not mine.”
And that is hard, because most of us do not wake up in the morning thinking about the Kingdom of God. We wake up thinking about bills, kids, marriage, work, pressure, problems, schedules, and everything we feel like we have to carry. We wake up thinking about our world. Our stress. Our plans. Our control.
If we are honest, we all tend to build our own kingdoms. We want life to work a certain way. We want people to act a certain way. We want our spouse, our kids, our boss, our finances, and our future to fall into place the way we think they should. And somewhere deep down, we think, “If everyone would just do it my way, everything would be fine.”
But the truth is, when we try to build our own kingdom in our own strength, we usually make a mess of things. We may have good intentions, but our control cannot produce what only God’s kingdom can produce. So when Jesus teaches us to pray, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done,” He is inviting us into surrender.
That prayer is really saying, “God, let Your rule invade every place in me where I am still resisting You.” It is asking God to come into the rooms of our hearts where we have kept the door closed. The places where we are afraid. The places where we are angry. The places where we are still holding onto sin. The places where we want control. The places where we have said, “God, You can have everything except this.”
But Jesus wants all of it.
To pray, “Your kingdom come,” is to pray against the kingdoms we have built in our own lives. It is to say, “God, take a sledgehammer to anything in me that does not honor You. Demolish what is destroying me. Tear down my fear, my pride, my greed, my unforgiveness, my sin, my need for control—and build Your kingdom in me.”
That is not a soft prayer. That is a prayer of demolition. But it is also a prayer of rescue.
Because God does not come to destroy us. He comes to destroy what is destroying us.
That is the beauty of the Kingdom of God. When God’s kingdom comes, mourning turns into dancing. Ashes become beauty. Shame becomes glory. Graves become gardens. Dead things come alive again. Weakness becomes strength. What the world counted out, God breathes life into.
But here is the tension: we want the blessings of the kingdom, but we do not always want the King. We want joy, peace, freedom, healing, and breakthrough, but we struggle to surrender control. We want Jesus to rescue us, but we still want to sit on the throne.
And Jesus does not force His way in. He invites. He draws. He convicts. He confronts. He warns. He loves. But He does not turn us into robots. He gives us the ability to say yes or no.
That means your yes matters.
God has chosen to make your yes powerful. And because your yes matters, your no has consequences. When we say yes to Jesus, we make room for the power of God to move in our lives. But when we say no, when we keep resisting, when we insist on our own kingdom, we experience the weight and consequences of trying to be our own king.
That is why surrender is not weakness. Surrender is where the power is.
Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” That is the life of the kingdom. It is not Jesus helping us live our old life a little better. It is Jesus becoming our life. It is saying, “Not my will, but Yours. Not my kingdom, but Yours. Not my way, but Yours.”
And we can trust Him with that surrender because Jesus is not a king who takes and takes and takes. He is the King who gave Himself for us. He wore a crown of thorns. He went to the cross. He gave His life to rescue us from darkness and bring us into light.
Colossians says that God rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of His dear Son. That is what happens when we surrender. We are not just forgiven. We are transferred. We are moved from one kingdom to another. From darkness to light. From death to life. From our broken rule to His perfect reign.
So when we pray, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done,” we are praying, “God, rescue me. Rule in me. Have Your way in my marriage. Have Your way in my family. Have Your way in my finances. Have Your way in my work. Have Your way in my mind. Have Your way in my future. I surrender.” And maybe today, that is the invitation. Maybe there is one area you have been holding back. Maybe it is unforgiveness. Maybe it is fear. Maybe it is control. Maybe it is your marriage, your kids, your finances, your health, your work, or your whole life. Whatever it is, Jesus is inviting you to say yes.
Your yes makes room for His power. Your yes opens the door for His kingdom. Your yes says, “Jesus, I am done trying to be king. I give You control. Demolish what needs to be demolished. Build what only You can build. Your kingdom come. Your will be done.” That is the prayer. That is the surrender. That is the invitation. Not my kingdom. Not my will. Jesus, be King.
Group Questions:
Icebreakers
- Did you grow up saying or hearing the Lord’s Prayer? What memories come to mind when you hear it?
- What is one area of life where people naturally like to be in control?
- What is something small that can easily throw off your whole day?
Opening Scripture
Read Matthew 6:9-13 together.
Focus verse:
“Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Discussion Questions
- When you hear the phrase, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done,” what do you usually think it means?
- Pastor David said many of us don’t wake up thinking about the Kingdom of God—we wake up thinking about bills, kids, work, marriage, stress, and everything we have to do. What tends to fill your mind first in the morning?
- The sermon talked about how we all try to build our own little kingdoms. What are some ways we do that in everyday life?
- Why is it hard to pray, “God, Your will, not mine”?
- Pastor David said, “To pray the Lord’s Prayer rightly is to pray against yourself.” What do you think that means?
- What is the difference between asking God to bless your plans and actually surrendering your plans to Him?
- The message described surrender as allowing God to “demolish” the things in us that do not honor Him. What are some things God may need to tear down in a person’s heart?
- The sermon said, “Jesus comes to destroy what is destroying you.” How does that change the way you think about surrender?
- Read Galatians 2:20. What does it mean to live like “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me”?
- Pastor David said, “Your yes makes room for the power of God.” Where have you seen someone’s yes to God change their life?
- Why do you think we sometimes want the blessings of God’s kingdom without fully surrendering to the King?
- What is one area of your life where it is difficult to say, “God, Your kingdom come, Your will be done”?
Personal Application
- Where have you been saying, “God, You can have everything except this”?
- Is there an area where you have been trying to stay in control instead of trusting God?
- What would it look like this week to say yes to God in that area?
- What is one practical step you can take to surrender that area to Jesus?