So I want you to go ahead and take your device or your Bible and go to Matthew, chapter six. And a lot of Bibles are made with these little tassels. So you might just want to drop one right in there. For the next three or four weeks, we're going to be working through this series we're calling Praying with Priority. Got a couple of things.

Let me just start with this morning to make a mental note. First of all, if you didn't see the post or didn't hear, Wednesday night, the first Monday of every month for the rest of this year will be days of prayer. Building off of our week of prayer, we'll meet the first Monday of each month. So the next one is February 2nd, 6am just like those of you that miss the snow this morning, it's like you just let the air right out of my balloon. No, it's going to be a precious time.

We didn't want this to be something that we just did to do. But each month will have a different theme, a different focus because it's not prayer meeting, it's a call to pray. And so I hope that you'll make plans to come to do that because what we're trying to instill in us is this idea of praying first, praying together, and praying always that it is the first thing that we do to bring that to the Lord. Also, this upcoming Wednesday, we kick off our next round of gather groups. You're welcome, Kevin.

Just make sure you get signed up. We got some placements. We got to determine where classes are meeting. So if you haven't had a chance to sign up for a group, go on the app. If you're like, I don't know even how to turn my phone on, call Deborah at the front office this week.

Get signed up so we can make plans for that. And finally, it's one of my favorite times of the year. In just a few weeks, we'll be having Night to Shine here on our campus. Already well over 300 volunteers have signed up to make that a very special night for our special friends. But we still need some more help.

And if you go on the app to sign up, you'll see the areas that we need help in. So please, number one, do that today. But also spread the word. A lot of you are on Facebook and a lot of you follow our church page and so share the day of prayer and share the announcement for Night to Shine so that that you can reach to your community. Those families that may want to bring their child or their adult to tonight to shine.

That'd be helpful. It generates momentum. And so please be willing to say that, you know, I wrestled yesterday. In fact, in the middle of the afternoon, I went with my daughter to see a movie. And we got back and I had a little bit of writer's block, and so I took a stroll down our street, and I'm sitting here going like, lord, I need to paint the tension of what I'm going to talk about today.

Like, what kind of story could I tell? And, well, I started going through all the movies that I had watched, and some of you are like, you are weird. I know that's not the first time I've ever heard that, but I do watch a movie one time, and it sticks in my brain. I'm just honest. So I started thinking about Maverick in Top Gun and how rogue he was, and he had a hard time following leadership, busting towers and not sticking with his wingman.

But because I have a little bit of a flair for animation, started thinking about Lightning McQueen and how Lightning McQueen in cars had his. He had this set way that he was going to do things and he was going to be successful. But the tragedy of that story is no one was along for the ride. He couldn't even keep his crew. And none of that really fit to the tension that I want to paint today.

And that is this verse 10. Verse 10 is the most dangerous part of the lord's prayer. Verse 10 is probably one of those things. And I'm trying to warn you, because a lot of times we say things and we don't pay attention to what it is we're saying. Sometimes we slow down long enough to listen to the songs that we sing, but we robotically and liturgically, we come in and we'll sing those songs and not realize that we're declaring something to the Lord that either we want to be true or that is true.

And verse 10 is probably the most dangerous prayer that you can pray, but it's dangerous in the sense not just because when you say it, it could bring condemnation on you, but it actually might open up a realm and a door to your life that. That you have never experienced before. It may usher into your life power that you've never seen before, that God may do actually something through and in your life that you have never thought about. Thy kingdom come and thy will be done. Two of the most dangerous words that we could probably ever say.

Because here's the problem. I can say the words without praying them first. Peter, chapter five, verse number six, says to humble yourself under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you at proper time. The action there from us is humility, not speaking, that when we put ourself under the mighty hand of God, we are submitting, say submit, submitting to his authority. So if you remember going to school, your teacher may have assigned a project to you and they would usually give you a sheet.

And that sheet is called a rubric, not a cube, but a rubric. And it's how the teacher was going to grade your work. Now, you may have been rogue and decided, you know what? I know better than that teacher and I know what else I got to do, so I'm going to do my own thing. Shouldn't have been shocking when you got your grade back and it was an F because you didn't submit to the authority of your teacher.

Same thing happens when a child is told to clean their room a certain way, the way the parent wants it cleaned. And you go up there to find two and a half loads of laundry crammed in the foot of the closet and they're grounded and they're like, I don't know, what's the problem? You didn't do it the way you were asked. Or maybe you worked at a job and your supervisor said, I need you to do X, Y and Z. Buy X, Y and Z this way at this time.

And you're like, my supervisor's stupid. I'll do it my way. Sorry, I know you're not supposed to say stupid if you're fifth grade and under, but it is in the Bible. By the way, don't be shocked when you get termination letters because you didn't do it the way your supervisor wanted it done. And I could go on and on and on.

The issue is not of work. The issue is not what you say. The issue is submission to pray, your kingdom come, your will be done, is so dangerous if you have no intention of carrying out what you're saying. If you back up to Matthew 5:37 in the context, Jesus says this, but I say to you, do not make oaths at all, either by heaven, listen, for it's the throne of God, or by earth, because it is his footstool. Did you catch that?

Because we're going to talk about heaven and earth in a little bit, but you should say yes, yes or no. No. Let your yes be yes and your no be no. That when I speak something as if it's going to be reality and I go back against what I've just spoken, I'm a liar and I bring condemnation and judgment upon myself. That's why I'm saying, how many times have you and I quoted the Lord's Prayer?

But it's not a prayer until I've submitted to the Lord. Hundreds of churches today got up and people in the congregation recited this prayer with no intention of carrying it out. No intention of living as a citizen of the kingdom of God. No intention of God knowing God's will and doing God's will.

No places matter more than this part of the Lord's Prayer. As we come to him as our Father. Yes, there is intimacy. But you got to remember that this God, who is full of grace as our Father, is also full of truth and righteousness and holiness and has a plan and a purpose, not just for you, but for his church. And not just for his church, for his people.

And not just for his people, but for his world. I need to be in alignment with what the will of God is. And if I'm going to pray thy will be done, then I need to be willing to be an instrument of that will being done. Honestly, when you reflect on this value, the most logical thing that we could pray is God, am I in your will? And if I'm not, show me how I can.

If I'm going to pray as he's taught us to pray, then that's what I need to do. So now let me scare you again. Stand up and let's read this prayer.

But as I read it, I want you to reflect on what it is saying. Remember, I told you there are six petitions in this prayer. The first three deal with petitions about God. The last three deal with petitions about us. And there's a reason there's that order.

I've got to get my heart in alignment with what God wants before I start trying to twist his arm to tell him what he needs to do. Pray this. Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive our debts, as we forgive those, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom, yours is the power, yours is the glory forever. And all of God's people said, amen. Will you have a seat? So we're going to hit.

I chewed a cough drop two seconds before we went live. Sorry, I got choked. So we have the second and the third petitions of the Lord's Prayer. And just to remind you, these are in the command voice in the scripture in its original language, in the simple past tense. So check this out.

Like Jesus is teaching his followers to pray. Your kingdom come, your will be done. Which means that even though the kingdom had been inaugurated, it had not come in its fullness. In fact, one way you could read this, if you read it verbatim, says, come the kingdom that is yours, become the will that is yours. In other words, from there to there, let your kingdom come.

And let your will come into being as it is in heaven. Let it be on earth that even though that there is this line of demarcation between the heavens and the earth, this separation, it will not be that way. We know that all of time is working to a point where Jesus Christ is going to come back and the new heavens and the new earth will come. And right now, even though the kingdom is present, it is here. Our king is where he is, in heaven.

And what's Jesus doing right now? Twiddling his thumbs, playing Monopoly on the streets of gold? Like, what's he doing? He's interceding for you and for me. Because he is our high priest.

He's praying for you. He is for you, not against you. He wants you to be successful in your faith, and he's exactly where he needs to be. But there's coming a day that it says in Psalm 110, he's making his enemies a footstool under his subjection, and the Lord will return. So when you and I are praying, thy kingdom come, do you realize what you're praying?

You're saying, come quickly, Lord Jesus Maranatha, come. But as I say that, I realize that when he comes, judgment comes with him, wrath comes along with him. And those who are lost and dead in their trespasses will go to hell. You know that, right? No, no, no.

I don't think we think about that. We talked Wednesday night. How the word lost means perishing. While you're sitting in the comfortability of this room, there are thousands of people in Stevens county going to hell. Does that bother you?

And I say, thy kingdom come. Like, I need to live as if Jesus is my king. I need to live as a citizen of the kingdom. I need to live and let people see the gospel alive in my life so that they will want what we have, security in my eternity. Yes, he makes a better life for me now, and I live it in abundance.

But that don't mean it doesn't come with suffering and hardship. I come to the Lord and pray and I say, God, this is who you are. And this is your plan and everything else must be secondary. This ought to be my daily prayer. You know, you think about what's the first things you say Every day some of us get up and we say, lord, you use me today.

That's great. That's a great prayer to pray. What if tomorrow morning you woke up and the first words out of your mouth was, daddy, I want your reality here, your kingdom now and your will done? See, as we've already talked about, we do pray relationally because he's our daddy, he's our father. We cry out, abba, Father.

We pray worshipfully and we exalt God and put him in his proper place. He's not a little statue to put on my shelf. He's the God of the universe. As Jesus already said, the heavens are his throne and the earth is his footstool. Every vacuum of space in creation belongs to God, is under God and under his reign and rule.

We are not like the deist at the founding of our country. Thomas Jefferson, for example, that thought that God spun the world into existence and stepped away, our God is ever present.

That changes the way that I pray. It keeps me from seeing prayer as me buttering up God just to get what I need and prioritize my wants.

That's why prayer takes time.

I have never successfully baked a pound cake.

I make pecan pies. Though some of you have had the taste of my goods. It's not bad, is it? Fred said, amen. And Kevin's over here salivating.

But you know why? Because it takes time and patience for a pound cake to come out right. Praying isn't something I can do on the fly. But we talked about this at the supper table that, you know, last week I said, you know, you probably shouldn't pray in your car. Well, you can pray in your car.

You just can't be fully focused and engaged. I mean, some of us have hit deer in the last week.

I don't know anything about that. Think about this God of the universe. My thoughts are not your thoughts and my ways are not your ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than yours and my thoughts than your thoughts. Guys, we want those thoughts and we want those ways because they are higher than ours.

Why? Because Where's God? He's in heaven. He's got a bird's eye view to everything. That should scare you, too.

When you're contemplating and participating in in your closet sins. God sees those and he wants to take them away from you. That's why he died on the cross. To take away all of our sin. Not just a little bit, not just some.

He wants to take away all of our sins. He goes on to say, so will my word go forth like the rains that come from the mountain, Go forth out of my mouth and will not return empty. Do you trust that the very word of God changes things like that? It is my only sole hope. People can encourage me with their words.

But the word, the word that was in the beginning with God, and that was God. That word does not return void. Psalm 115, 3 says this. But our God is in the heavens, and he does whatever he pleases. The greatest thing you and I need in our life, like a check valve on a water pump, is that he keeps the pressure in me, not me regulating it.

That's what we need when we hear Romans 8:28, and we know that God causes all things to work for good. There is no first person possession there. It's not our good, it's his good. And that verse says, to those who love God, which means, I'm prioritizing God and those who are called according to his purpose, which is prioritizing God. So the next time you use that verse and say, well, God's just about my good.

Stop it. That's not what that verse is saying. Our good is his good, and anything outside of his good is not good. I need to want his good. When I pray, praying changes my heart.

To want the things that he wants, to desire the things that he wants. You see, as we talked about last week, first line in your study guide, when you pray, start with, praise God. You're magnificent. You are great. Your name is to be above all names.

Say that. But then as you pray, second point, shift to submission. Before you tell God one single thing that you want, you need to declare that he already knows what you need. And you're petitioning the Father and saying, lord, what is it that you want from me?

I was 23, and I was sitting in that office.

I'd been working a third shift job, and I knew I didn't want to do that for the rest of my life. But my name got put in. I graduated high school, had a teaching certificate, and so here was my shot. I'm interviewing for a teaching job. I'm answering every question with perfection.

Like, this is how I would teach this. Algebra 1, with manipulatives. And this is what I would do here. And then I even. I used the word M&MS.

Yes, yes, I did. I used M&MS. To do a linear algebra plot. Y' all think I'm lying. You can also use M&MS.

For decay. And that's really fun because you eat half the M and Ms. As you go. It's really fun. But then she asked that one question, and it actually was the only question I remember.

So you're a man. I said, yes, ma'. Am. What are you going to coach?

You teachers know, especially you male teachers in high school, know what I'm talking about. What are you going to coach? I went, mm, mm. I didn't think about that. She said, well, there are two options, and you can choose one, girls tennis or boys soccer.

Caleb, I apologize. I didn't even know how many players were supposed to be on a soccer field.

But my team did win over 50% of their games, by the way, because I chose boys soccer, not girls tennis. No offense to you ladies. I don't do well with five girls crying all at the same time. I did pretty well with two, and my hair is white as snow.

I said what I needed to say to submit to the leadership, get the job.

Why is it that I won't do the same when I'm praying to my Lord? Jesus himself said Luke 22:42, not my will, but your will be done. If the very Son of God prayed the prayer that way, then we need to pray the prayer that way. Look at your study guide. Point three.

Your kingdom come. We need to pray submissively that God's reign will be realized. It's already here. Why? Because God is sovereign.

I can ignore it. I can choose to say, I just don't know anything about that. But it's already here. When we pray this, it's a revelation of our desire. It's what is coming we confess is better than what is.

It's that what is coming from God is out of this world. And that that's what I want. Because of this, the kingdom was inaugurated the moment that the Son of God stepped forth into this creation. The Son of Man, the Messiah, the anointed descendant of David, ushered in the kingdom. How do I know that?

Well, later in Luke 17:20, the Pharisees asked Jesus about when the kingdom of God was coming. And he answered them and said, the kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed. Wait a minute. Yeah, it is. I mean, he spent two chapters in Matthew talking about that.

What was he meaning when he said to the Pharisees, it will not come with signs to be observed. Nor will they say, look, here it is, or, oh, there it is. For behold, the kingdom of God is already in your midst. Why? Because the king was standing before him.

The reason they didn't see it is because they came. Ready? Buckle your seatbelt. They came to God with their expectation. They came to God with their perception.

They came to God with their interpretation. How many of you are struggling in your prayer because every time you pray you say, God, it's going to be like this or I'm not going to believe.

Told you this was a dangerous prayer to pray. And when I say, your kingdom come means I'm submitting to the king. Jesus in Matthew chapter 12 heals a man with a withered hand. And the Pharisees have a condemnation fit about it. And the crowds were saying, this has to be the Son of David.

It has to be the Messiah. And the Pharisees like, no, no, no, no, no, no. That's not the way the kingdom's supposed to come. The kingdom is you come in, kick the Romans out, and you sit on the throne. Well, that's a very temporary solution, isn't it?

I mean, how many of those Pharisees would have been like this? Well, if he comes now and the next generation goes back to the Romans, we don't care. I want my comfortability now. For me, I'm not worried about the next generation. I'm not worried about those down the road.

Jesus brought an eternal kingdom. He didn't bring something temporary. He says in response to them, if I cast out demons by the spirit of God, not by the demons or by Satan, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. And Jesus did exactly that.

They missed it. Have we? Have we missed it? In Acts, chapter one, verse number six, even before Jesus ascends to heaven, the disciples were like, hey, Jesus, is the kingdom of Israel being restored now?

That's the last question they asked Jesus. They were so fixed on the immediate solution that they failed to see the eternal solution. They failed to see that the Lord of the universe was going to take his seat, having purchased the way with his blood to be the high priest in the presence of God interceding for us. And he didn't answer the question. He just says, you don't need to know.

It's not yours to know. But you will receive power from on high to go do what I've asked you to do as citizens of my kingdom. Maybe they understood it, but have we? Colossians 1:13 says, he's rescued us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son. If you have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

Guess what? You are a subject, a citizen of heaven. That is your citizenship. Yeah, you may be American, but American is a whole lot farther down that list than being a citizen of the kingdom of heaven. That should be priority.

I'm not praying make America great again. I'm praying God, your will be done in me to further your kingdom. It's about gospel because, see, here's what's going to happen. First Corinthians 15:24 says as he's talking about the resurrection of the dead and the translation of those who are alive. When Jesus comes back, he says, then comes the end when he hands over the kingdom to God and Father.

And we know in Revelation 11:15 when that last trumpet sounds, that he says, the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ and and he will reign forever and ever.

Do you think of those things when you're praying thy kingdom come? When you're getting ready to go out on the football field players, are you thinking what you just prayed? Are you thinking my kingdom and my will be done? See, this is how we pray. We should pray submissively.

Lord, help me to be a citizen of the kingdom. We should pray submissively. Lord, I live for your kingdom. Help me to proclaim the goodness of your kingdom. We should pray, God, come quickly and give me mercy, because there's those around me that may not know you when you come back.

And when it comes, it's too late. Do we pray that way? Because I'm telling you, if you do, it'll change you. The second. Next it should be fourth point on your page, second point for me, your will be done.

Pray submissively that God's desires will be mine. If he is my Father, my shepherd, my Savior. Then if I'm spending time with him intimately, what he wants begins to translate into what I want. That's why when I'm nurturing prayer, it begins to change my heart's desire. We pray in a way that increases those desires in my heart.

But our heart is wicked and desperately sick. We need a new one, right? Aren't you glad? In the new covenant he said he'd give you a new heart. Or the way that David prayed in Psalm 51:10.

Create in me a clean heart and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

If I'm going to pray God's will be done, I ought to be willing to do God's will.

Hebrews 5:8 gives us the best example. Listen to this. Although he, Jesus was a Son, he learned obedience from the things which he suffered.

How did he learn this? Doesn't Jesus know everything he does? He learned this because he willingly submitted to the will of God by elevating the desires and will of God and. And making it his desire. Even though he is God.

It was his desire. But in his flesh submitted to the plan of God. When he went to the garden that night. When he went to the garden that night before he was crucified and he told his disciples to pray. And he went a little bit further, he began to pray.

Father, if you're willing, remove this cup from me. Yet not my will, but yours be done. It's almost a foot. It's really the bookends of the temptation of Christ. He went up in the wilderness and Satan tempted him with three temptations.

One of those was to submit to Satan. He'd give him the kingdoms of the world. But Jesus knew, when I go to that cross, I will prove I'm already in control of those kingdoms. And then he's in that garden. And maybe for a moment Jesus is like, is there another way?

I don't want to go through this. But aren't you glad he did? Now listen. If he obeyed the Lord, why won't we?

If salvation in the gospel is so good, why don't we keep it to ourself? Why are we living in such a way that we're closet Christians that will come into this room today and we might lift our hands a little bit, sing a song, but when we go out in the world, we just go back to living the way the world does. If I'm a citizen of the kingdom, then I want to do the will of my king. Trust and obey. For there is no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey.

How many of you sang that song in your past? Did you realize what you were singing when you sang it? Singing is praying. When I declare those words, I'm saying, God, there's no other way for me to ever find the fullness of my life and joy of unless I'm obeying you. So how do I pray?

This way, God, hide your word in my heart that I may not sin against you. God help me know your ways and to find your will that I can do your will. Romans, chapter 12, verse 2. God, restrain my thinking so that I can clearly see the path you've laid before me.

We've talked about this before. Like if I told you that if you'll go to Currihe mountain today at 4:14, God's going to tell you his will for your life. How many of you would go? A lot of us would, wouldn't we? He's already told you.

Listen to a few samplings of the will of God for your life and mine. Ephesians 5:17. God's will for us is to not be foolish, but to walk wisely in wisdom. That's his will for your life. 1st Thessalonians 4:3.

God's will is for you to be sanctified and pure the not stained by the world. First Thessalonians 5:18. God's will is for you to be grateful for. This is God's will for you in Christ Jesus, in everything. Give thanks, good or bad.

1st Peter 2:15. God's will is for us to do right even when there's pressure, even when there's suffering. And he goes on to elaborate a little bit more. Peter. Peter says in 3:17, God's will is for us to know the suffering of Christ.

What? Wait a minute. You're telling me that when you witnessed to me, you said I was going to have abundant life, that it involves suffering? Yes. How much greater can we even know the suffering of Christ, that he leads us into our own suffering?

Well, that meant God's not very fair and loving, is He? Yes, he is. Because he wants you to learn obedience, because it's your heart that he's been after the whole time. 2nd Peter 3:9. Are you ready for this one?

You got a ball glove? Steve Payson, you ready for this one? Right? God's will is for the lost to be saved.

Do you grieve for the lost and the perishing folks? We can't reach Stevens county until we embrace the problem that they have. And it's not ours to go out there and browbeat them and thump them with a Bible. It's to go out there and compel them that if you stay in your sin, you will go to hell. Jesus wants to give you forgiveness in life.

Acts 21:14. They're trying to talk Paul into not going to Jerusalem. But they all fell silent and said, the will of the Lord be done. How different would your praying be if you said it that way? Because here's the truth, this last second to last point.

God is in charge and I am not. And everybody said, you know what? That liberates you. That liberates you that if you do go up to somebody and say, hey, will you come to church? Well, if they tell you no, God's in control of that.

If you go up to somebody and Share your faith with them and invite them to accept Jesus. And no God's in charge of that. We've got to live as people who who are mouthpieces for the Lord. That trust that God does the work and the success isn't about my glory, it's about his. God's in charge and I am not.

Therefore I must submit. Pray to be submissive in full obedience and all of this should caution me when I pray to be careful with my words. As Ecclesiastes 5:2 says, don't be hasty in your words and impulsive in thought when you bring a matter to the presence of God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, therefore let your words be few. Why, Jesus already said it before he said, pray this way.

He said, for God knows your needs before you ask and our benevolent God is already taking care of you. He's inviting you to come and to lay your needs before him and take on his.

When he said remember when he said, come to me all you who are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. He then says, take my yoke upon you. We exchange our stuff and take on his king. Nebuchadnezzar. Even attributes says this testifies in Daniel 4:34 For God's kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, an everlasting dominion for from generation to generation.

But check this out. I love this. He gets down to verse 37. He says, Now I Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt the kingdom the king of heaven, because he exalted himself, for his works are true and his ways are just. Listen to this.

And he's able to humble the prideful.

I say this with all love and respect. Some of us need to be humbled. We think way too much of ourself, way too much of our plans and way too much of our success. What would it look like when I pray, I say, lord, your will, not mine, will be done. Because Psalm 103 establishes this.

The Lord has established his throne in the heavens and his sovereignty rules over all. How does it change my praying? Knowing that this great sovereign God is in charge and in control? I'm not that it's his kingdom for which I'm living and his will that I want to do. So we pray that as the heavens are humble before God, we are too.

That we pray, releasing our control mentally and emotionally, trusting that God has, is and will work out all things according to his will. That when we pray, we praise him for who he is and what he's done. And like the angels, we fully obey him and in everything. What would it look like if. Last point.

Pray submissively by trusting God willingly? That I choose. I choose. I tell my soul. Soul, I trust God.

Soul. I'm submitting to God's authority. Soul. I don't know how it's going to work out, but he's got it in his hands and his control. It is a dangerous prayer to pray.

Your kingdom come, your will be done, but only if you don't submit to his will. So I want you to close your stuff up and listen to these last few points. The band's going to be getting in place in just a second. What? Today has been a block for you for too long, that you're holding something back.

You know that whatever that thing is, it might be some God in your life, it may be something you've been holding, but what would it look like if you could release that completely to the Lord and say, no, Lord, you're my only God, your will is my only way, and your kingdom is to what I submit. What would it look like today in your life, transformationally, to live as if you don't know when Jesus is coming back? Like, what if Jesus came back tomorrow? I know what you do. Like, you'd be calling everybody that you know.

You'd be calling your friends, you'd be calling your family. Listen, listen, tomorrow. He's coming. He's coming. Don't waste this moment.

Give your life to Christ. Here's what a lot of us do. We live in this kind of Lord. I need you to make me comfortable. So I want you to imagine walking into heaven.

I want you to imagine you walking into heaven and there's Peter. And you go up to Peter and say, hey, Peter, my name's Jamie. Man, I appreciate all that stuff you wrote, man. It's just, man, I had such a good Christian life. He said, really?

He said, yeah, God's so good to me. I mean, I never had any problems.

Peter says, I was crucified upside down. How'd that work out for you? Or you run over and you see John, you say, john, man, God blessed me so much. I always had food on my table and shoes on my feet. Aren't you thankful you do?

And then John say, well, I was boiled in oil and exiled to an island by myself. And over and over again, as we see this vision of the martyrs of God under the throne. And we stand there, maybe for a moment in shame, going, like, God, how did you stretch me and use me to do your will in this life. A few weeks ago, our friends in Waliford, the kids in that church, went down to the monument that I've told you about many times where they burned people at the stake for their faith. And these 14, 15, 16, 17 year olds were down there preaching the gospel, open air to a bar.

We sit here going, but God, I'm too scared. I just don't think I can do it. But your kingdom come, your will be done. What could God do in your life if you would fully surrender to his power, will and way? I'm telling you, it's a dangerous prayer, but the results are out of this world.

If 15 and 16 year old kids can do it, why can't we?

And they're doing it where people died for their faith. No one in this room, the writer of Hebrews said, has shed blood.

But would you, if it came down to it, would you? See, that's why I'm saying this part of the prayer is dangerous. Because to say God, your kingdom come, your will be done, may mean it's not about my comfortability, but his will being done. Father, I don't know what else I can say. As Fred prayed this morning, God, I pray that they've heard you, not me.

And if I've been in the way, Lord, I pray they forget those words that I've spoken. And when focused solely on this idea right now, Lord, what would you ask us to do today? You're calling some people in this room to a deeper obedience. You're actually calling them even now to lay down some of their sinful closet practices so that they can be liberated from what it is that's holding them back. Some of the people in this room, Lord, they've been waiting, waiting, waiting for that moment because they realize that if I'm lost without Christ, I will go to a devil's hell.

But today I can surrender my life in faith to Christ and he will forgive me and I can have a relationship with the King of the universe.

God, speak to us today. Whatever it is that's holding us back, would we be willing to bend the knee and lay it at your altar in Jesus name, Amen.