Prayer - Our Father in Heaven, Hallowed Be Your Name
The sermon emphasizes the importance of submitting to God's will, trusting in His sovereign plan, and experiencing His love and peace in all circumstances.
J.R. Miller emphasizes the importance of prayer, particularly the phrase 'Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be Your name,' as a call for God's kingdom to reign in our hearts. He encourages believers to submit their lives to God's will, recognizing that even in difficult circumstances, they are being trained by Him. Miller urges the congregation to embrace humility and trust in God's sovereign plan, allowing His will to guide their daily lives. He also highlights the need for forgiveness and love within families, asking for God's grace to heal and strengthen relationships. Ultimately, he reassures that God's presence brings peace, even in darkness.
Text
Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be Your name. May Your kingdom come. May Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. This is our prayer this morning. We would have Your kingdom come into our own hearts so fully, that everything in us shall submit to Your sway. We would indeed have You as the King of our lives, seated on our heart's throne, and ruling over our affections, feelings, and desires! So we pray that Your kingdom may come in our own lives. May everything in us that opposes You, be brought to submit to You. May our ways that are not right, be changed to conform to Your holy ways.
Sometimes we chafe and fret when we do not find things to our liking, when our work is hard for us, when we are not prospered in our plans as we had hoped. Father, You forgive all this discontent and rebellion. We know You are training us, and that we are in Your school all the time. We know that when we complain and annoy ourselves about our circumstances, we not only grieve You -- but also mar Your work in us. Help us, therefore, to humbly submit to all Your ways, and learn well the lesson of submission and trust in Your sovereign plan for us. We want to be truly able always to say, "May Your will be done." Give us grace to say it every day and every hour. Help us to look up into Your face . . .
when the path is rough,
when the tasks are hard,
when it hurts us to go on --
and to say with love, "Not my will -- but may Your will be done."
We now commit ourselves to You for the day. It may not bring us all sunshine, gladness, and ease. It may have clouds, and pain, and hardship. But, Father, we want to make it a sweet, beautiful day -- whether it shall be bright or dark. Give us much of Your Spirit, and may we live near You all day. We ask all in Jesus' precious name. Amen.
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MONDAY EVENING
Lord, we come to You; may You give ear to our voice when we call upon You. Let our prayer be set forth before You as incense; and the lifting up of our hands, as the evening sacrifice. Give us Your divine peace. In the quiet evening time, may Your blessing rest upon our home. Forgive the sins and failures of this day. If we did not live together in all ways affectionately as a family, if we were impatient the one toward the other, or lacking in Christly kindness -- we beg Your forgiveness. If any of us have hurt the heart of another by a sharp word or unkind act -- may You heal the wounds by Your own grace. May we forgive one another, even as You forgive us; and pour out Your love in return for the things that grieve You.
Our hearts long tonight to enter more deeply into the experiences of Your wonderful love. Help us to know more and more of it. Pour it into our souls, filling us with its tenderness and grace. May we bathe in the ocean of Your love, as one bathes in the sea. May its blessedness flow about us like the air in which we move. Teach us more and more by Your Spirit, the deep meaning, the infinite riches, of Your love. May we be so filled with Your love, that we shall love others, just as You love us.
We are afraid of the darkness -- since You are with us. The darkness and the light are both alike to You. You are present in the gloom of night, as truly as in the brightness of noonday. So we are not afraid in the darkness, with You by us. We will lie down on our beds in peace, because You will be our keeper.
Remember our neighbors tonight. Comfort the dying and console the sorrowing. We ask all this in the name of our Redeemer. Amen.
Sermon Outline
- The Kingdom of God
- Humility and Trust in Trials
- Committing Ourselves to God
- Experiencing God's Love
- Fearless in the Darkness
- Not being afraid in the darkness with God by us
- God's presence in both light and darkness
- God as our keeper and protector
Key Quotes
“We would have Your kingdom come into our own hearts so fully, that everything in us shall submit to Your sway.” — J.R. Miller
“Help us, therefore, to humbly submit to all Your ways, and learn well the lesson of submission and trust in Your sovereign plan for us.” — J.R. Miller
“May we bathe in the ocean of Your love, as one bathes in the sea.” — J.R. Miller
Application Points
- We should submit to God's will and trust in His sovereign plan, even when it's hard.
- We can experience God's love more deeply by knowing more and more of it, being filled with it, and loving others as God loves us.
- We should not be afraid of the darkness because God is present in both light and darkness and is our keeper and protector.