February 15 2025

Saturday February 15

The Final Prayer in the Bible

Luke 11:1-4

1 Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples." 2 So He said to them, "When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. 3 Give us day by day our daily bread. 4 And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one."

I’m convinced that one of the most important things we can do as a believer and follower of Jesus Christ is to pray! That is what we are reading and studying about here in Luke 11:1-13. The disciples heard Jesus praying, they had seen John the Baptist teach his disciples to pray, and so they asked Jesus a great question, “Lord, teach us to pray.” The Lord responds by giving them the pattern of prayer or the “model prayer” is this passage and that we also read about in Matthew 6.

This model prayer teaches us that we first must have a relationship with God as our Father. We then worship Him as we reflect on His attributes and character that are revealed by His name. We worship Him for all that His name represents to us from the Scriptures. We praise and give Him thanks for who He is!

Yesterday we began talking about the first petition of the prayer, which is, “Your kingdom come…”. To understand the importance of this petition we should go to the early chapters of the Gospel of John where Jesus was talking with Nicodemus and He told him: John 3:3-7; “Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'”

You cannot see the kingdom of God and you cannot enter the kingdom of God without being born again by the Word and Spirit of God! The Kingdom of God is everything that pertains to God and His sovereign rule over His creation! The things of God can only be understood spiritually and there must be a new birth from above to experience them.

Paul said that this “spiritual sight” is what kept him going through the tough and difficult times in his life and ministry. He wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

When we are involved in the kingdom work of bringing dear souls to Jesus, we find these encouraging words in Romans 14:16-19: “Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil; for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men. Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another.”

And finally, when we pray for His kingdom to come, we are praying for Jesus to come back literally and establish His Millennial Kingdom on earth after the Seven-Year Tribulation. When you pray this prayer, you actually join with the Apostle John in making this petition, that he made in the very last prayer in the Bible. In Revelation 22:20, Jesus gives us His last recorded words in the Bible: “He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming quickly." And John responds with these words: “Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!”

Wow!!!! Isn’t that awesome! I trust these words concerning the kingdom of God and prayer will greatly encourage you in your prayer life today!

God bless!