Introduction: You honor yourself every day. You are the king of your own kingdom. We are talking about the first part of the Lord’s prayer and what’s going on when you give God honor, give God permission to rule your day, and give God permission to provide for you.

• • • • • • •

Matthew 6:9-11 "Pray, then, in this way: '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.’ ”

You honor yourself every day. You honor yourself each time you make a decision. This might be a shock and you might not believe me, but it’s true. You are the decision maker in your own life. What kind of ice cream do you want today? And you choose to honor yourself and pick your own ice cream. Jesus wants you to humble yourself in prayer, and give honor to the Name of God the Father. You are really honoring God’s decisions above your own. There is no honor given to the Name of God if you only decide for yourself every day, and never give God permission to decide for you. The best way to understand what Jesus is teaching about prayer, is with this one verse. In Luke 9:23 Jesus said to his audience, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.” Humble yourself. You are coming after God, and denying your own honor in decision making and giving honor to God in the decisions He wants to make for you. This is a decision you are asked to make each day if you follow Jesus.

You are the king of your own kingdom. This is about authority. Under whose authority do you take action each day? You are the master of your own body and life. You live under your own authority. Humble yourself, and give God’s kingdom the right to rule over you each day. Jesus is the King over the Kingdom of God. Each day Jesus wants you to choose to place yourself under His authority. When you declare to God, “Your kingdom come into my life today,” it is a binding declaration and Jesus will immediately take action. You will hear thoughts in your mind from Jesus. Don’t go that way, go this way. Eat this. It’s what your body needs. Here are clothes for you. I have a career for you. If you walk through your day under His authority everything changes. It is a sacrifice to deny yourself daily. Compare life without Jesus in charge and life with Jesus in charge. Do you think you can be a better king than Jesus? Following Jesus is an easy burden and a light weight of responsibility on your shoulders compared to running your own life.

You follow your own plan every day. Jesus is in authority over you as your King, but your plans are in competition with His plans. Will you give Jesus permission to do what He wants in every area of your life? Are you negotiating a deal over which areas are His and which are yours? Can’t you trust His plan over yours? If you keep one foot in your plan and the other in Jesus’ plan you are on the fence. Eventually you’ll find yourself free of God and only doing what you want to do. You won’t be able to hear His instructions and you won’t know His plan at all. You’ll even change your beliefs to accommodate your own choices. Going to more church events won’t change this. It shouldn’t be this way if Jesus is truly the King of your life. It should be just like what happens in heaven. Jesus is on the throne in everything. You stand in His presence always and He is always on the throne ruling. You surrender each decision to Him and ask Him about everything. He reveals His plans for you and removes your boredom every time He talks to you! His plan will change you forever.

You pursue your own food each day. With your own effort, each day you try to make money and provide your own food. When there isn’t enough the stress can be overwhelming. Humble yourself. Jesus wants to provide for you in His kingdom. Give God permission to give you what you need each day. Often times It will come down to this. “Jesus, where should I look for food and money?” Is there a guarantee of big houses and many new cars? The church calls these things blessings, but what is temporary is nothing compared to what lasts forever. The true blessing is when Jesus is actively involved in providing for you. Some of our best stories are when there was nothing at all.

Story: I remember in college having $10 to my name during spring break. I was playing baseball. If we had a road trip during spring break the school gave us food on the road. We were at home that week. The cafeteria was also closed all week. To play baseball I was eating thousands of calories a day on my cafeteria meal plan. I easily ate at least four plates of food each meal. All of a sudden, I was down to $10. I bought a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter and jelly mixed together. I couldn’t afford a separate jar of jelly and a jar of peanut butter. I was too prideful and stubborn to ask people for help. I was desperate and extremely hungry. An idea jumped into my mind, “Ask me to inspire those who are left on campus for spring break to invite you to their meals.” So, I did. I prayed that very thing. I knew there were very few people on campus that week. After practice I’d walk around campus looking for anyone I could find. I’d go up to them and say hello, all the while I was thinking in my mind, “Jesus, Please put the idea in them to invite me to eat for free with them!” I made sure I didn’t eat too much of their food, even though my body was screaming for more calories. One or two plates of food was better than nothing. I was invited almost every night. Even students who didn’t know me very well invited me. I was on my way walking past the laundry room and someone shouted at me. “We have a ton of leftover food from dinner if you want some.” That night I ate a lot. I was still hungry most of that week, but what I will never forget was Jesus helping me through it.

Prayer coaching: “God the Father, I honor your Name and give honor to Your decisions for my life today. Forgive me for always honoring myself in my own decision making.”

Prayer coaching: “Jesus, just like in heaven, I submit to you as King of my life. I surrender my right to be king of my own life today.

Prayer coaching: Jesus, just like in heaven, I surrender my plan for my life, and submit to Your plan for me. I want to stand in Your presence throughout the day today. I surrender each decision to You today. Help me to ask You about everything. Reveal Your plans for me and remove my boredom every time I talk with you! Change me forever.”

Prayer coaching: “Jesus, I give you permission to provide for me what I need today. Actively be involved in providing for me, and let me see what you are doing. Be my blessing today.”