Seek First the Kingdom: An Audience with the King

People have been talking to our President this week. I remember a preacher in San Antonio who used to address the President regularly in his sermons. I didn’t think the President was listening to him, so it seemed a bit dramatic to me. If you could speak the truth to someone in power, what would you say? If you met a King, what would you do? In the scriptures we read about people who had audiences with the King. What would you say if I told you that you may have an audience with the King of Kings today, what would you say? How would you pray? Message based on Matthew 6:9-13, 7:7-11.Quotes:Duane Brooks: Jesus is teaching us that when we pray, we are literally experiencing nothing less than an audience with the king.Graham Goldsworthy: There is a king who rules. There are a people who are ruled. There is a sphere where this rule is recognized as taking place.S.D. Gordon: The great people of the earth today are the people who pray. Dave Peterson: I suspect if we could hear the voice of the heavenly father as we asked him for the things that we need, Not only would he give us what we need, but he would say, thanks for asking.George Herbert: Prayer, the church's banquet, angel's age, God's breath in man returning to his birth, The soul in paraphrase, heart in pilgrimage, The Christian plummet sounding heaven and earth; Heaven in Ordinary.Vernon McGee: This is God’s universe, and God does things his way. You may be sure you have a better way, but you don’t have a universe.Duane Brooks: Jesus' headquarters is in heaven, and his embassies are all over the world. And you and I are his servants. We have one king, and the reason for our unabashed audacity is his unlimited authority. Jesus said, all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me.Young Man: He said, if there's another way I can serve our country, I'd be glad to. But I don't wanna serve it with a rifle at this point.Judge: I understand. But you must be practical. The principles you’re describing belong to the kingdom of God—and it hasn’t come yet.Young man: Sir, I understand that it has not come for you, nor for Russia or the world. But the kingdom of God has come for me. I cannot continue hating and killing as though it hadn’t.We know John Newton for his famous hymn Amazing Grace. He was a Baptist preacher and former slave ship owner in England. Another of his hymns teaches us about prayer:Come, my soul, thy suit pre­pare,Jesus loves to ans­wer pray­er;He Him­self has bid thee pray,Therefore will not say thee nay.Thou art com­ing to a king,Large pe­ti­tions with thee bring;For His grace and pow­er are such,None can ev­er ask too much. Karl Barth: Here's the thing about total need. Total need requires total help.#prayer #worship #divineguidance  #forgiveness #godspresence  To discover more messages of hope, go to tallowood.org/sermons/.Follow us on X and YouTube @tallowoodbcFollow us on Instagram @tallowood.baptistFollow us on FaceBook @tallowoodbaptist