Releasing the Hand of God

“Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33

“…your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:10

During the earthly walk of Jesus, He spoke over and over again about the ‘kingdom of God/heaven.’ There is so much written on it we tend to skim over the powerful interpretation of its meaning and the impact of its reality. My Bible Study puts it in simple terms for all to understand. The kingdom of heaven/God is the reign of God that he brings about through the power of Christ in each of our lives. It is the establishment of God’s rule in the hearts and lives of his people (offered to all but not accepted by all).

Bringing His kingdom into our lives gives us fresh hope for overcoming evil in our lives and removing the consequences of sin from our lives – including death and all that diminishes our spiritual lives. The kingdom coming into our lives is the fresh breath God breathes upon us placing a new order of ‘things’ in our lives.

‘These things that shall be added’ refers to our desires that God has allowed to remain in our hearts once we have placed His desires first. We pray for His things to enter our lives so that we do His business in His kingdom. Once we pray this prayer we find ourselves attending to matters of the kingdom instead of ‘matters of the self.’ Our business should be to do the things of God in His kingdom so that His business may be done in our lives. By seeking His business first we release the hand of God to conduct His business through us in His own way without getting in God’s way.

The prayer lifted by the author of my Bible Study is a scary prayer but one of faith and courage. He prayed: “Lord, I free You to do anything You have to do to fix my ‘wanter.’ I will not quarrel with any procedure You know is necessary. I will accept the fact that You really do want me to be like Jesus, regardless of the cost. Because that is what You want, this is what I want. Make me like Jesus – whatever it takes. Amen.”

Now that is boldly and genuinely ‘seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness.’