“Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all” (Mark 10:42-44).
Spreading the vision for prayer and starting a House of Prayer in your church or city will take a great deal of faithful serving. It will take hard work and endurance. There will be times when you wonder if you are doing the right thing or if it will ever happen. The opposition from the enemy will be great. But this is God’s personal invitation to greatness for you. God designed you for greatness (Matthew 5:12; 11:11; 18:4). Deep in your heart you desire greatness, significance, dignity, nobility, honor, and impact. You want to be great in God’s sight. You are learning to live for His Kingdom purposes.
The Sermon on the Mount is all about the lifestyle of the Kingdom.
When we learn a Kingdom lifestyle, look at what happens. We practice rapid repentance when we sin. We become more responsive to God with a wholehearted love. We love others more. We experience greater fruitfulness, and we cultivate a lifestyle of sustained focus and devotion to God. But it takes time and effort. It is deliberate. We can’t just run around living for ourselves.
In obeying it, we position ourselves for greatness. We pursue obedience in our speech, our appetites, our time, our money, and our eyes. We renew our inner man for eternal glory (2 Corinthians 4:16-17). We work to become faithful disciples of Jesus through our heart obedience and our ministry impact. We respond to all that the Holy Spirit shows us so that we may be worthy of our calling (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12). Our eternal destiny is to possess godliness and become like God in character, living a life of love (Ephesians 5:2; Romans 9:29).
This can be cultivated in the prayer room as well as in our daily life. We develop our secret life with God, and we do acts of justice wherever we go. He sees our heart. Seeking to lovingly obey is never in vain. We should seek to live out the eight beatitudes every day. He is looking for a people who obey Him wholeheartedly.
The Sermon on the Mount contains the core values of God’s Kingdom and is the litmus test to measure our true success in life. By spending time in God’s presence, God changes us on the inside and gives us more grace to live a Sermon on the Mount lifestyle daily. We are on a journey to greatness. Matt Chandler, from the International House of Prayer, writes about God’s invitation to greatness:
“The Sermon on the Mount is the litmus test to measure our success in life, spiritual development and ministry impact. Our foundation call (internal) is to live out the 8 beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12) as we pursue 100-fold obedience (Matthew 5:48; 6:22). The beatitudes are like 8 flowers in the “garden of our heart” that God wants to fully blossom…. God invites us to greatness without regard to our outward achievements or the size of our ministry impact. Rather it is based on the development of our inner man in love, meekness, and revelation or in righteousness, peace, and joy in the spirit (Romans 14:17). Without the paradigm of being on a journey to greatness, the Sermon on the Mount lifestyle is much more difficult to sustain. Living in light of receiving reward in heaven and being great in God’s sight is a major theme that is emphasized in Matthew 5:5, 12, 19, 46; 6:1 4, 6, 18, 20; 7:2.” Matt Candler
God is developing us in the Beatitudes of Matthew 5:3-12. He is our source, and we are absolutely dependent on Him. Let’s wholeheartedly pursue His fullness, and hunger and thirst for His righteousness. We are complete in Christ (Colossians 1:28-29; 2:10; 4:12; 1 Thess. 5:22-3). We are seeking to be obedient and perfectly established in Him (1 Peter 5:10; 1 Timothy 6:13-14). We are seeking a blameless life and to live out the Sermon on the Mount lifestyle.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3-10).
By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
IHOP-KC