Steve Conover: Thank you for joining us for today's edition of The Friends of Israel Today. I'm Steve Conover, executive director here at The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry. I'd like to encourage you all to visit foiradio.org. That's foiradio.org and there you can connect with us. We have over a decade of content on the site featuring Chris Katulka's insightful teaching and various interview guests. Once again, that's foiradio.org. Today, our teacher, Chris Katulka continues his unique three-part series on the Lord's Prayer. We're looking forward to it.

Chris Katulka: But first in the news, President Trump is using the Iran nuclear talks as leverage for a major diplomatic push demanding that Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, and Pakistan all sign onto the Abraham Accords as a part of the negotiating process. Trump made the ask publicly on Truth Social, calling the accords “historic” and directing his representatives to get the job done. Well, here's my take. I think Trump is right to draw a line in the sand here on the future for the Middle East to keep Iran in check. But Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar will want to see a Palestinian state if they join the Abraham Accords. The question I have for them is this. Are they willing to work with Hamas? Because they still hold the keys to Gaza and the West Bank.

Chris Katulka: Before we dive into today's message, I want to just take a moment to recap where we were last week because what we're doing is building a picture here and really every piece matters. Last week we opened the Lord's Prayer from a perspective most of us were never taught in. A new series that we're calling Israel's Altar Call. We said this prayer was not simply a personal devotional, it's actually Israel's national prayer. Jesus was speaking to Jewish crowds, people steeped in the covenant promises of God. And he was issuing an altar call to the nation of Israel. And we focused on the opening phrase of a very, very important prayer, the Lord's Prayer. Remember it starts with “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be thy name.” And we trace that language directly back to Ezekiel 36, where God promises to sanctify his name among the nations and Israel.

And he promised to restore Israel to the land and he promised to put his Spirit in them. And he promised that through all of this, his name would be hallowed. It would be made holy in the sight of the whole world. See, Jesus standing before Israel was saying, ‘Father, do what you promised, sanctify your name. And the time to do that is right now.’ So today we move to the next breath of that same prayer, the Lord's Prayer, where Jesus says, "Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." And I want to tell you, if last week opened a door, today we're going to walk right through it. I want to start with a movie actually. Bear with me here because I think this illustration is going to land in a way you won't forget. Do you remember the trilogy Back to the Future?

Marty McFly, Doc Brown and the DeLorean, the flux capacitor. If you grew up in the '80s and '90s, you know exactly what I'm talking about. The whole premise of those films is that the future is not just something that you move toward. It's something that in certain circumstances you can restore. See, Marty, the main character doesn't just travel forward in time. He goes back. He fixes what went wrong. And in doing so, he recovers what was supposed to be. The future becomes a restoration of the original design. So I want to suggest to you that when Jesus says, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” He's actually describing exactly that kind of movement. God's coming kingdom is not something brand new that has never existed. Actually, this is the hard part to get your mind wrapped around. It's a restoration of the past realized completely in the future.

It is heaven's original design finally breaking through into the broken reality of earth and God's creation because of sin. See, in Jesus' day, Israel was under Roman occupation. The people were scattered. The 12 tribes had not been gathered. The throne of David sat empty. Everything that the prophets had described, the glory of the restored kingdom seemed impossibly distant. And yet here's Jesus standing in the middle of all of that teaching his disciples to pray, "Your kingdom come your will be done on earth, this earth, this broken, occupied, scattered earth as it is in heaven." See, that's not a vague spiritual wish.That's a prophetic declaration. That's Israel knocking on the door of its own promised future. Now, let's talk about what that kingdom actually looks like because I think we often spiritualize the kingdom in a way that strips it of its full meaning. See, if you read the prophets like Amos in Amos chapter nine or Micah from Micah chapter 7 or Ezekiel chapter 36 and 37, or even Jeremiah 31, read those chapters and tell me what you find. Because what you're going to find is not vague, ethereal or other worldly type kingdoms that are floating somewhere in the clouds.

What you're going to find is a specific detailed physical national restoration of Israel. See, in Amos 9, God says that he's going to restore the fallen booth of David. See, that's Israel's kingship. He's going to repair its breaches. He's going to raise up its ruins. See, that's talking about Jerusalem and Israel's restoration. He talks about the land producing abundantly, about the people of Israel being planted in the land and never again to be uprooted. See, that's physical. That's national.That's the 12 tribes of Israel being restored to the land of Israel, governed by the king of Israel. And who's the King of Israel? The Son of David sitting on his throne in Jerusalem. In Ezekiel 37, God gives the prophet a vision of a valley full of dry bones and that's the whole house of Israel. They're scattered. They're dead. And you know what he does?

He breathes life back into them. He brings them up out of their graves. He brings them back into their own land and he says that he will make them a nation again, no longer two like the Northern 10 tribes and the Southern tribe of Judah no longer divided, but one King over all of them, his servant David, the Messiah reigning over a reunited restored Israel. In Jeremiah 31, God speaks of a new covenant that he will make with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that he made at Sinai, which they broke, but a new covenant, Jeremiah says. And he says, "I will put my law within them and I will write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they shall be my people." But do you hear who he was writing to about that?

Israel, a reunited Israel. Do you see what's happening? Every single one of these passages, they hold together two things that we've often tried to separate the physical and the spiritual. The restoration of the nation and the renewal of the heart. The return to the land and the indwelling of the Spirit. See, they're not two separate promises. They're one promise, two sides of the same covenant reality. And that's exactly what Jesus is praying when he says, "Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." He's not just praying for a spiritual experience. He's praying for the full restoration of what God always intended. A people in a land under a king filled with the Spirit, walking in covenant faithfulness, displaying the glory of God to all the nations on earth. Heaven's reality finally realized where? Not in some ethereal space on the clouds, no, but on earth.

But here's the part that we can't miss. Here's where this prayer becomes an altar call. This restoration hasn't happened yet. Well, not fully, not in the way that the prophets described and Jesus knew that. See, he wasn't looking back on something that was already accomplished. He was looking forward to something that was still contingent on Israel's response. ‘Your kingdom come’ is not a statement. It's a prayer. It's an asking. It's a longing. And behind that longing is a condition that runs way back to the Torah, to the book of Deuteronomy and the prophets and to the very foundation of the covenant that God made to Israel. Do you know what has to happen? The thing that it's all contingent on here? Israel has to repent. Now, we're going to take a quick break and when we come back, we're going to see how Israel's altar call from the Lord's prayer fits into your life with Jesus. So stick around.

Steve Conover: Chris, we talk a lot about sharing our faith here, but sometimes it can feel discouraging when people just aren't open to hearing about Jesus.

Chris Katulka: So true, Steve, that's exactly the reason why our friends, Tom and Lorna Simcox, wrote the powerful story called That You May Know. It tells the story of Saul Greenberg, who's a man who wanted nothing to do with Jesus or Christians, but see, God had other plans.

Steve Conover: So glad he did. Through faithful friendship, real life trials, and consistent love, God slowly softened Saul's heart to the truth of Jesus. It's a reminder that God is always at work, even when we don't see it. And I think that's what makes this story so impactful. It encourages us to keep going, to keep sharing the gospel and trusting the Lord with the results.

Chris Katulka: See, Steve, you never really know when God might awaken someone's heart.

Steve Conover: If you've ever felt hesitant or discouraged in sharing your faith, this book will strengthen and encourage you. You can find out more or order your copy of That You May Know today at foiradio.org. Again, that's foiradio.org.

Chris Katulka: Welcome back, everyone. Now I want to do something here. I want you to stay with me because I think this is where the Lord's prayer becomes something deeply personal for every one of us listening today. Think about the prayer you prayed when you gave your life to Jesus. Think about the moment you came to faith. What did that prayer look like? For most of us, I think it started with an acknowledgement. God, you're holy. You're righteous. You're on your throne and I'm not. I'm a sinner. I've fallen short of the glory of God. There's a gap between who you are and who I am and I can't get to you on my own. Isn't that exactly what the Lord's prayer opens with? “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be thy name.” You are holy. You are in heaven. Your name is set apart. Everything about you is set apart and we're down here.

That acknowledgement, that recognition of the holiness of God in contrast to our own condition, that's what brings us to what? Repentance. And that is the posture of a heart that is ready to receive. And then, “Your kingdom come, your will be done.” Think about what you prayed next in that moment of surrender. Lord, I don't want my kingdom anymore. I don't want my will anymore. I'm tired of running my own life. I'm tired of sin having dominion over me. I want you to reign. I want your will, not mine to be done. Make me new. Write your law on my heart. Fill me with your Spirit. Let heaven's reality break into my broken life. That's the prayer of salvation. And it's also the prayer of Israel's national restoration. The same prayer, the same posture, the same God answering with the same answer. His Spirit poured out transforming from the inside out.

See, when God promises in Ezekiel 36 to put his Spirit within his people and cause them to walk in his statutes, see, that's not a different transaction than what happens when you kneel at the altar and ask Jesus to save you. It's the same Spirit. It's the same transformation, the same covenant grace applied to a nation rather than to an individual, but flowing from the same heart of a Father who has been waiting, watching the road, ready to run to who? That prodigal son. See, the kingdom of God is both physical and spiritual in nature because human beings are both physical and spiritual in their own nature. God doesn't just save souls and leave bodies behind. He doesn't just restore hearts and abandon nations. His kingdom is whole. His redemption is complete. And when Israel finally prays this prayer, not as a liturgical recitation, but as a genuine cry of repentance and faith, the kingdom will come.

The will of God will be done on earth in Israel, in Jerusalem before all the nations as it is in heaven. That's what Jesus was praying. That's what he was inviting Israel into. And here's what I want to leave you with today. See, the Lord's prayer is Israel's altar call moment laid out in sequence phrase by phrase. First, you acknowledge who God is. He's holy. He's in heaven. His name will be sanctified. In saying that, you're also admitting who you are. You are not holy. You need him.That's the beginning. But see, then you pray, ‘Lord, restore what you promised. Let the kingdom come, let your will be done on earth in this life in this nation as it already is in heaven where your throne sits unchallenged and your glory fills everything.’ And in praying that prayer, Israel and every one of us is opening the door to the same Spirit that Ezekiel saw promised.

The same new covenant that Jeremiah heard announced. The same resurrection the valley of dry bones declared was coming. The kingdom is coming and it's as certain as the Word of God, but it comes through something important. Repentance. It comes through surrender. It comes through a people and a nation finally praying from the depths of their heart what Jesus taught them to pray from the very beginning. “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Hey, you know what? Let's stop and pray for a moment. Father, we thank you that your kingdom's not a dream. It's a promise and it's written in the prophets and it's sealed in the blood of your Son and it's coming. And we pray today as Jesus taught us that your kingdom would come in our hearts, of course, but in the nation of Israel as well.

We pray for the day when your will is done on earth as fully and freely as it's done in heaven. Stir the hearts of your people. Call them home. Let the dried bones live.

Steve Conover: Israel on the verge of becoming a state, a teenaged Holocaust survivor arrives on her shores alone. His name is Zvi Kalisher. Little did he know his search for a new life in the Holy Land would lead him to the Messiah. Zvi, enthusiastic to share his faith, engaged others in spiritual conversations, many of which can be found in our magazine, Israel My Glory. While Zvi is now in the presence of His Savior, his collected writings from well over 50 years of ministry continue to encourage believers worldwide. Now, Apples of Gold, a dramatic reading from the life of Zvi.

Mike Kellogg: For many years, Israelis have been singing about the Messiah’s coming. Not many are aware He has already come. That is why I go to the Western Wall every Monday and Thursday, when 13-year-old boys celebrate their bar mitzvahs.

One recent Monday, I decided to give Bibles—containing both testaments—to all of the boys. I knew they would receive prayer books from family and friends, but there is no divine presence in those books.

Before leaving home that day, I prayed, asking God to guide me and give me the words to say. In Israel, you must go slowly and carefully when you approach people with the Word.

When I arrived at the Wall, I approached a few young Ethiopian boys after the ceremony. I said, “I want to give each of you a gift in honor of your bar mitzvah.” At first they were afraid to accept the Bibles, but I explained, “There is a big difference between these Bibles and the prayer books you have received. Your prayer books were written by men—great rabbis, to be sure—but, nevertheless, just men. The Bible was written through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God.”

Soon several other very interested young boys joined the group. One of their fathers came over, and he too was quite open. He told his son, “This is a very nice gift. Please accept it and read it.” This gave me great joy and more courage. There were many gathered around us, and they all wanted to talk about the Lord. Most had never heard Jesus is the Messiah of Israel. What a wonderful opportunity I had to tell them about Him.

After a while, an ultra-Orthodox man carrying a large shofar approached us. I asked, “Why have you brought a shofar? It is not a holiday.”

He said, “You are right.”

I then told him, “The Scriptures say the shofar is symbolic of announcing the salvation of the Lord.”

He replied, “When the Messiah comes, I will blow this shofar.” I opened my Bible and read Isaiah 53:5–6: “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep

have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” I said, “This passage shows the Messiah has already come, and someday He will come again.”

The man was very interested and read for himself the remainder of this chapter. All of a sudden, his countenance changed. He began to smile and was full of joy, saying, “Now is the time to announce the salvation of the Lord. He has come, and now He must come back!” Then he blew the shofar loudly. Many came over to see what was happening. Of all the times I have gone to the Western Wall and witnessed for the Lord, I have never seen such a reaction.

Some rabbis heard the shofar, and one came over to ask what I was “selling” to these “unsuspecting people.” When he realized I believe in Christ, he asked to see my Bible. I gave it to him and pointed out portions in the Old Testament. But he quickly turned to the back and, upon seeing the New Testament, asked, “Do you think this belongs in our Holy Bible?”

“Yes,” I replied, and, to my amazement, he seemed very interested and looked through it.  Finally, he put the Bible in his pocket and walked away. What a wonderful day! I pray the Ethiopian boys will read the Bibles and come to faith in the Lord Jesus. I pray the ultra-Orthodox man who blew his shofar will understand the things I told him and surrender his life to the Lord. I pray the rabbi will read the Bible and his long-blinded eyes will be opened to the Messiah.

Chris Katulka: The impact of Zvi's life and ministry in Israel, it didn't end when he went home to be with the Lord. In fact, Zvi's legacy lives on. Our Friends of Israel Ministry representatives continue to share the gospel in Jerusalem, Israel, and really all throughout the world. We also serve Holocaust survivors and their families. We provide free food, medicine, and clothing, and we even promote the safety and security of the state of Israel and the Jewish people everywhere. So, when you give to The Friends of Israel, your donation actually allows us to advance the gospel of our Messiah, Jesus. You can give online by visiting foiradio.org. Again, that's foiradio.org. You can click right there on our donate link. Also, be sure to let us know where you listen when you contact us.

Hey, listen, if you would like to get your copy of Israel My Glory Magazine, it's a one-year free subscription. That's right, one year free subscription. That's six issues that'll come right to your house. You can have it mailed our print edition, or I would encourage you to get our digital edition of Israel My Glory, which would give you more than 40 years of Israel My Glory content right at your fingertips on your cell phone, on your tablet, on your computer, all of it by just going to israelmyglory.org/subscribe. Again, that's israelmyglory.org/subscribe and we'd love to give you a one-year free subscription of Israel My Glory Magazine. Thank you so much for being with us and we'll see you soon.

Steve Conover: Thank you so much for joining us for today's episode of The Friends of Israel Today. Don't forget to order your copy of Tom and Lorna Simcox's book, That You May Know at foiradio.org. Join us next week as we conclude our series on Israel's Altar Call, a unique perspective on the Lord's Prayer. As mentioned, you can reach us at foiradio.org. Again, that’s foiradio.org. Our mailing address is FOI Radio, PO Box 914, Bellmawr, New Jersey, 08099. Again, that's FOI Radio, PO Box 914, Bellmawr, New Jersey, 08099. You can call our listener line. That number is 888-343-6940. Again, that's 888-343-6940. As we close, I'd like to thank our radio team: host and teacher Chris Katulka. Executive producer, Lisa Small. Associate producer, Sarah Fern. Engineer, Bob Beebe. Program editor, Jeremy Strong. And Apples of Gold was voiced by the late Mike Kellogg. I'm Steve Conover, executive director of The Friends of Israel.The Friends of Israel Today is a production of The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry. Passion for God's Word. Compassion for God's Chosen People.