Kingdom Prayer – Essential for Spiritual Renewal
Kingdom Prayer is the first of a series of nine essentials for spiritual renewal.
This is not to say other types of prayer are not important, but Kingdom Prayer is what is essential for spiritual renewal. It is essential for the awakening of the church and for establishing a prayer culture in the church.
It is first because the other eight are dependent to a great degree on prayer which has been greatly neglected in the work of the church.
We are not necessarily very good at this type of prayer. Prayer meetings have been a part of the church since Pentecost. However, our prayer meetings evolved into a litany of personal prayer requests. We must pray for these things but when this is all we pray for, we become unbalanced in our corporate prayer. Personal prayer is all about ‘me.’ Kingdom prayer is about ‘we’ – the church and God’s will for it.
Kingdom Prayer
We have not really been taught or seen these prayers modeled very much in the church. But we see these prayers throughout the Bible. They are adoration and praise and thanksgiving, surrender and affirmation, pleading for the presence of God, intercession, renewal – revival, advancement of God’s plan for his people. They are all about the health and vitality of the Kingdom of God.
Biblical prayers
And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?” Exodus 33:15–16 (ESV)
Moses understood how important God’s presence was. And it still is! His presence shows favor for his people and distinguishes us from all other people on earth.
And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. Acts 4:29–31 (ESV)
This is the end of a longer prayer which starts in verse 23 and is an incredible prayer response to persecution! They did not pray that the persecution would end (which would be our response as accustomed as we are to our comfort) but to speak with boldness – the truth with love, to heal and perform signs and wonders.
The purpose of Kingdom Prayer
As I hinted before, Kingdom Prayer is for the health and benefit of God’s kingdom on earth. We can find specific purposes of these prayers in scripture.
In Ephesians 1:15-23, Paul outlines his prayer for followers of Jesus. He prays for a spirit of wisdom and revelation, to know God better, to comprehend the eternal hope we have – our glorious inheritance and God’s incomparably great power – resurrection power that is at work in and through us.
Then in Ephesians 3:14–21 he focuses on experiencing the power of God. This prayer is that we would experience and understand our inner strength through God’s power – a power that transcends our understanding, Christ dwelling in our hearts through faith, the extent of God’s love, the intimate and experiential knowledge of his love. He also wants us to experience the outworking of God’s power through us and that God would be glorified in all things.
In Colossians 1:9–14, Paul prays that we would gain the experiential knowledge of God’s will through the wisdom and understanding of the Spirit and that we would live a life worthy of him. This is a life of bearing fruit in every good work, growing in him and increasing in endurance and patience.
The ultimate Kingdom Prayer
The simple prayer Jesus taught us is perhaps the most sublime and profound. Focusing on these words helps us understand what it really means to pray effectively.
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:10 (ESV)
This is the highest kingdom prayer. The first focus is on God’s kingdom. To understand how important it is, we must explore what this means.
This is a cry for God’s kingdom to come to earth. A kingdom is ruled by a king who exercises absolute power and authority. He sets the laws, the values and conduct required in his kingdom.
This is not our personal kingdom; it’s not the church’s corporate kingdom. It is not governed by worldly principles and procedures but by God’s sovereign direction. When we pray this prayer, we surrender our leadership and our ideas about the church to his will.
This is a radical request.
Then, ‘your will be done.’ Once again, we are asking for God’s will to be done here just as it is in heaven! God’s will is always done in heaven. It is not contradicted or debated. What is God’s will. It is revealed most explicitly in his word. It is his will that all be saved, that his love would be loosed on all mankind and all creation and that everyone would have wholeness of body, mind and spirit. While the scourge of sin has damaged all of creation, this is still his will!
It is important that we recognize as we pray that this is more than a supplication for God to do what he wills but a surrender of our own wills and the will of the church! We cannot pray this prayer honestly without surrender!
What will you do?
The church needs to rise up in kingdom prayer to once again experience a fresh move of God. This is the first of nine essentials for spiritual renewal – a personal and corporate call for the life of abundance. Will you pray these prayers?