Day 5: Kingdom Prayer
MEDITATION
“Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may Your name be kept holy. May Your kingdom come soon. May Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today the food we need, and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.” – Matthew 6:9–13
REFLECTION
Most people primarily view prayer as a means of getting God to do what they need or want Him to do. But the prayer Jesus showed us is the exact opposite. Kingdom prayer is prayer surrendered to God’s will and His purposes. It is a joining with Him in what He is going to do and submitting to His plans no matter what they are. It starts by acknowledging that God is in control and not us. You can’t really pray to God without that posture. If you view God as your butler, or your genie, or some cosmic vending machine you can control to give you what you want, then you aren’t praying to the God of the Bible but a god of your own creation, an idol that is lifeless and can’t respond. But if you truly view God as your Father and King, as Jesus taught us and showed us, you can go to Him in complete humility and dependence yet filled with confidence at the same time. Here is why.
When Christ, the eternal Son, came in the person of Jesus, He came as the permanent intercessor or mediator between heaven and earth – a perfect bridge between the two, and a never-failing connection to the Father. He represented the Father’s great name faithfully, displayed the kingdom, did God’s will 24/7, never gave into temptation and delivered humanity once and for all from evil. Heaven was manifested on earth in everything He did. Those who are in Christ have that same access now to the God of the universe and can draw near to Him continually because Jesus is constantly making intercession for us (Hebrews 7:25). Connection. Abiding. This is kingdom prayer. When Jesus said, “If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted” (John 15:7), He really meant that. As we pray out of His perfect Word inside of us through the connection to the Father He has established, we pray things into reality on earth as they are in heaven. As we daily delight ourselves in the LORD, He really does give us the desires of our heart because those desires reflect His desires that He delights to give to His children (Psalm 37:4). God answers those prayers and is glorified by the kingdom fruit those prayers bear and we, in turn, are proven to be His disciples as we see Shalom, that nothing-broken-nothing-missing peace of God’s kingdom, break into this world of chaos, and put His power and glory on display for all to see.
ACTION
1. Thank God for being your heavenly Father who will never leave you or fail you, even if your earthly father did. Thank Him for His power and glory and that He is in control of all things.
2. Pray for God to show a preview of the kingdom of heaven to this world through your life and your witness as His people here in your community. Confess ways you try to display your own kingdom instead of His.
3. Write out ways you need to be delivered from evil that is not of God’s kingdom. Repent and believe in the forgiveness of God through Jesus Christ.
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