Your Kingdom Come
Extraordinary Prayer and Its Role in Kingdom Advance
“Intercessory prayer is spiritual defiance of what is, in the name of what God has promised. Intercession visualizes an alternative future to the one apparently fated by the momentum of current forces. Prayer infuses the air of a time yet to be into the suffocating atmosphere of the present…History belongs to intercessors who believe the future into being.” Walter Wink, in The Powers that Be, p. 185
Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:9-10 ESV
Envisioning a God-sized Future and Praying It into Being
What in your life and in this world doesn’t yet align with God’s promises? What alternative future is God giving you to believe into being?
One of my ongoing God-sized dreams is for John 17 unity in the global church. “I [Jesus] in them and you {God the Father] in me, that they [my disciples] may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me” John 17: 23 ESV.
I prayerfully envision a future where all followers of Jesus live God-empowered holy lives, wholly surrendered to Him; a future where multitudes of freed captives abide in Christ and joyfully worship together in Spirit and truth; a world where believers in Christ love one another well, are quick to resolve issues in godly ways, and pray continually.
As I observe ways in which this vision is not yet reality—in myself or others—I pray kingdom opposites into being. I pray unity over division, hope over despair, truth over lies, light over darkness, good over evil, life over death, love over fear, and faith over unbelief. I know these things are according to His will and so I pray in faith, believing. By His grace and power, I will continue to pray until the global church is fully unified. “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him” 1 John 5:14-15 ESV.
I have seen God move mountains of unforgiveness, shame, fear, depression, hopelessness, and disunity. I have watched in awe as He has healed wounded hearts, restored marriages and resolved “unresolvable” conflicts. He has answered intercessory prayers in ways that are only possible by His Spirit. He has moved in power as I and others have simply worshipped. Recently He has been healing me of scoliosis that I’ve had for over 40 years. So far I’m at least an inch taller, and I no longer need a lift in my shoe or a small pillow for my back. He continues to align me with Himself physically, spiritually and emotionally.
An Invitation
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV.
God uses many kinds of prayer in His global advance: listening prayer, intimacy and abiding, worship, thanksgiving, confession, repentance, intercession, wholeness prayer, prayer walking, 24-7 prayer, prayer-shield teams and more.[1][1]
For the past fifteen years I’ve been most involved in Wholeness Prayer[ii]: learning, receiving healing, praying for and training others. I have watched in awe as He has transformed hundreds of lives for His glory. Reproducible approaches to helping laborers walk in emotional and spiritual health are an important piece in becoming the kind of people God uses to launch of movements. The approach described above is just one of several that promote emotional health. It has been taught and born great fruit in multiple languages and cultures around the globe, and is easily reproduced. Our goal is to model, assist, watch, and release others into healthy self-care, so that multitudes of former spiritual and emotional captives will be set free. Healthier laborers launch healthier church planting movements. “His Kingdom come. His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
What is your part in God’s Kingdom advance? How can you infuse extraordinary prayer into your life? Maybe by using time spent awake at night or praying while waiting for others? By using challenges as a launching pad for envisioning a God-sized reality and praying it into being? By praying Kingdom opposites where needed? By joyful worship? By…
Lord God, please show us the future you’ve called each of us to pray into being, and empower us to persevere until these dreams become reality. We look to you. We depend on you. We rejoice in you. “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts” Zechariah 4:6b ESV. “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
[1] See http://www.ethne.net/prayer/prayer-strategies for more information.
[ii] [ii]See www.freemin.org. The Simplified Version gives an excellent introduction.
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