5 Ways to Pray for God’s Kingdom on Earth
The locker room is eerily silent as the team gathers on wooden benches with heads bowed in reverence. The team captain breaks the silence, and adorned in thick knee pads and matching blue and gold uniforms, the team utters the words in unison: “Our Father who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name . . .” We say the words, but we’re not really thinking about praying for God’s kingdom on earth.
We speak the words without much thought or worshipful adoration. It seems fitting to acknowledge God before a game that means so much to everyone on the team, but not many in the room can explain what the prayer actually means. We don’t encounter the heart of God as we speak the memorized words about igniting God’s kingdom on earth.
Praying for God’s Kingdom on Earth
I remember these weekly prayers well because I was a part of the team that began each game with these words of honor to the Lord. As we weekly recited our prayer, I gave little thought to what these words meant. They seemed important. We felt important when we prayed them in the center of the public high school where teachers couldn’t mention God or profess their faith.
The most confusing part of the prayer was the portion derived from Matthew 6:10, which reads: “Thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.” I remember wondering just what God’s kingdom entails, and does winning a volleyball game really bring God’s kingdom to earth? I didn’t know, but I prayed the words anyway.
Twenty years later, I remember the rote prayers from the locker room as I read the words of Reverend Newman Hall. He writes: “Man’s worship, apart from revelation, has been uniformly characterized by selfishness. We come to God to either thank him for benefits already received or to implore still further benefits: food, raiment, health, safety, comfort . . . . we seem to go toward God, but, indeed, reflect upon ourselves.”
Just What Are Kingdom-Prayers?
Just as we hoped our locker room prayers might somehow yield God’s favor on the volleyball court, I still spend far too much time praying for things that are all about me and my comfort. I move toward God, but I reflect mostly upon myself.
How do we shift our prayers to kingdom-focused prayers?
We begin by establishing the definition of God’s kingdom.
The Greek translation for kingdom is basileía. Basileía refers to the rule of a king, precisely the rule of Christ. When Christ came to earth in the flesh, the kingdom was established. The kingdom continues to thrive when hearts surrender to Christ’s Lordship in this age. It will be fully established when Jesus returns to establish the new earth.
Let’s look at five ways to pray kingdom-focused prayers:
1. Pray for God’s kingdom to come first in your personal life
Revival begins within individual hearts. If we don’t encounter God in our quiet prayer closets, we most likely won’t be filled with the Spirit in a way that ignites his kingdom to come in our communities.
If we don’t encounter God in our quiet prayer closets, we most likely won’t be filled with the Spirit in a way that ignites his kingdom to come in our communities. #kingdomprayers #revival Click To TweetJesus reminds us to seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness and everything else will follow (see Matthew 6:33). Pray for God to ignite the fire in your personal faith. You cannot give the world what you have not first received for yourself. (Click here today for a powerful tool to help you fan the flame of passion for God in your life. For a limited time, I have decided to offer my 10-day online devotional book Fan the Flame at no cost to you. Be blessed!)
2. Pray for your local church body to seek God’s face
In Psalm 27:8, David calls out to the Lord, “When You said, ‘Seek My face,’ my heart said to You,
‘Your face, O Lord, I shall seek.’” Let’s pray for our local church communities to seek the face of the Father. When the local church body encounters the life-shaping presence of God, entire communities are transformed by the ripple-effects.
3. Pray for your community to acknowledge a deep need for Christ’s lordship
We live in a culture of self-sufficiency. Most of us struggle with the call to submit to Christ’s complete lordship over our lives. We insist on being our own bosses and establishing our own kingdoms.
When we pray for our communities to acknowledge a need for Christ’s lordship, we are praying for broken and contrite spirits that are weary from the struggle of making our own paths. We are praying to collectively see a need for a Lord and Master. 
4. Pray for our nation to humble itself, pray, and seek God’s face
Second Chronicles 7:14 reads: “if My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
Just as God was ready and willing to hear, forgive, and heal the children of Israel, he waits for us to return to him as a nation. Pray for our national leadership to see a need for Jesus and draw close to him with soft hearts. Pray for humility, and pray for our nation’s leaders to long for the powerful presence of God.
5. Pray for the gospel message to reach to the ends of the earth
Before his ascension to heaven, Jesus declared these words: “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
We pray for God’s kingdom to come when we pray that the message of Jesus will reach beyond our communities, our nation, and to the ends of the earth. Pray for the workers who are bringing his message to the ends of the earth. Pray for soft and open hearts to receive salvation through Christ.
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We serve a God who wants to partner with us in bringing his kingdom – his rule and reign – to this broken world. May we be God’s vessels in our homes, workplaces, communities, and beyond. May this movement begin with prayer.
A Free Devotional Book to Help You Pray for God’s Kingdom on Earth:
How would you like to spend the next seven days united with other believers as you pray world-shaking kingdom prayers? Let’s join together in praying for revival to sweep across the globe. I recently compiled a seven-day online prayer guide called Kingdom Prayers. Each day, this guide will help you pray powerful prayers to unleash God’s power in your life and in the world around you. Get your free download right here.
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