God’s Heart for His Kingdom

Prayer that Aligns with Greater Purpose

By Malachi O’Brien

I don’t know how to pray! I don’t know what to pray! Prayer is so boring! I am not a prayer person! I don’t see any results from praying. I don’t feel any different after praying. Prayer feels like a waste of my time.

Those statements echo the deep feelings and thoughts of many people in regards to prayer. If those statements resound with what many people believe and feel about prayer, it is no surprise that as a result many people do not pray. Quite simply stated: Most people, pastors, and leaders pray very little.

This is heartbreaking and alarming. We have become professionals at knowing just what to say and when to say it—to keep from drawing attention to our dry and empty spiritual condition. Could this be shockingly true regarding prayer in our lives? Are we guilty of mouthing empty words like “I am praying for you” or “I believe in the power of prayer,” when, in reality, the actions of our daily lives reveal the opposite?

Many leaders do not call prayer gatherings in their churches. Are they fearful of the lack of attendance? Are they afraid of the lack of leadership that would even show up to such a gathering? Are they calloused to the condition of their own hearts? Why does it appear that many parents are better at teaching their children how to excel in sports or in school than they are at teaching their children to pray?

Our lack of knowledge in the area of prayer has slowly eroded the inheritance of intimacy and spiritual vitality that God promises every believer. Perhaps the reason we don’t know what or how to pray is because we don’t know why we are to pray.

It is time to move beyond fix-it prayers. By knowing God’s heart and using Scripture as our basis, we can pray powerful, earthshaking prayers that usher in God’s Kingdom!

The Kingdom Is about the Glory of God

Prayer is a catalyst to usher in, and experience personally and corporately, the glory of God. The heart of God is to reveal the glory of God. He graciously invites us to partner with Him in prayer.

The promise of prevailing prayer among the nations is seen prophetically in Malachi 1:11: “‘My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations,’ says the Lord Almighty.”

When Count Zinzendorf and the Moravians experienced the fires of revival (1700s) and felt called to sustain 24-hour prayer (which lasted 100-plus years), they likened it to Leviticus 6:13 and declared it to be “the fire on the altar that shall never go out.”

Prayer is the incense we offer to the Lord. God’s name is synonymous with His glory and presence. He promises that where prayer is offered in His name, His name will be great. His heart is for His glory to cover the earth. In prayer, we bring glory to our God. Kingdom prayer unleashes the glory of God on the earth.

We Were Made to Glorify God

One key purpose of prayer is for us to find satisfaction in the person, promises, and presence of Jesus Christ. John Piper has written, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.”

If we believe this is true, then we should be driven to the highest pursuit of knowing God in prayer. This pursuit will embark us on a lifelong journey into the heart of the Father, the work of the Son, and the power of the Spirit. This journey will drive us into the depths of Scripture. On this journey, the depths of yesterday need to be renewed or they will become the stale manna of today.

The journey is both scary and uncomfortable. Nothing will ever be more eternally satisfying than knowing the eternal God.

Mike Bickle says, “Being a person of prayer is the most important calling in one’s life.” Another Bible study, conference, concert, or even church service will not satisfy us. Only God can fill our deepest longing for God. He places that desire in us.

Prayer is the conduit by which we experience more. The Word of God is our perfect guide as it reveals to us the God we desire to know. By embracing Scripture in our prayer lives, we can easily pray beyond the fix-it prayers into the Kingdom prayers. The fix-it prayers are certainly prayers that God enjoys, but it’s the Kingdom prayers that transform us.

In the Fire

Recently in my life and ministry, I have gone through the intense fire in some unimaginable ways. I walked through a valley of depression because there was nothing I could do humanly to stop the attacks and accusations of the enemy. The attacks came from without and from within. The life of a believer is marked by battles. Prayer is both contending and communing.

Let me speak prophetically into your life. Whenever you desire to walk the road of personal revival, you can expect opposition in measure to your degree of seeking God. In those times, it is easy to default back to fix-it prayers. God does not turn away our fix-it prayers. He is honored in our weakness when we cry out. He uses the fire to refine our prayers to align with His heart. He aligns our heart to reflect His heart and Kingdom causes.

If you are willing, God will use the circumstances in your life to refine you, and redefine the way you pray to realign your focus off of your kingdom to His Kingdom. Paul Washer describes it this way: “Every weakness, every shadow, every darkness is set to show you your weakness—your total inability to live the Christian life—and it is the Father pushing you back to the Son.”

Kingdom Prayers in Scripture

So, what are Kingdom prayers? Kingdom prayers are prayers that acknowledge God’s glory is supreme. Kingdom prayers are focused on the King and the coming Kingdom—and less focused on our own kingdoms. Kingdom prayers simply reveal the heart of God as revealed in the Word of God.

Perhaps a cataclysmic shift needs to take place in our prayer lives in regards to our words.

Words matter. What could happen if we would pray the prayers of the inspired Word back to God? What if God would unleash an outpouring of His Spirit in response to our hearts declaring His heart back to Him? There are many Kingdom prayers in Scripture:

1. Kingdom Prayer for Unity in the Body of Christ.

Jesus prayed in John 17:20–23:

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

The King of the Kingdom prayed for unity among His followers. Kingdom unity is modeled in the unity of the Father, Son, and Spirit. Kingdom unity is built upon the person and work of Christ. Too much division in the Body of Christ has occurred over secondary issues that do not matter in light of eternity.

What could happen if more believers would earnestly plead for the Bride of Christ to be united in the promise of unity found in Christ? “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’” (Rev. 22:17). Come, Lord Jesus!

2. Kingdom Prayer for Increase.

Paul exhorts fellow believers to pray for the rapid spread of the gospel in 2 Thessalonians 3:1–5:

“As for other matters, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you. And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil people, for not everyone has faith. But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. We have confidence in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we command. May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.”

What could happen if we prayed this in our city—that the Word of God will rapidly increase its influence in all congregations? It is time to stop praying for just our church or just our denomination. God is not concerned about building our attendance or budget. It is time for churches to cease competing with and comparing themselves to each other.

3. Kingdom Prayer for Spiritual Growth.

In Colossians 1:9–11, we hear Paul’s heart for his fellow believers to grow as spiritual fruit-bearers:

“For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience. . . .”

What could happen if we prayed for the same things Paul prayed for the Church to be evident in our own lives, families, churches, and cities? What if we prayed that we will live worthy in the midst of our assignments given from the King? Those assignments will be difficult at times. We must walk worthy!  What would happen if we cried out in prayer that we will bear fruit and increase in the knowledge of God?

Take the challenge right now and make these prayers personal. Praying the inspired Word of God back to God releases power and advances the Kingdom.

Father, we take our stand before Your throne as intercessors. You are good. You are glorious. You are gracious. We pray Your Word back to you. Give us Your heart. You are the Father of glory and we ask that You will give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ. Grant us greater insight in understanding Your heart in Kingdom-focused prayers. Amen.

MALACHI O’BRIEN describes himself as a revivalist, intercessor, and a voice. He is the lead pastor of the Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church in Harrisonville, MO. He is also a member of the OneCry leadership team and the founder of The Revival Generation. He blogs at malachiobrien.com.

Two Extraordinary Words: So That

By Kim Butts

The Bible is the ultimate prayer manual for Kingdom praying! There are many examples of taking ordinary prayer and bringing it into the extraordinary and supernatural through two small words: so that. Jesus said, “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13, italics added).

So often we make prayer about us—our needs, our wants, our friends and family, etc. There is nothing wrong with sharing all of these things with the Father; however, the purpose of our praying should always be so that God is glorified. How do we do that? By raising the bar of our intercessions so that they are Kingdom-focused.

Jesus gave us an amazing example of a God-honoring, so that prayer in John 17:20–21: “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (italics added). Jesus was completely centered upon the activity of the Kingdom, and calls us to pray that things will happen “on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10).

Here is an example of how to include so that in your prayers: “Lord, will You work in the midst of my sister’s illness so that every person who comes into contact with her will see Jesus and experience His love and grace?” This takes “Lord, please heal my sister” to a higher spiritual plane by focusing on the One who answers and not on the answer we want Him to give.

Or how about, “Father, my struggling friend desperately needs a job. Will You lead him to a workplace that is filled with believers who will love and care for him so that he will come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior?” Certainly God can answer in a completely different way, but our focus should always be on a God-honoring end result.

The next time you pray, ask the Holy Spirit to direct you to God’s Kingdom focus for your prayer—so that He receives all of the glory.

KIM BUTTS is the co-founder of Harvest Prayer Ministries and a contributing writer to Prayer Connect.