Beyond the Obvious: Moving from Fix-it to Kingdom Prayer

One of my first encounters with a Kingdom perspective came from a simple greeting I heard at the end of each day. My office was situated across from the coat closet on the third floor of a Christian organization. Every day when the president left to go home, he removed his coat from the closet and said, “Goodbye, Carol. I’ll see you tomorrow, Lord willing.”

He never failed to add, “Lord willing.” I confess it was a little bothersome to me. I wondered if it was just something he always tacked on to the end of a sentence, perhaps without thinking. He was the only person I knew who consistently added a qualifier—Lord willing—to his daily interactions with me.

But the more I got to know this man personally and watched his life carefully, the more I realized that he truly meant it. He did not assume anything from the Lord. He lived with a simple faith and a Kingdom perspective. He is the best example I know of someone who lives according to James 4:13–15: “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’”   He taught me about living with a daily dependence upon God. He had a Kingdom mindset that affected how he went about ministry—and he often demonstrated that in his prayers.

Praying with the Kingdom in Mind

If we keep our eyes fixed on God’s Kingdom, we will find our faith increasing and our prayers changing. We will begin to pray beyond what might be termed “fix-it” prayers, to those prayers with Kingdom impact. A fix-it prayer is a plea for God to intervene and change circumstances. It is a heart cry for God to move on behalf of someone or some situation. It’s most often the prayer that slips out as an immediate response to an obvious need.

I pray fix-it prayers all the time. They are expressions of my heart’s desire. “Lord, please heal my friend.” “Heavenly Father, please bring resolution to this conflict.” These are good prayers. They rightly express my belief in God’s love and His ability to intervene in any situation.

But I also want to pray beyond the obvious—and toward Kingdom expressions of hope. As I pray for my friend to be healed, I also want Jesus to be glorified—whether in life or death. My prayer for the resolution of a conflict includes my desire that others will see the love and unity between fellow believers because of their common bond in Christ.

This issue of Prayer Connect is about praying beyond obvious fix-it prayers. Jonathan Graf writes about how Paul did not pray, “Get me out of prison,” but instead trusted God to use all of his circumstances to advance the gospel. Kay Horner uses Moses to demonstrate a prayer life based on knowing God’s character and His ways. And Malachi O’Brien offers Scripture to demonstrate healthy Kingdom praying. I want my prayers and my life to reflect that the Kingdom of God is my priority—Lord willing.

CAROL MADISON is editor of Prayer Connect.