Praying The Kingdom - The One Year Salt and Light Devotional

Luke 11:1-4

Your kingdom come. (Luke 11:2, NIV)

PETER AND JOHN WENT TO the Temple to pray and saw a lame man at the gate. He was carried there every day to beg for alms. He asked Peter and John for money, but they saw something better for him and declared his healing. The man got up, leaped for joy, and went into the Temple—just in time for what in Jewish practice was called “the standing prayer” at three o’clock (Acts 3:1-8).

Why didn’t Peter and John give the beggar money? For one thing, as Peter says, they didn’t have any. But more importantly, they were able to envision what the Kingdom of God should look like in that situation, just as Jesus had done when he went from town to town declaring and demonstrating the Kingdom message (Matthew 9:35). The result was something far better than monetary support for a day. A man who had been lame from birth walked for the first time in his life.

If you’re ever at a loss for how to pray, a great way to spark your imagination is to ask what the Kingdom of God would look like in the situation you’re praying for. It will not only throw into stark relief the aspects that don’t look like the Kingdom—though you may already be acutely aware of them—but it will also increase your vision for what God wants to do in this world to demonstrate his nature. It will give you a starting point for praying his goodness into the lives of those around you, and it will sharpen your awareness of what you can and cannot expect him to do. It will turn your attention to the ways he offers his wisdom, power, and love—and the ways he offers them through you.

Make that question a significant part of your intercession. Don’t just pray a list of desires; ask him what his desires are. Envision what the Kingdom looks like, then pray that vision. Over time, you will begin to see it increasing around you.

{Father, show me your will. Give me a revelation of what your Kingdom looks like in every area of my life. Fill me with the power of vision, and fill my prayers with words that bring it into this world. Amen.