Praying the kingdom ~ where we are

Why should we pray?  How often do we pray?  Do we pray enough?  These are kingdom influencing questions for any church in this year of our Lord. It is possible that they are more critical for any church community that is experiencing decline in its numbers or effectiveness. However it is just as essential for a community where the church is experiencing revival.

Prayer is one of those activities that seems to have been in significant decline in the church for a long period of time. It is still a normal part of church meeting practise but not to the extent that it was practised around a hundred years ago. Records of any church that has been going for more than that period will indicate usually that there was a mid week prayer meeting that was often followed up with a pre service prayer gathering on Sunday, then there would have been at least three seasons of prayer during the service, that were focussed on the life of the church.

Now granted this sort of regimen would not work with today’s programs and pressures, we really need to look to “best practise” and compare it with the biblical practise. Are we really praying in the way that the Bible expects, and are we also “short changing” ourselves when it comes to power to influence others for God, by trying to do it in the assumption that God is endorsing what we do?

What sort of things does the Bible say of our need to pray? Jesus must no doubt be our best inspiration, especially when we are attempting to follow Him shouldn’t it.  In all probability the most telling passage would be Luke 10:2 where iT is recorded “Het said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore ask the Lord of the harvests to send outt workers into his harvest.” This was directed to the 72 disciples who were originally sent out to promote the message of the kingdom.  Are they not the predecessors of what we are doing now, and isn’t this verse just as appropriate today?  I, for one, think so.

In Luke 5:16 it is recorded that “As often as possible Jesus withdrew to out-of-the-way places for prayer.” This was after curing the leper. Again just prior to His arrest ”Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him.“ It was His habit to arise early and go to a solitary place to pray and in fact in Luke 6:12 that “He prayed through the night.” This was just prior to choosing the 12 which is, no doubt, an indication of the significance of prayer in His life.

The following is a montage of verses from the letters to a new Church which indicates the importance of prayer in the church that grew out of the period after the Acts (of the Apostles)

¹⁶Be joyful always; ¹⁷pray continually; ¹⁸give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Phillipians 4:16

 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. Colossians 4:2

So what does all this have to do with the Kingdom?  Basically I would suggest that it has everything to do with it.  Just as you cannot expect a car to keep going without replenishing its energy source as required so it is with kingdom extension and prayer. It is God who enables our endeavours to bring others to a relationship with Jesus, but we must operate within His paradigm.

To do this we need the sort of intimacy with God that only comes with prayer to Him. If we are serious about spreading the kingdom of God can we do any less than that?