The Kingdom Prayer Matthew 6:9-13: Craig Keener

Many pagans added up as many names of their deities as possible, reminding the deities of all their sacrifices and how the deities were therefore obligated in some sense to answer them.  Jesus, however, says that we should predicate our prayers instead on the relationship our heavenly Father has given us with himself: we can cry out to him because he is our Father (Matt 6:7-9).

Jesus used some things in his culture, which was already full of biblical knowledge.  Jesus here adapts a common synagogue prayer, that went something like this: “Our Father in heaven, exalted and hallowed be your great and glorious name, and may your kingdom come speedily and soon…”

Jewish people expected a time when God’s name would be “hallowed,” or shown to be holy, among all peoples.  For Jewish people, there was a sense in which God reigns in the present, but when they prayed for the coming of God’s kingdom they were praying for him to rule unchallenged over all the earth and his will to be done on earth just as it is in heaven.  Jesus therefore taught his disciples to pray for God’s reign to come soon, when God’s name would be universally honored.

To ask God for “daily bread” recalls how God provided bread each day for Israel in the wilderness; God is still our provider.  To ask God to forgive our “debts” would stir a familiar image for many of Jesus’ hearers.  Poor peasants had to borrow much money to sow their crops, and Jesus’ contemporaries understood that our sins were debts before God.  To ask God not to “lead us into temptation” probably recalls a Jewish synagogue prayer of the day which asked God to preserve people from sinning.  If so, the prayer might mean not, “Let us not be tested,” but rather, “Do not let us fail the test” (compare 26:41, 45). 

- Craig Keener

Kingdom Prayer by Jack Hayford: Part 2

"Your kingdom come … on earth." - (Luke 11:2)

"We cannot leave the matter of kingdom praying without being clear about its pivotal place in the affairs of this world. Jesus’ lesson on prayer, which we call the Lord’s Prayer, not only issues a call to our worship and surrender before God’s throne—to submission. He also issues an incredible directive, an assignment that we accept a decisive role as intercessors. In short, our intervention in prayer, calling “Your kingdom come,” is that action which refuses to surrender this present world to the adversary’s devices and destruction. In World War II, artillery firepower from giant guns situated miles away was directed by advance “spotters.” These military personnel were in a position to see the target, then to radio the position where needed firepower could be directed to destroy the enemy’s encampments.This is the same as Jesus’ assignment that we pray, “Father, Your kingdom come on earth.” It is our Savior’s way of saying, “Just as you have welcomed the Father’s rule in your hearts, now extend that kingdom rule in prayer.” Point to earth’s needy places and invite heaven’s forces to break hell’s strongholds and bring hearts, homes and nations into His freedom."

 - Jack Hayford

Kingdom Prayer by Jack Hayford: Part 1

"Your kingdom come, your will be done." - (Luke 11:2)


C. S Lewis said, “There are only two kinds of people: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done;’ and those to whom God ultimately says, ‘Thy will be done.’ ” How startling it is to weigh the implications of our seeking and surrendering to the rule of God in our hearts. To invite His kingly reign is to receive its forgiving, freeing and enobling purposes for each of our lives. To ignore Him assures our self-rule, and thereby its pitiful, painful, and destructive results. Kingdom praying begins to find its power when we have come to the place of clear priority: “Your kingdom come!” It’s often difficult to come to God’s throne without my own “wish list”—my personal agenda of how I think things ought to be, and whom I think God ought to change to suit my tastes. But true kingdom praying comes to its highest possibility when I bow my lowest in surrender. “Lord, You help me think Your thoughts about the circumstances and the people surrounding me—and let me serve Your purposes in this present world. Your kingdom come here at my small spot on earth—as You will it in heaven. Amen.”   

- Jack Hayford

Jack Hayford on Kingdom Praying

"We are called to transmit through prayer the invitation: "Let Your Kingdom come! Enter into this circumstance, that problem, that soul, that home! Let your will be done in our family, our town, our nation-exactly as You, Father, will it in heaven. Release it in Jesus' name. Shed forth the blessing of His victory-apply what He has 'finished'!"   

Penetrating The Darkness, page 69.

- Jack Hayford

Dallas Willard on Kingdom Praying

“Kingdom praying and its efficacy is entirely a matter of the innermost heart's being totally open and honest before God. It is a matter of what we are saying with our whole being, moving with resolute intent and clarity of mind into the flow of God's action.” 

― Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life In God

Binding And Loosing Prayer: Tom White

"For those in need of deliverance  I advise a two-track mode of binding and loosing prayer. I ask the Spirit to make the person sick of his or her sin, to plant seeds of truth in the person's mind and, if for an unbeliever, to stir the person to seek salvation. I also ask the Holy Spirit to silence, subdue and separate demonic influence from the person, thus allowing him/her to respond to truth. Having done this, I wait and watch for God to open doors and bring opportunity to work directly with the one in bondage."

- Tom White, The Believer's Guide To Spiritual Warfare, page 202

The Gospel Prayer by J. D. Greear

The Gospel prayer is from the outstanding book,Gospel, by J.D. Greear.I posted this prayer a few months ago, but I am currently using Pastor Greear's book for my morning devotional. I am participating in, The Gospel Project, which is reading through the four Gospels in the forty day reading plan in his book. And praying the Gospel Prayer daily.

"In Christ, there is nothing I can do
that would make You love me more,and nothing
I have done that makes You love me less."


"Your presence and approval are all
I need for everlasting joy."


"As you have been to me,so I will be to others."


"As I pray, I'll measure Your compassion by the cross
and Your power by the resurrection."

Be Encouraged To Pray by J.C. Ryle

"I dare not lay down too strict rules on such points as these. I leave them to your own conscience. You must be guided by circumstances.

Our Lord Jesus Christ prayed on a mountain;
Isaac prayed in the fields;
Hezekiah turned his face to the wall as he lay upon his bed;
Daniel prayed by the riverside;
Peter, the Apostle, on the housetop.

I have heard of young men praying in stables and haylofts. All that I contend for is this, you must know what it is to "go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen" (Matthew 6:6)."

There must be stated times when you must speak to God face to face, you must every day have your times for prayer — You must pray.

J. C. Ryle, Thoughts For Young Men (Kindle edition, locations 668-673).

Dudley Hall on Kingdom Prayer

This post is an excerpt from Dudley Hall's monthly message entitled, Praying As Sons, June 2010. You can get read this message in it's entirety by going to Dudley's website. Dudley has been a tremendous help to me on my spiritual journey since 1983. www.sclm.org - Bobby


"Prayer is talking and listening and waiting in the presence of the Father. What could be more satisfying than visiting with the person who knows everything and is essentially good? The more we know him, the more we will love him, and that love is the highest form of life. Prayer then is not primarily a duty. It is the high privilege that sons have because of Jesus’ work.


Prayer is a partnership. One day the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray. This is interesting because they probably already knew how to go to the temple and pray. They knew the posture and the words, but when they watched Jesus pray, they knew something was different. They wanted to be able to fellowship with the Father like Jesus did. He granted their request with the model prayer.


“When you pray, say, ‘Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven….’” Jesus was telling them that they would participate in the expression of the kingdom of God, which had come to earth in him.


Remember, the first man was given partnership with God. Now the last Adam was restoring the dignity destroyed by sin. The followers of Jesus would work with God by praying his kingdom into the earth.


So how would praying the kingdom to come look?


For government, we can pray that God will lead the leaders to make clear and simple laws that will protect the citizens from internal and external oppression, and free them to manage their own lives with opportunity to trade with each other. That is the purpose of government in society.


For the church, we can pray that it will awaken to its societal responsibilities of defining and declaring truth while equipping its members to demonstrate the kingdom of God in every sphere of influence. If it gets distracted from this role, all of society will suffer.


For the home, we can pray that families will model the family of God with mutual submission and clear division of labor, that the members will be nurtured and empowered to discover their destiny in relation to God’s purpose.


For individuals, we can pray for unbelievers to have their eyes opened to see the gospel in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:3-5). We can pray for believers to have eyes opened to see their inheritance in Christ and to walk in it. Both have a “seeing” problem we can address in prayer. Remember, when we pray, God sends lightening and thunder. They can see and hear the truth that will set them free.


This is a day when God is calling his people to take seriously their privilege in prayer. We are partners with him."

Kingdom - Centered Prayer

(This article was taken from the Redeemer Presbyterian Church website.) www.redeemer.com

People are used to thinking about prayer as a means to get their personal needs met. However we should understand prayer as a means to praise and adore God, to know Him, to come into his presence and be changed by Him. We need to better learn how to pray, repent and petition God as a people.

Biblically and historically, the one non-negotiable, universal ingredient in times of spiritual renewal is corporate, prevailing, intensive and kingdom-centered prayer. What is that?


1.It is focused on God's presence and kingdom.
Jack Miller talks about the difference between "maintenance prayer" and "frontline" prayer meetings. Maintenance prayer meetings are short, mechanical, and totally focused on physical needs inside the church. But frontline prayer has three basic traits:

a.a request for grace to confess sins and humble ourselves

b.a compassion and zeal for the flourishing of the church

c.a yearning to know God, to see his face, to see his glory.
It is most interesting to study Biblical prayer for revival, such as in Acts 4 or Exodus 33 or Nehemiah 1, where these three elements are easy to see. Notice in Acts 4, for example, that the disciples, whose lives had been threatened, did not ask for protection for themselves and their families, but only boldness to keep preaching!

2.It is bold and specific.
The characteristics of this kind of prayer include:

a.Pacesetters in prayer spend time in self-examination. Without a strong understanding of grace, this can be morbid and depressing. But in the context of the gospel, it is purifying and strengthening. They "take off their ornaments" (Exod. 33:1-6). They examine selves for idols and set them aside.

b.They then begin to make the big request–a sight of the glory of God. That includes asking: 1) for a personal experience of the glory/presence of God ("that I may know you" – Exod. 33:13); 2) for the people's experience of the glory of God (v. 15); and 3) that the world might see the glory of God through his people (v. 16). Moses asks that God's presence would be obvious to all: "What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?" This is a prayer that the world be awed and amazed by a show of God's power and radiance in the church, that it would become truly the new humanity that is a sign of the future kingdom.

3.It is prevailing, corporate.
By this we mean simply that prayer should be constant, not sporadic and brief. Why? Are we to think that God wants to see us grovel? Why do we not simply put our request in and wait? But sporadic, brief prayer shows a lack of dependence, a self-sufficiency, and thus we have not built an altar that God can honor with his fire. We must pray without ceasing, pray long, pray hard, and we will find that the very process is bringing about that which we are asking for – to have our hard hearts melted, to tear down barriers, to have the glory of God break through.