Be of this mindset when you pray
I no longer call you servants, because a master doesn't confide in his servants. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. John 15:15
Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. 2 Corinthians 5:20
Follow this model when you pray
- OUR FATHER: Remember you are a child and friend of God
- WHO IS IN HEAVEN: Set your mind on things above rather than the problem
- REVERENT IS YOUR NAME: Honor and respect God in his power and majesty
- YOUR KINGDOM GROW: His Kingdom has come and we command it to grow
- YOUR WILL BE DONE: Jesus is God’s will, pray in agreement with who Jesus is
- ON EARTH AS IN HEAVEN: God wants the earth to look like Heaven now
- MEET OUR DAILY PROVISIONS: He meets our needs according to his riches
- FORGIVE BECAUSE YOU’RE FORGIVEN: Thank him you’re forgiven in Christ
- FOR HIS IS THE KINGDOM, POWER AND GLORY...AMEN!!
You are a friend of God, equipped by God to represent God
Prayer as a new creation in Christ is less about asking God to intervene and more about using your authority as a king in His kingdom. Imagine that you are a representative from God's kingdom sent by Him into a distant land to help that land experience the rule and reign of your king. Imagine that you are already a citizen of Heaven and God has given you the task of going around and declaring His wishes and decrees all throughout neighboring lands.
God's realm of dominion is established, powerful and prosperous enough to benefit surrounding lands. You are an ambassador, sent by God, approved by God, equipped by God and taught by God to carry his rule and reign into the world.Not only that, you have the authority to command other lands to function like God's home land.
Jesus prayed "thy kingdom come." This word come is very interesting. "Come" in the original Greek is the word erchomai. Erchomai can be translated as come but it also means to arise, to show itself or grow.
Erchomai is in the imperative mood in the imperfect tense.
The imperative mood is a command or instruction given to the hearer, charging the hearer to carry out or perform a certain action.
The imperfect tense shows continuous or linear type of action just like the present tense. It always indicates an action continually or repeatedly happening in past time. It portrays the action as going on for some extended period of time in the past.
All of this can be verified from a simple original language study of the word erchomai, which you can do here -> https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=G2064&t=KJV
Based on mood and tense of the original language, Jesus is not asking God to send his kingdom, he already declared it was at hand when he started preaching. Jesus was not talking about the future. He was "commanding" God's realm of influence (kingdom) to grow into this realm as it is in God's realm of dominion (your will be done on earth as it in in Heaven). He was functioning as an ambassador, telling the physical realm to function like the spiritual realm. As an authorized representative of God, he was showing his disciples that because God's kingdom has come they can tell their current land to operate like God's home country.
How does this relate to you?
You too can tell this land to function like God's home land. You have been given the same authority as Jesus, as a joint-heir, to not just ask God but actually decree with power that this land obey the rules and dominion of God's home land.
"Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven"
Take a moment to meditate on what you think God's will in Heaven looks like.
Then try to see that will being accomplished in your own life and the world around you.
You'll have all sorts of limiting thoughts and carnal theologies arise in your thinking, but the FACT remains, Jesus told his disciples that they had the power to execute God's Heavenly will on earth. Can you take him at his word and apply this to your prayer life?
Discussion Questions
- What did you get out of the message?
- How would praying this way change your prayer life?
- Give an example from your life where you are going to tell this world to obey the rules of Heaven?
- Put it into practice!
