The Focus of Kingdom Prayer

By Sidharth Mohandas

A while back I remember my dad told me that he had forgotten to take something from the car, and so he gave me the key and asked me if I could get it. I went to open the car door but I couldn’t. I kept on trying, but the door just wouldn’t open! Just then dad comes along and says “Oops, I think I gave you the wrong key”. Jesus said there were keys to the kingdom (Matthew 16:19). That would mean there are specific keys to unlock God’s power to work for us, at the same time using the wrong keys may hinder His intervention. Do not misunderstand me. I’m not talking about some formula you can use to see your prayer life succeed.  On the other hand, we are concerned about redirecting our attention to the original intent, purpose and structure of prayer.   

Before Jesus taught on what prayer was, He taught on what it was not. He in fact showed us that the most important thing about prayer was its focus. I’m sure all of us have had times when we’ve prayed with a motive to draw attention to ourselves (Matthew 6:5). Our prayers were focused inwardly. They sounded more like sermons, with a religious tone and a building of tempo – very often mistaken to be powerful. There are other times when our focus was on our prayers themselves (Matthew 6:7). We think God will respond because we cry and use many words. Sometimes we act as if we are more concerned about the sick and the unsaved than He is. We can have an attitude that makes situations look as though He is withholding the help we need and that we need to manipulate Him to receive His help. What we must realize is that it is foremost HIS plan, HIS desire, HIS will to save, heal, deliver and bless.

Jesus redirects our focus in prayer by saying, “This, then, is how you should pray:” ‘Our Father in heaven” (Matthew 6:9). The central focus of prayer is the Father in heaven, the King of the Universe. Now, the Aramaic and Greek word used for “Father” are function-oriented words. They convey the meaning “Absolute Source, Sustainer, and Supporter”. Therefore, when you and I come in prayer, the first thing we must realize is that we are coming before our Absolute Source, the Presence that sustains and supports us. In other words, we should not pray to Him in doubt, having thoughts like, “Yeah, He is the provider, BUT…” or “He will open doors for my employment, BUT…” or “Scripture does say that He strengthens us, BUT…”. On the other hand, we come before Him with the attitude of faith that He is the ONLY Person who can uphold us. Of course, He may use channels to work through, but they are not the source, they are simply resources. 

Our attitude? “Hallowed be Your name”. We are to enter His Throne Room with reverence, giving Him unswerving attention and majesty. No one else is worthy of such V.I.P treatment but Him. Again, HE is the centrality of prayer, not our needs or our wants.

In your time of prayer today, I encourage you to discipline yourself to focus on Him. May we be challenged to practice this in every area of our life.

In the upcoming post, we would go further into the model prayer and learn Kingdom principles for effective prayer.

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