The church must pray to bring in the kingdom of God; we as the church must pray the prayers of the kingdom to curb Satan’s activities and bring in the kingdom of God.
The church should no longer limit God in what He wants to do but cooperate with God in prayer to both curb Satan in his works and allow heaven’s authority to be expressed on earth. Amen!
God’s desire is to bring in the kingdom of God on the earth, and for this He Himself became a man; this Man, the Lord Jesus Christ, lived and walked among men as the embodiment and expression of the kingdom of God, and He came to bring in God’s kingdom.
Through His death and resurrection, the Lord Jesus was reproduced and multiplied into many believers who are the same as He is in life and nature; these believers constitute the kingdom of God, and they are the church who is to bring in the kingdom of God.
The church is an entity coming under the heavenly rule; the church is brought in by the power of the kingdom, the church should be the kingdom of God in reality today, and the church is to bring in the kingdom of God.
How can the church bring in the kingdom of God? Is it merely by preaching the gospel so that many would be saved and come into the kingdom of God?
The main way the church cooperates with God to bring in the kingdom of God is through prayer. By reason of her submission to the heavenly rule, the church deals with God’s enemy and brings in the kingdom of God through prayer.
The church is an entity on earth that cooperates with the heavens, releasing what has been released in the heavens and binding what the heavens have already bound, so that God’s will may be done on the earth and His kingdom would come on earth.
As the church, we realise that there’s the need of spiritual fighting if the kingdom of the heavens is to be established on the earth. Therefore, as the church we want to continue the warfare that Christ fought on earth, continuing the victorious work that Christ has carried out against Satan.
The church does not pray to gain the victory; rather, the church stands in the victory of Christ, proclaims the victory of Christ, and perpetuates the victory of Christ in prayer, so that the enemy would be defeated and shamed, and the kingdom of God may come on the earth.
The Church must Pray to Bring in the Kingdom of God and Deal with God’s Enemy
For the church to bring in the kingdom of God on earth today, the church must pray (Matt. 6:10).
This kind of prayer is not a common prayer; we need to learn to pray and allow the Lord to train us to have a particular kind of prayer until we are raptured, a prayer that cooperates with God for the bringing in of His kingdom and deals with God’s enemy.
The coming of the kingdom of God is not automatic; if we are passive or occupied, the kingdom’s coming will be delayed.
If there is no prayer, the kingdom cannot come. We may be preoccupied with things, even with good things, but if we don’t pray to bring in the kingdom of God, we delay God in His move.
The Lord’s word in Matt. 6:10 is both simple and direct; our prayer should be, Lord, Your kingdom come! Your kingdom come in our locality, in our area, in our country, on our continent, and on the whole earth! Amen!
God established the principle of prayer; when He created the universe, He didn’t need anyone to pray – He could simply create the universe by Himself. But in this age, God is governed by a principle which He took upon Himself: He will not act unilaterally but only in response to His people who agree with Him and express that agreement in their prayers.
That’s why the Lord said in John 15:7 that if we abide in Him and His words abide in us, we can ask whatever we want and it will be done for us.
We may think that we abide in the Lord and His words abide in us, so we can ask for a nice car or a big house, but actually, when we abide in the Lord and are one with Him, He makes known to us what He wants, and what He wants becomes what we want.
God wants to bring in the kingdom of God, so we as the church pray that God would bring in the kingdom. Real prayers are the expression of God’s desire; what we want becomes what God wants, and our prayer expresses what God wants, so God can do what He wants.
When the Lord wants to do something, He will not act alone; He needs a group of people – even two or three – who would stand in one accord in prayer for God to bring in the kingdom of God and deal with God’s enemy.
Our omnipotent God is limited in what He can do among man by the prayer of man; He imposed a limitation on Himself – He will not do certain things unless the church prays for Him to do it.
The Lord wants to bring the gospel to such countries as North Korea, Cuba, Iran, the UAE, and so many other, but who prays big prayers one with the Lord for His kingdom to come in these countries?
How much the Lord can do is determined to a great extent by the level of our praying; if we ask Him to do this much, He will do this much, for we pray only this much; but eventually, we are enlarged so that what we want and pray equals what He wants.
When the church prays in oneness with the heavens to release the heaven’s will on earth for the bringing in of the kingdom and dealing with God’s enemy, we restore God His omnipotence.
God wants to cause Satan to be bound and thrown in the abyss; He wants to abolish war, terminate human government, end the money system, and bring in His kingdom on earth – He wants all these things, but we must also want it, and we must pray as the church in a definite way!
The prayer of the church is the most effective means of curbing Satan and bringing in the kingdom of God. If we see this principle, we will tell the Lord,
Lord Jesus, gain a group of people on earth who would pray one with You to bring in the kingdom of God and deal with Satan, God’s enemy. May Your will become our will, and may Your desire become our desire as we abide in You and allow Your word to abide in us. Amen, Lord Jesus, may You have a free way to utter the prayers that You need through the church, and may the church cooperate with You in prayer to bring in the kingdom of God and deal with Satan, curbing him on earth. Amen, Lord Jesus, may Your kingdom come and may Your will be done on earth!
Seeing God’s Great Will and Praying the Prayers of the Kingdom to Curb Satan’s Activities and Bring in God’s Kingdom
As the church, we must be the outlet of heaven, allowing heaven’s authority to be expressed on the earth. This we do through our prayer.
The church must put on the whole armor of God and stand against the stratagems of the devil (Eph. 6:11), for wherever the kingdom of God is, the devil is cast out.
The church has such a tremendous responsibility to pray and bring in God’s kingdom, so Satan will attack the church with all he has.
May the church pray like the saints of old, “Oh, that You would rend the heavens, that You would come down!” (Isa. 64:1). And at the same time, may the church be so bold and one with the Lord to tell Satan, “Depart from the earth immediately, and go to the eternal fire which God has prepared for you!” Amen!
May we as the church see God’s great will, and may we pray the prayers of the kingdom for His will to be done; when we pay attention to God’s great will, all the other miscellaneous matters will be accomplished.
God’s move and the accomplishing of His will is affected by our prayer on earth; if we make a sacrifice and set aside time to pray, if we deal with our being and our time and are joined with the saints to pray, we will not only receive God’s answer but we will also receive a reward.
God’s will is like a river and our prayer is like the channel for the river to flow; if our prayer is big, the accomplishment of our prayer will also be big, but if our prayer is limited, we limit God in what He wants to do.
Evan Roberts, the coal minder through which God brought in a great revival in Wales in 1903-1904, was once asked by a brother what has he been doing all these years, seven or eight years after the revival. He simply said, I have been praying the prayer of the kingdom.
If we don’t pray the prayers of the kingdom, the kingdom will not come. If the channel for the Lord’s move is blocked or limited, the Lord cannot flow through.
May we not only abide in the Lord but also allow His words to abide in us, so that we may realise what is God’s great will; then, we will pray the prayers of the kingdom, for our will be in harmony with God’s will, and His name will be sanctified, His kingdom will come, and His will shall be done on the earth.
Yes, the ruler of this world is still Satan for now (see John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11), but we as the church need to pray the prayers of the kingdom and curb the activities of Satan. Amen!
The church today is a miniature of the kingdom, and in the church God manifests His authority; our responsibility today is to put a halt to Satan’s will by standing in and perpetuating Christ’s victory. Amen!
May the church today be the outlet of heaven, allowing heaven’s authority to be expressed on earth (Matt. 16:18-19; 18:18).
The Lord wants it, and we also have to want it; He wanted His people to return from Babylon and He even prophesied through Jeremiah that it will happen, but He needed Daniel to pray as he did in Dan. 9. Amen!
Genuine prayer is a joint labor with God to bring His kingdom to the earth and to carry out His will on earth; hence, prayer is a spiritual battle (2 Cor. 10:4; Eph. 6:12).
Amen, may we be joined with God in His great will and pray the prayers of the kingdom to release God’s will on earth, curb the activities of Satan, and bring in the kingdom of God!
Lord Jesus, may we see God’s great will to bring in His kingdom and curb the activities of Satan, and may we pray the prayers of the kingdom today! Amen, Lord, may the church be the outlet of heaven, allowing the authority of the heavens to be expressed on earth! Lord Jesus, gain more ground in us in all the local churches. Bring us into a realm of prayer where we have been before. May the church be one with God to labor with Him in prayer to bring in the kingdom of God to the earth and carry out His will on earth! Amen, Lord, we stand on earth for Your interest, and we are one with You in what You want to do today!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 22, “The Prayer Ministry of the Church,” ch. 2, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Development of the Kingdom of God in the Church Life and the Christian Life (2019 spring ITERO), week 6, The Conflict of the Two Kingdoms and the Work and Responsibility of the Church.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Who then will choose God’s best, / And take the narrow track, / Though passing thru the wildest storms, / Yet never turning back? / Who now will dare press on, / Enduring pain and fear? / All such will then rejoice to see / Jesus, the Lord, is near! (Hymns #893)
# In the Body, by the Headship, / Sitting in the heavenlies, / Struggle with the wicked spirits / And the principalities. / As a member of the Body, / With the brethren stand for God; / Praying always in the Spirit, / Claim the vict’ry through the Blood. (Hymns #885)
# Kingdom of Christ, for thy coming we pray, / Hasten, O Father, the dawn of the day / When this new song Thy creation shall sing, / Satan is vanquished and Jesus is King. (Hymns #151)
About aGodMan
