I hope you’re enjoying this series so far. It may seem boring — or like basic Christianity — but that’s why I like it 🙂 Simple faith is God’s favorite kind.

One key to walking in freedom is praying the Lord’s Prayer. Why? Because it helps us focus on the Creator as our solution (instead of our problem) and invites Him into each situation. That’s why we’re studying this powerful passage in the Bible.

Jesus encouraged us to pray “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”. What a beautiful yet at times hard prayer to pray. Just as Jesus Himself prayed in the garden, “Not My will but Yours be done“, we have to be willing to lay down our agendas in every prayer we pray.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been praying in a certain direction when I’ve felt the Holy Spirit’s gentle, firm nudge encourage me to ask for something different. I’d want to pray “Lord, do this!”, but He’d redirect my focus elsewhere, sometimes small & sometimes seismic.

Laying down our desires in prayer is HUGE. We want to pray according to His Spirit, do we not? And we want His will, right? What if He were to grant us all our requests without filtering them through the lens of His greater purposes? Then His answers wouldn’t be in ours & others’ best interest!

Lay your desires on the table and pick up His. It’s an exchange that’s worth every ounce of strength it takes to do.

Lord, help us to genuinely pray YOUR KINGDOM COME instead of our own. Yours is the one that will reign eternally — ours is but a blip on the screen of history. Yours will change lives & impact nations. Thank You for Your eyes to see & Your boldness to pray according to Your will — to bring Your kingdom to earth. After all, Scripture says this about Your Kingdom:

The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men.

— Romans 14

Righteousness. Peace. Joy. These are all desired outcomes to prayer — so let’s pray His Kingdom, not ours, every time we bow our heads. Our world could use a lot more of all three!

Imagine what life would be like if we agreed with Him, praying on earth as it is in heaven. The world would be FULL of His light, the life He brings, His healing and truth. It would be truly beautiful!