Jesus said, “The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy; I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly” (John 10:1). This statement clearly defines the borders of two opposite and opposing kingdoms. One kingdom is a land of death and the other, a land of life. One is ruled by Satan and the other by God. One is filled with darkness and the other, bathed in unimaginable light. Every situation or circumstance we find ourselves in has the potential to push us out of one and into the other.
We have a choice—to live an annihilated life where we are constantly being destroyed or an abundant life where we are forcefully advancing in victory. We were born into the first, but Jesus has given us the second, but we have to take possession of it. The choice is ours, and our belief system will determine what we do. We can remain passive and go along to get along. Or, we can become militant and reach out and take what is ours by spiritual inheritance. It all depends on how we pray.
Most of us have been taught to pray very passive prayers—“If it’s your will?” The mainstream faith of the Western Church is a very passive mediocre flavor or what was once a kingdom-killing, serpent-stomping, cultural-crushing militant faith. The Christianity we have today sounds similar to the original, but acts nothing like it. It has taken a defensive posture rather than an offensive one.
Many believers are convinced we have to hunker down and stay low in our foxhole. That is, Jesus is coming back (and He truly is), and if we just hold on, we will escape the desolation and impending doom. For certain, it will get worse, but Jesus never told us to hold on or dig a fox hole and wait on Him to rescue us. His mentality was more the gates of hell will not prevail. Last time I looked, gates keep things in or out—they do not go on invasive assaults. Could it be we are crouching in foxholes, fearing an attack of the enemy and the enemy is sitting in the same foxhole next to us, wondering how long it will be before we realize whose we are and get a backbone and go on the offensive?
Our prayers have become passive because we have become passive. Passive people pray passive prayers, and passive prayers rarely get answered because they are usually very general in nature. We are fearful of praying specific prayers because the devil has convinced us that God won’t answer them.
Hello…let me tell you a secret the enemy does not want you to know. God loves it when you pray specifically. Specific prayers have specific answers, and when they are answered there is no doubt God answered. Kingdom prayer is the specific prayer of a warrior who is tired of living in a foxhole. Kingdom prayer is purposeful, not passive.