Three Keys to Kingdom Prayer

I heard some great news this week.  Our sending church, The Sanctuary Milton, has found a new place to hold its Sunday gatherings.  This is great news in and of itself, but it also comes with a bit of a back story which makes the story quite remarkable.

Back while I was still working at The Sanctuary Milton, the spot that we were renting let us know that they would be undergoing renovations for six months and that we would not have access to our meeting space.  We knew that we had to find a new location.  Being in Canada's fastest growing community, however, meant that there was a lot of people and groups looking to rent but few spaces available.  We looked and looked.  One of the places was a bit out of town but had some potential, and for some reason it found a place in the heart of my colleague Jim.  The management, however, had other ideas and let us know in no uncertain terms that they did not want to be bothered with hosting a church each week.  We ended up finding a great room at a great price elsewhere, but it had limited space for growth so we knew that another search could be in our future.  Over the last number of years, The Sanctuary Milton continued to meet in its new location.  More recently, the church has begun to grow a bit again, and has seen an influx of children.  They also have new folks heading up the children's ministry and are excited about what they are seeing and the possibilities.  With growth, the problem of space had reared its head again; a good problem to have but a problem none the less.  What would happen next?

Over these last few years, Jim has continued to feel a prompting to pray for that other location.  Every once in a while he would check again, but with the same management there was the same sentiment, so Jim just quietly continued to pray.  On a whim, and with a bit of desperation I am sure, when this last discussion of the need for more room arose, Jim decided to check back again.  To his great surprise, there was a new manager.  Not only was there a new manager, but he was a Christian.  Not only was he a Christian but he had come come to faith in the last city that he worked in, in a church that is connected to our denomination.  The greatest coincidence, however, is that he had come to faith in a church that was one of the first churches to partner with the Sanctuary Oakville, the first church that Jim had come to Canada to plant almost 14 years ago.  It took some time, but God was at work and we have seen an answer to Jim's persistent prayer.

When I heard this story, I was reminded of Luke chapter  11 in which Jesus teaches about prayer.  He not only teaches the Lord's prayer but He then follows it with two parables.  The first, is about a someone who has a surprise guests in the middle of the night and must go and ask a neighbour for bread in order to show hospitality to his guests.  The second, is about Father's giving good gifts to their children.  From these two parables we get three lessons about prayer, three keys to kingdom prayer that I believe Jim's prayer helps to highlight.

1)  Persistence:
The first principle is that of persistence.  When the individual in the parable first goes to their neighbour for bread they receive a negative response.  None the less, they are not deterred.  Similarly, Jim, although he received negative responses years, continued to feel prompted to pray, to trust God the Father and to hold fast to the belief that His heavenly Father could and would provide for his needs and the needs of the church. 


2)  Recognizing God's Glory:
Although some English translations put the emphasis of the first parable solely on the persistence of the one asking for bread, it is quite likely that there is something else going on as well.  Although there certainly is persistence from the one asking, seeing as he received a negative response but did not go away empty handed, the word that is translated "persistence" in verse 8 is likely better translated "shamelessness."  This being the case, it actually puts the emphasis back on the one to whom the request is being made.  It is drawing on ancient customs of hospitality which would make a failure to help his friend and neighbour a shameful act and bring dishonour.  Thus, the parable suggests that friendship alone should have been enough to want to help, but the threat of dishonour would certainly prompt a response of aid.  It is the same with God.  When we come to God with genuine petitions of need then we might expect that, as we were prompted to pray "hallowed by Your name," and "Your Kingdom come," (Luke 11:2), that God's honour and vindication of His name are of utmost importance.  We can trust God to intervene in the lives of His children as He restores honour to His name.   As one who has prayed with Jim many times over the years I know that God's glory is of utmost importance to Him.  I have heard him pray on numerous occasions for God to do something only God could do so that only God himself would receive the glory that is do.  Jim's heart for the church is that God might be glorified by a family of believers holding up the name of Jesus within the community.  Jim could trust that if a new space was a need for the church to move forward within the community, then God would hear and answer for the sake of His own glory.

3)  Recognizing God's Love:
Lastly, but certainly not least, is to recognize God's love for his children.  Jesus' teaching on prayer begins with the invitation to address God as Father, and ends with a parable about Father's giving good gifts to their children.  "If you then, being evil, now how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him."  Not only will God give good gifts to His children, but He will give the best gift, that being the Holy Spirit.  Our prayer is grounded in a relationship with God as Father, the one who loves and gives good gifts, the one who promises to meet the needs of those who love him.  Jim continued to trust God the Father with his needs and the needs of the church.  Through the sacrifice of Jesus, we are invited into relationship with God as Father, one who loves, cares for and provides for his children, providing not just good gifts to meet their needs, but the best gift, above and beyond expectations.

I mentioned earlier that this new facility was a bit out of town.  To be honest, its locations was not exactly ideal and visible.  In the six years since the first inquiry was made however, the town has continued to grow and expand at a rapid pace.  What once was outside of town is now right on the edge of the newest growth and right in the middle of some of the next biggest growth plans for the town.  So it seems that perhaps God was waiting a bit to answer this prayer.  Maybe one reason was simply that we might learn more about prayer.