Teach Me to Pray for Thine is the Kingdom Day 5

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Visual Prayer

  • Our Father in Heaven,
  • Hallowed be your name.
  • Thy Kingdom Come,
  • Thy Will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
  • Give us this day our daily bread.
  • Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
  • Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.

A prayer wheel is an ancient visual device to keep focus and build well-worn paths in your prayer life. Here’s one based on God’s character (the central core) and the characteristics the Holy Spirit wants to grow in us (the ring). Hovering around the wheel are the characteristics of sin that obstruct God’s Kingdom. Sketch the wheel into your prayer journal so that you can become comfortable with it through frequent use and enrich your praying of the Lord’s Prayer.

Use each of the seven petitions of the Lord’s Prayer as an entry point into the circle. Start in the center and let God’s characteristics of love, justice, truth and grace fill your prayer with this petition. People may come to mind who bear testimony to these characteristics of God, or who do not know or understand these characteristics of God. Pray for them.

Move to the ring of the circle and consider which fruit of the Spirit is in play for this petition. These traits are the entry point for His kingdom into the lives of the people around us. Note the one or two that are evident as you interact with people and which one is missing and needed in your relationships.

Let each petition shine a spotlight revealing the presence of opposition to God’s sovereignty in your life and His will for our world. That opposition of deception, mercilessness or injustice may be within you or pressing you from other sources. Listen carefully for God’s voice.

Finish each petition’s journey through the wheel with the centrality of God’s love, His Kingdom, His power, and His glory.