My last six posts have formed a series of reflections on discipleship and mission, based on David Fitch’s little book Seven Practices for the Church on Mission (IVF, 2018) Fitch writes about practices Jesus gave his disciples for opening themselves to his presence. This post brings the collection to an end, with a chapter fittingly focussed on the 'big picture' of the kingdom of God.
For this final chapter of David Fitch’s examination of practices that invite – indeed usher in – the presence of God in our lives, he turns to prayer. The lens he uses is a reflection on the Lord's Prayer – and what he calls Kingdom Prayer – but first, he establishes why we need to practise such prayer. At the core of the human condition, he says, lies the drive for control, which leaves us endlessly striving for reassurance in our isolated and vulnerable lives. This generalisation probably applies in cultures and families where we believe such control is located in ourselves, but may not be so prevalent in external locus of control societies. Nevertheless it applies in me and in many people in my neighbourhood, so it serves as a useful starting point.
Fitch suggests God can’t work with us when we are striving. He can and does work around us, but longs to use us as instruments of his power and authority and grace. Refusing to 'steamroll’ us and dictate his will in our lives, God patiently waits for us to submit, to "tend/attend to his presence", to "to let him work". These are the phrases Fitch has applied to the previous six practices, and here too, he discerns that when we "open up to God" this way, power is unleashed. From Phil 4: 6 he notes that Paul seems to contrast prayer with petition (supplication). In face of striving and anxiousness, “prayer” is relinquishing control and turning ourselves over to the reign of God. Only then, as we commit to participation in the Kingdom, can we ask for things. The well-used paradigm of 'vertical' and 'horizontal' prayer applies here.
Fitch defines the vertical dimension as the practice of 'Kingdom Prayer'. It is the foundation and fount of all the other practices. It's dominical – given to us by Christ, directly and obviously. And it's sacramental – creating a new social reality, though like other sacraments it is also contextual, shaped by history and culture. The Lord’s own version in Matt 6: 9 – 13 is explicitly social; it begins with 'Our' Father, so is not the individualistic worship so beloved by Western Christians. Rather, it gathers a circle of subjects who serve the God as King. So, says Fitch, to pray this kind of prayer is a “profoundly political act”, joining us with Him as disruptors of the evil in the world. It helps us relinquish striving and to look away from ourselves, to acknowledge the sovereignty of God, and submit to his will.
Here, the Lord's phrase “Your kingdom come, Your will be done” guides our attention, and wakes us up to his mission. Other concerns for provision and safety and forgiveness will flow from here as we trust God for our needs. Together we bow in obedience, and pledge ourselves to be part of God’s mission; in a way, this is a creed. As God's reign becomes a reality amongst us, the Kingdom is embodied. We participate in his work. We are shaped together in mission.
Kingdom Prayer here is the entryway to experiencing his presence, but it is not an individual ecstatic experience. It draws us into the centre of the triune God, where we can be used in a whole different economy; Fitch references theologian Sarah Coakley here. Being shaped into God's presence therefore shapes us to be immersed in his work, in and for the world. 'Your kingdom come' is prayer for God's presence to become visible/audible/touchable. Our joyful expectation is that violence and evil will be overcome, and sickness and dysfunction healed, as the Holy Spirit uses our gifts, and availability, in the world God loves.
One of the examples Fitch gives here is from a church plant in Sacramento CA where a small group of believers felt called to walk in a crime-ridden neighbourhood, praying over each home, and asking that Christ’s presence reign over violence, addiction and Satan. Between 2013 and 2014 there were no homicides, robberies or sex crimes, and only one assault, in that neighbourhood. This transformation was possible because a small group believed in Prayer and Presence, and in Gods Power over evil.
In Mark 9: 14ff, when the disciples' attempt at a healing deliverance does not work, Jesus says “this kind can only come out by prayer” (verse 29). Since they assumedly had prayed, Fitch considers Jesus was talking about this Kingdom Prayer of "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done" - a posture of humble submission to God’s reign. He is saying that when they submit to God's will, trusting him, God will accomplish his kingdom purposes. Today, when we face challenges to God's reign, this prayer gets our hearts right, reassures us of Christ’s presence, and helps us collaborate with the Spirit's work of reordering the world. Our experiences may include suffering or failure, but the cruciform gospel tells us that God can use such experiences to transform society. Fitch tells another story of some pastors being literally caught between police and gangs. They bowed in prayer and implored God to intervene. No shots were fired, as conversations began and community was restored.
Still, says Fitch, “Kingdom Prayer does not remove us from the world, but places us firmly in the middle of it” (Seven Practices for the Church on Mission, p 124). Attending to God’s presence in difficult and dangerous circumstances gives us strength to continue. Any or all of the seven practices are forms or vehicles of Kingdom prayer, enabling our collaboration with God's work of reshaping the world.
How does this apply in the three circles Fitch has been using to remind us of God’s workplaces in this world? Obviously Kingdom Prayer is simplest in the close circle of believers already committed to discerning God’s kingdom presence. Prayer is our natural response to the challenges and hurts of everyday life. As in the Lord’s Prayer, the vertical precedes the horizontal, but the needs of ourselves and others are there – forgiveness, daily bread, shelter from the evil one. Submission to the Kingdom disrupts the matrices of evil.
This applies in the other circles as well. Conscious submission embeds the kingdom in our world view. Onlookers see God at work. We find that prayer is a door that opens up space for conversation, an encounter with God, an opportunity perhaps to explain the real gospel to some who have only heard the punitive version. But, says Fitch, don’t be too quick; springing prayer on someone to get them to an evangelistic moment is a foolish motive. Always ask respectfully, as guests in their space. Look for a real connection, by being present to the other and to God, and don’t feel it's all up to you! Simple thanksgiving is often best as many people today practise gratitude in their daily lives. As a pastor, wedding celebrant and one-time hospital chaplain, I have found that offering to pray for “unchurched“ people is often received gladly.
If opportunities for this practice are not happening, Fitch suggests its because we have slipped into survival mode, what he calls 'exhaustion'. This weekend I was in Australia, and met with Baptists in central Melbourne for worship. It is their Mission Month and the sermon was about “expanding the radius” of our social connections. I thought this was a very inviting way to encourage us to be more outward-facing. Not everyone is able to build a relationship with a homeless person, like the preacher does in her inner-city work. But we can all pray about how to connect more intentionally with people not in our current social circles. Kingdom Prayer aligns us with God and his purposes and a kingdom worldview unleashes his presence and power.
The last paragraph of the book gathers up the seven practices and is worth quoting verbatim:
“Kingdom Prayer embodies the posture by which we gather at every meal,
in every conflict, while proclaiming the gospel, while sitting with the marginalised,
or being with children, and exercising God's gifts.
It shapes us to live as his faithful presence.”
It's the way God has chosen to change our world.
To consider: How has this notion of surrendering to the Kingdom changed your view of prayer? How have any of the other six practices influence your discipleship journey?
So send I you — to bind the bruised and broken,
O’er wand’ring souls to work, to weep, to wake,
To bear the burdens of a world a-weary —
So send I you, to suffer for My sake.
So send I you — My strength to know in weakness,
My joy in grief, My perfect peace in pain,
To prove My pow’r, My grace, My promised presence —
So send I you, eternal fruit to gain.
©Margaret Clarkson 1954, 1963.
To easily find the other posts in this series, search the label 'fitch'.
To easily find the other posts in this series, search the label 'fitch'.
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