The Church in the United States has recently experienced (and is experiencing) one of the greatest moves of prayer in our nation’s history. Feelings of desperation have grown due to the painful moral and economic situations in our nation. Clashes in political views have led to lashing out in hatred. All this has caused the Church to rally her prayer efforts.

Last year many churches held days of prayer, fasting, and 24/7 prayer for a week or more. Hundreds of thousands—perhaps millions—prayed through the prayer guides offered by dozens of ministries, all related to the elections.

Now the elections are over. The desperation may not have changed, but now that rallying point has passed. Will the Church continue to pray?

Sadly, most Westerners pray out of desperation rather than anticipation. That’s one of the reasons that corporate prayer is all but dead in most churches. People do not pray from a foundational belief that prayer changes things—and that God responds when we pray. They do not act on the truth that the Kingdom of God advances through our prayers. They only pray when a current situation makes them desperate for God to intervene.

What would happen to our lives, churches, and communities if believers learned to pray with anticipation, instead of out of desperation? What if we prayed with a sense that we are a part of releasing God’s will and purposes in this world? When we stay tuned into how God wants to use our prayers to fulfill His purposes, we will pray with more excitement and anticipation that a powerful force is being unleashed—and we are a part of it! Our hearts and minds will stay more watchful at what is happening around us—both in people’s situations and how God is at work around us in our churches, communities, and world events.

Prayers that Advance the Kingdom

Those prayers are the kind described in Matthew 16:18–19: “I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Those are not prayers that wait until circumstances come at us; instead we will go after the circumstances—binding and loosing.

We attack the gates of hell when we pray for lost friends. We attack the gates of hell when we pray that Jesus Christ will be glorified in our difficult situations. We attack the gates of hell when we pray for the transforming power of Christ to be unleashed in our communities.

These prayers of anticipation rise from the belief that God is going to do those things that are on His heart. Then it gets exciting. Prayer is no longer an “I hope so” fix-it tool, but a Kingdom force.

To sum it all up, let me adapt the words to the old Heinz Tomato Ketchup commercial: “Anticipation. It’s making me pray—and watch!”

–Jonathan Graf is the publisher of Prayer Connect. He is available to speak on prayer at your church. Contact him at jong@harvestprayer.com.