The Kingdom Council: How God Does Business Through You

"Who makes the final decision?"

That's the question I hear constantly when I talk about mutual submission—whether in marriage or in Kingdom relationships. And I get it. We've been so shaped by worldly power structures that we genuinely struggle to imagine decision-making outside of a hierarchy where someone must have "final authority."

But that question itself reveals how deeply the world's empire-like system has infiltrated our thinking.

The Question Reveals Our Programming

When we ask "who makes the final decision," we're operating from the assumption that decision-making requires someone at the top with the power to overrule everyone else. Someone has to be in charge. Someone has to have control.

That's how the kingdoms of this world work. Power flows downward in one direction. Authority means control. Leadership equals being in charge.

But in God's Kingdom, everything works differently.

Power flows in all directions—it's circular, like the relationship within the Trinity. Authority means responsibility to serve. Leadership equals lifting others up. And mutual submission isn't a contradiction—it's a completely different operating system for human relationships.

Think about how the Trinity functions: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit submit to one another in a beautiful dance of mutual honor and deference. There's no power struggle. No "final authority" needed to break ties. Just perfect partnership.

That's the model for ekklesia. That's how God does business.

Mutual Submission Isn't a Contradiction

The objection I hear is: "If everyone is submitting, who's leading? It's a contradiction!"

But mutual submission only seems contradictory if you're still thinking hierarchically.

In practical terms, mutual submission means:

• Both parties listen to each other's wisdom

• Both seek God's guidance through prayer

• Both defer to the other's expertise in different areas

• Both work toward consensus rather than one overruling the other

When disagreements arise, the question isn't "Who has the final say?" The question is "How can we find God's wisdom together?"

Sometimes that means waiting for clarity rather than forcing a decision. And you know what? Waiting often produces better outcomes than hierarchical decision-making ever could.

The Order of Kingdom Business

I believe the order of ekklesia business follows a specific pattern: priestly, then prophetic, then kingly.

The Priestly: Entering His Presence

The priestly brings us through worship into God's presence. This isn't just singing songs—it's approaching God, coming into that place of being fully in His glory. The priestly mediates glory, and it's in that atmosphere of glory that everything else flows.

This is Revelation 4 territory—when the council begins to convene in the throne room. The priestly creates the environment for what comes next.

The Prophetic: Deliberating with God

Here's where it gets really interesting. The prophetic isn't just "I know what's going to happen in the future." The prophetic is hearing what's on the Lord's heart and allowing Him to set the agenda.

Sometimes He asks, "What do you think?" It's actually a partnership. But He's the smartest person in the room—the smartest person on the planet—and it's wise to seek His counsel.

This is the deliberation piece. Remember in the time of King Ahab? God spoke into the council and said, "Here's what I'd like to do. I've got an idea. Who wants to give me some suggestions for how we should do this?" (1 Kings 22:19-22). There was deliberation in the divine council.

When you're convening in ekklesia, you're listening together. "Holy Spirit, what are You saying? What's the Father doing? What's on Your heart for this situation?"

You begin to speak what you hear Him saying. This is what was happening in 1 Corinthians 14 when the prophets were speaking in the ekklesia—they were deliberating together. That's why Paul said "the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets" (1 Corinthians 14:32, NKJV). Everyone who's deliberating has to be under review and accountable to the others in the council.

The Kingly: Decreeing and Releasing

Finally comes the kingly aspect. This includes what we call "preaching"—which is actually meant to be the dispensation of wisdom. Kings distribute wisdom and keys.

What are keys? Keys are words that unlock gates and release people from the gates of death.

When you're speaking with kingly authority, you're:

• Teaching and training

• Equipping people with principles that transform life

• Activating their gifts

• Releasing impartation through laying on of hands

• Blessing them and sending them out to use those keys in the world

Kings decree. And they decree what the council has deliberated.

From Begging to Partnering

This understanding completely transforms how we pray.

Let's say you get a phone call right now. There's a crisis in your family—something urgent and serious.

The traditional way would be: "Oh, let's join together and pray. Lord Jesus, we need You right now to move. Oh God, would You work in this situation? We're begging You, we're so scared, we're desperate, God! Please!"

Then you'd finish praying and say, "Well, I sure hope it works out."

Why? Because we've been trained that prayer is us standing down here on earth, lobbing prayers up into heaven, hoping one of them sticks. Maybe if we say the right words—get that right abracadabra—we can move God's heart. We might even twist His arm behind His back and force Him to act.

We don't really believe He loves us and is powerful enough to work with us—with us, not just for us.

The Ekklesia Way of Prayer

But if you understand ekklesia, you know that when two believers gather in Jesus' name, we can convene right then and there.

We come together in agreement and begin to prophetically ask Holy Spirit: "How do we pray into this? What are You doing in this moment?"

Now, this isn't you and I deciding we agree for a million dollars and demanding God deliver. That would miss the whole point.

The prophetic part is about hearing what's on the Lord's heart and allowing Him to set the agenda. "Lord, in this situation, what do You see? What do You want to have happen? How do You want us to come into partnership with You?"

Sometimes He's like, "Well, what do you think?" It's a real conversation.

"Lord, You know our heart. Our heart is for this and this to happen. What do You think? How can we bring that to pass?"

Now the third person in your conversation—Holy Spirit—actually has the power to take your agreement and make it come to pass. But you aren't dictating to Him what He needs to do.

That feels so disrespectful. That's the two-year-old telling the parent, "I want this and I want it now!"

Your heavenly Father has complete grace for that immaturity because He knows you're still growing up. You don't fully understand yet that you actually own the family business—you're just not ready to take it over yet.

But even when you become a full partner in the business, your Father has been in the business a lot longer and will always have wisdom, counsel, and strategies you need.

Getting Heaven's Perspective First

When we stop and get the perspective of heaven first, that's when we're really doing His business. And He's partnering with doing ours.

It's not a one-way street. It's cooperation. We didn't switch from slavery to the devil to slavery to the Lord. We became bond servants where it's voluntary—and He actually became a servant for us. (I know that weirds people out, but Jesus said, "I came not to be served, but to serve" [Matthew 20:28, NIV].)

When you convene in ekklesia and pray this way, you're not hoping God might show up. You're not crossing your fingers that He'll decide to answer.

You're legislating. You're decreeing. You're releasing what's already been decided in the heavenly council into the earthly realm.

"Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven" (Matthew 18:18, NIV). That's not hyperbole. That's Kingdom authority functioning the way it was designed to.

When You Convene, Expect Keys

Here's what I want you to understand: when the ekklesia convenes, every believer should have this expectation: "Today I'm going to get keys. I'm going to be authorized. I'm going to be activated."

There's going to be priestly ministry—entering His presence through worship. There's going to be prophetic ministry—hearing His heart and deliberating together. And there's going to be kingly ministry—receiving wisdom, activation, and impartation.

When you walk out of that assembly—whether it's a Sunday gathering or Tuesday morning coffee with a friend—you should be carrying keys to open the gates of death in your sphere of influence.

Death doesn't just mean physical death. It's psychological death, relational death, financial death, the death of dreams. The fear of death enslaves people "all their lifetime" (Hebrews 2:15, NKJV).

The ekklesia has been given authority over all of it.

This Is How Senators Work

Think about it this way: a senator has no authority outside of the Senate. If a senator walked into your house right now and said, "I don't like what you're doing here. Shut it down," he'd have no authority to enforce that. It's not his jurisdiction.

He only has authority when the Senate convenes. When they gather, deliberate, and legislate—that's when authority is activated.

The same is true for ekklesia. When we convene—even just two of us—we step into that place of legislative authority. We're not begging an absent God to maybe show up. We're partnering with a present God who's invited us into His council.

The Goal Is Multiplication

The reason we're talking about this—the reason we practice this in our gatherings—isn't just to give you information.

It's to release you to become ekklesia wherever you are.

So when you're facing a decision with your spouse, you can convene.

When your small group is praying about a neighborhood need, you can convene.

When you and a coworker are believing for breakthrough in your workplace, you can convene.

You don't need a special building, a worship band, or someone with a title. You just need two or three gathered in His name, willing to enter His presence, hear His heart, and decree His word.

That's the Kingdom council. That's how God does business through you.

And when you learn to operate this way, you'll stop lobbing desperate prayers into the sky and start legislating Kingdom reality into the earth.

Have you experienced prayer as partnership rather than begging? What shifts when we approach God as counselors in His Kingdom rather than powerless petitioners? Share your thoughts below.

Blessings,
Susan 😊