Prayer is so very important.
Most people pray, even non-Christians when they are in a bad
situation. Many others give prayers of
thanksgiving when good things happen.
However, we are called to pray “unceasingly” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Now, obviously we cannot do that
literally. There would be no way to
fulfill the call to go out and make disciples or to eat or anything else. We are instead supposed to be continually in
prayer throughout the day. One of the
habits that I got into was thinking about all the times that I could pray while
doing other things. When I am sitting
waiting somewhere, when I am driving, when I am walking from one room to
another, when I am crocheting or other projects that do not take much
concentration, and at specific times that I can set aside a few more minutes
for a longer prayer (like when I wake up, go to sleep, or at meal times). Many of theses prayers are tend to be very
quick; a minute here, a few minutes there.
However, I also have set aside a time each day to come to
the Lord in a more meaningful and deeper way.
I have carved out a longer time in order to give precedence to talking
to God. I try to pair this with my Bible
study and worship time if I can. And the
easiest way that I have found to be able to remember what to pray about is to
create an in-depth prayer list. I have
tried having it on the computer but have found this distracting. I have also tried to keep a prayer journal,
but then I am flipping through it more than need be. Now, I have a prayer list on my computer that
I print off and update every so often. I
am able to change and add to it in the mean time and when it starts getting
messy then I write up a new one.
As you keep your list, you might find that you just have so
much to pray for that it won’t fit in the time that you have. Break down your list in things that you will
pray for each day and then things to pray for on, say, Monday, Tuesday,
etc. Sometimes I find that I only get
through a little bit because my heart is so full for one or two specific
things. Try to find time to pray about
the other things you missed later in the day.
But what do I pray about?
I look to Jesus when I think about how I want to pray. He prayed often, and he also gave an outline to
the disciples of how we are to pray in the Lord’s Prayer. Obviously, I cannot explain this in as much
detail as really necessitates, but I just want to highlight a few key ways to
structure a prayer.
Pray then
like this:
“Our Father
in heaven,
hallowed be
your name.
Your
kingdom come,
your will
be done,
on
earth as it is in heaven.
Give us
this day our daily bread,
and forgive
us our debts,
as
we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us
not into temptation,
but
deliver us from evil. (Matthew 6:9-13)
The steps Jesus gave as an example for our prayers, “Pray
then like this”:
- The address: “Our Father in heaven.” When we begin a prayer, we are to address our God, remembering that He cares for us like a father cares for His child. We can address him boldly because He is our Father. We know He loves us and cares for us.
- The recognition of who He is: “hallowed be your name” or sacred and blessed is your name. Our God is a mighty, powerful, gracious, loving… God! Sing His praises in your prayer.
- Our profession of fidelity: “Your kingdom come.” Our prayer for His world to be fulfilled and a forsaking of worldly pleasures and desires.
- Our profession of His sovereignty: “your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” How many times do you pray for things or outcomes that you want? Do you ever pray from a heart that will also gladly accept the opposite if that is His will?
- Our petition for our needs and also wants: “Give us this day our daily bread.” While this seems simple, it is very hard to learn to ask for things without a very selfish nature to them, the difference between necessity and blessing. We should know not to pray for an expensive sports car when what we really need is just a reliable car to get us to work. However, sometimes we cannot so easily discern things that seem like a necessity. We can also pray to be able to discern better in our prayers to petition God for what is truly important.
- The confession of sins and asking for forgiveness: “and forgive us our debts.” We should come with humble spirits and a true spirit of repentance. Don’t pray for things that you “should” pray for but are not truly repentant of. Repentance carries with it the act of turning away and making amends. It’s not good enough to just say “sorry” and do it again. Yes, we may struggle with a certain sin, but there should be a progression forward (it does not mean that there won’t be a step back every once and a while). Also, if you don’t ever have something to ask for forgiveness for then you really need to read your Bible more and examine yourself more harshly.
- Prayer and Forgiveness of others: “as we also have forgiven our debtors.” This is a reminder that our petition of forgiveness should include our forgiveness of people who have wronged us and for us to also pray for others including our enemies.
- Protection from evil and ourselves: “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” And last a reminder that we are still sinful people and that there is a supernatural war going on. We need all the help we can to fight against our own bent towards bad and the evil in the world. And also again, a reminder that God is still in control, even when bad things happen that we don’t understand, we can know that all will work out to show His glory.
So now that we went through the parts that our prayer should
have in the order that they should be in, I have some ideas and also some
general guidelines that we should keep in mind as we pray. However, since this post is so long as it is,
I will be posting the guidelines next week!
through His grace alone!
Sarah
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