This is part 4 of a series on personal devotion time. Today we’ll consider our personal prayer time.
First, I should say right away that I do not consider myself an authority on prayer. I am constantly seeking growth in this area. In fact, I regularly pray for growth in prayer. With that clear, here are a few things I’ve collected which may help someone who realizes they need to begin having regular times of private prayer.
To start with , we should be clear that every Christian needs a prayer life that is:
- Regular, not just during crisis
- Private, not only public or “during the day”
- Talking and listening, not just repeating lists
- Comprehensive, not narrow
- Shaped by scripture, not just our own thoughts
1. Write out a prayer list that includes everything you should be normally praying for.
One suggestion: In writing this list, start with your own soul and Christian walk, and then work outward from yourself in expanding “circles”. For example, your list might include the following topics, with specifics under each one:
- Soul (walk with God, victory over sin, growth)
- Immediate Family (parents, brothers and sisters)
- Close Saved Friends (their walks with God, strength, more faith, those who need healing)
- Unsaved friends and family (their salvation)
- Your community (Neighbors, your city, schools near you)
- Your school/work (the gospel to be spoken and believed, sin to be suppressed, learning to happen)
- Your Country (peace, boldness for Christians, government to submit to God’s laws)
- Missions and Missionaries
- Specific Nations around the world (for help: www.global-prayer-digest.org; Operation World)
- Special request that come up daily (have a way to keep track of them…)
2. Pick certain Days of the week to concentrate on praying for certain things.
For example, you might make a list that looks like this:
- Monday: Family
- Tuesday: Friends
- Wednesday: Unsaved People I Know
- Thursday: Missions/Missionaries
- Friday: Future Plans
- Saturday: My own walk
- Sunday: Church
3. If a prayer list doesn’t work for you, you might try prayer cards instead. I read about this and started doing it this past year and it has helped me immensely. At the top of an index card write the name of the person you’re praying for. Then write a verse to pray for them under their name (pray about what verse to pick!). Under that you write a few pressing needs. You end up with one card each for all the people you want to pray for. I also have “group” cards (one for our church, one for the Young Adults group, one for the church elders…etc.). Then, as you pray, you just see one card at a time at the top of the stack. You pray for that person, and then move on to the next card.
4. Leave time for the Holy Spirit to move or speak to you as you pray. Let yourself sit in silence, speak to the Lord (since He’s near) and allow Him to speak to you. Open your Bible again and linger over a verse you read, or a Psalm, as part of your listening to God.
5. Take scriptures and turn them into your personal prayers. Many Psalms are ready made for this. You might also pray thoughtfully through the prayers in scripture like those of Paul (Eph 1:15-23, 3:14-21) or Daniel (Daniel 9:1-19) Commandments and exhortations are great to pray over too, that God would give you strength to obey them or act them out.
6. Read the prayers of great men of God. Not to copy them, but for instruction. Books like The Valley Of Vision can help with this.
Much more could be said about this, of course. Many books have been written. Maybe we could become a group of people who are each pursuing our Lord and growing in prayer, and then sharing with each other the things that help us grow. Few things could be more edifying…