Prayer
Here are a few ways to approach prayer and the time you spend with God…
Method 1: Prayer Journal
This is the process of writing down the conversations that you have with God. This takes some discipline, but it is so great to look back and see how God works everything together.
•Get a journal or notebook to write in OR create an account at www.livejournal.com
•Use your journal to:
oPray
oAsk God questions
oWrite out Scriptures
oTell him what you are struggling with
oPraise Him
oAsk Him for help
oExpress anything you are feeling
•Journaling is one of the best ways to pray because you can look back after a couple of months or years and see how faithful God has been to you! You will see how He works everything together for those who love Him!
Method 2: Prayer Calendar
Sometimes, remembering everything to prayer for can be overwhelming. A prayer calendar helps you to break up all the different things that you are going to pray for so that your not overwhelmed and your prayer time can be a bit more structured!
Create a weekly calendar and pray for different things on different days. For example:
oMonday – Parents, Brothers, Sisters and other family
oTuesday – Personal growth in your relationship with Christ (including confession, repentance, thanksgiving, etc.)
oWednesday – Lost friends who need to know Jesus (by name)
oThursday – Future decisions (school, relationships, marriage, etc.)
oFriday – Christian friends to keep growing in Christ (by name)
oSaturday – Opportunities to be bold for the Lord (ask God for the chance to pray for healing, or to share your testimony or to serve!)
oSunday – Prayers of thanks for all that He has done for you – get specific and thank Him even for the smallest blessings in your life!
•This is just an example. Feel free to use this, but try creating your own!
Method 3: Pray to Music
Create a playlist on your iPod or computer of worship music
Hit play and listen to the songs and pray as your listen/sing (you could even pull up the words on the Internet by searching for them on Google)
Method 4: Pray Scripture
Read a passage of Scripture and pray as you read. Let the scripture shape your prayer.
What is the Holy Spirit showing you as you read? What do you need to do to line up with God’s Word?
•Example – Read 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
- •Pray for God to help you to be patient and kind.
- •Pray for God to help you to not envy or boast about anything.
- •Pray for God to keep you from being arrogant or rude.
- •Pray that God will help you to not insist on only your way, and not to be irritable or resentful.
- •Pray for God to help you love others
- •Ask God if there is any area you need to work on.
•You can do this with any passage of Scripture. All you have to do is read it and ask God what you need to do to line up with what it says. Pray for Scripture to shape your life!
Method 5: Guided Prayer
Sometimes it’s hard to think about what we should pray for. We all need some guidance from time to time, so here a few things you could pray about…
•Pray for your enemies – pray for those who you don’t like or those who don’t like you. Don’t allow your heart to become bitter. Matthew 5:43-48
•Pray for your anxieties – Don’t be anxious about ANYTHING, but pray about EVERYTHING! – Philippians 4:6-7
•Prayers of thanksgiving – we have so much to be thankful for. What are you thankful for? Psalm 136
•Pray for the lost around you – pray for those who don’t know Jesus as Lord and Savior. Romans 6:23
•Pray for the ministry of Advance – pray for the ministry of Advance >>
•Pray for the poor/oppressed – there are so many who are struggling. Who do you know that is going through a tough time? Pray for them!
•Pray against temptation – in what areas of your life are you tempted to sin? Pray that you will not fall into that temptation! Remember, it is not a sin to be tempted… it is a sin to give in to the temptation!
•Pray for boldness – pray that you would be a bold witness for Christ – Romans 1:16 and Philippians 1:20
