I have learned, one of the main reasons so many Christians don’t have a *significant life of prayer is not so much that we don’t want to, but that we don’t plan to.
If you want to take a four-week vacation, you don’t just get up one summer morning and say, “Hey, let’s go to Disneyworld today!” You won’t have anything ready. You won’t know where to stay.
Nothing has been planned.
But that is how many of us treat prayer.
We get up day after day and realize that significant times of prayer should be a part of our life, but nothing’s ever ready. We don’t know where to go. Nothing has been planned. No time. No place. No procedure.
And we all know that the opposite of planning is not a wonderful flow of deep, spontaneous experiences in prayer. The opposite of planning is a rut. If you don’t plan a vacation, you will probably stay home!
The natural, unplanned flow of spiritual life sinks to the lowest ebb of vitality. There is a race to be run and a fight to be fought. If you want renewal in your life of prayer, you must plan to see it.
This definitely has rung true in my life.
To that end, I offer up this sample prayer plan that I adopted some time ago to add structure to my own personal worship time alone with God.
I’d like to share it with you, not as something to be rigidly followed, but as a suggestion to help get you into—or back into—a thriving, regular, consistent time of worship and communion with God in prayer.
Wake up: 5:30 am
Time: Daily, 6:00 am to 7:00 am
Place: Kitchen Table/Car/Beach
6:00-6:05 – Drawing Near & Confession
- Come before your Father in the name of Jesus Christ, on the basis of the work He’s done in the Gospel.
- Acknowledge your dependence upon the Holy Spirit in your prayers (Rom 8:26–27). Ask for His leadership and help in the coming hour.
- Pray that the Father would receive this time as worship from a heart gladdened by His glorious grace.
- Confess the darkness in yiur heart & your sinfulness in light of God’s holiness. Ask for forgiveness on the basis of Christ’s shed blood on the Cross (Matt 6:12; Heb 10:19–23).
6:05-6:10 – Praise & Thanksgiving
Spend time simply delighting in all that God is for you in Christ. Meditate on the beauty of His manifold perfections and His wondrous deeds throughout the ages. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name (Ps 96:7–9), and honor Him as God by giving thanks to Him (Rom 1:21) for all His good and perfect gifts (Jas 1:17).
6:10-6:20 – God-Centered Petitions
- Pray for God’s name to be glorified above all things by all peoples (Matt 6:9).
- Pray for His kingdom to increase through the ministry of the Church (Matt 6:10a).
- Pray for His kingdom to come in its fullness (Matt 6:10a; Rev 22:20). That is, pray for His second coming and the establishment of His consummated reign upon the earth.
- Pray for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matt 6:10b); namely, without hesitation and full of joyful zeal.
- Monday – Psalm 119:1–8
- Tuesday – Psalm 119:9–16
- Wednesday – Psalm 119:17–24
- Thursday – Psalm 119:25–32
- Friday – Psalm 119:33–40
Really pray these texts into your soul. This is not reading merely for exposure or content. This is reading to see and know and worship God. This should be different than your daily Bible reading, and should be a small enough passage that you can pray through it in 15 minutes.
6:35-6:45 – Personal Petitions
- Pray for growth in grace and godliness (2Pet 3:18). Be specific with your particular needs for growth.
- Battle in prayer against specific sins. Engage in the work of mortification (Rom 8:12–13).
- Pray for opportunities of personal ministry, that your light would shine before men to the glory of your Father (Matt 5:16).
- Pray for God to provide (and to continue to provide) for your daily necessities (Matt 6:11): for food, shelter, employment, etc.
- Pray for freedom from temptation (Matt 6:13), and, when temptation comes, strength to endure it without falling (1Cor 10:12–13).
- Pray for the strength to persevere and endure in trials (Jas 1:2–4), whether they be present or future, or both.
6:45-6:55 – Intercessory Prayer
During this time, pray for the requests of particular circles of friends and family. This may involve keeping a prayer list and referring to it as you’re praying. Pray for different circles on different days.
For example, on a 7 day cycle:
- On Mondays, pray for your immediate and extended family.
- On Tuesdays, pray for your closest friends, ace boon coon buddies, (text their requests to you).
- On Wednesdays, pray for your pastors, believers, and seekers. Pray for God-fearing friendships for yourself.
- On Thursdays, pray for the requests of those whom you interact with at your job. What a great way to both minister and witness to those at your job! ("Hey guys, I'm praying for you today, text me!")
- On Fridays, pray for false teachers and specifically for the salvation of unbelievers you know. (Because, frankly, no one should be excluded from prayer!)
- On Saturdays, pray about the people you see as you go through the day. "Stranger Day!"
- On Sundays, pray that God would open the eyes of those sitting in churches everywhere to see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God, as the word is preached. (Prayers are being prayed from 8a to 7p at Reality LA for God to manifest his truth in the hearts of many. Join in!)
6:55-7:00 – Summarize
- Thank God for the time spent with Him and for His gracious revelation of Himself in His Word.
- Express your trust in Him to grant the things you’ve prayed for according to His sovereign, wise, and good will, and according to the glory of His name.
- Pray again for strength and grace to glorify Him and serve people in His name throughout your day.
No comments:
Post a Comment