With as much as we say it you'd think we'd be able to easily keep Paul's charge to the Thessalonian church: "Pray without ceasing." (1 Thessalonians 5:17) Yet people can go whole days without acknowledging God. I sure can. Why? My problem is that I think there are some things I can do on my own.
Scripture is clear that we can do nothing without God. If we want to see a purpose accomplished, we have to appeal to God, the one and only Accomplisher.
So what purpose do you want to see accomplished? Is there an unsaved friend or family member in your life? Better get on your face before the Lord and beseech him to save them - you can't do it. Is a loved one ailing from a disease or accident? On your knees friend - you can't help them. Is there a prevailing sin in your life that you just can't seem to mortify? Lift your face to God and plead for grace - you can't fix yourself. Do you have a trip to the grocery store to make this weekend? Absurd though it may sound, petition the Lord for help on the ride there - no shopping trip is completed unless he enables it. Want a Coke from the vending machine? You guessed it - you can't rise from your chair of your own power.
Likewise, what purposes have been accomplished? Don't be decieved - you didn't work change all alone. Is your savings account growing? You didn't produce that money, it was a gift from God. Did you recently throw off a cold? That was not your doing. Does your heart continue to beat? It wouldn't unless God sustained it's function. Are you sitting perfectly still but for the click that scrolls this window? Friend, if so much as one atom in your being failed to hold together, there would be a mushroom cloud overtop your computer. No purpose is accomplished without God's sustaining hand on it. Every accomplished purpose can be traced back to God's enabling involvment.
With this perspective, is there any new ferver with which to approach prayer? I should hope so. Prayer is a very precious gift! We can petition the only true Accomplisher with our requests, and he is pleased to hear them. What's more, because of the Gospel, we as sinful creatures can approach a holy God as a father and ask him to move in our lives. What a privilege. Do we humbly respond to this precious opportunity or do we pridefully neglect it, thinking that there are some things we just don't need to bother asking God's blessing on?
"Pray without ceasing." A tall order. Is there even enough things in life to pray for that would keep us praying continually? I don't think any of us would dispute that there are indeed plenty of things. (But if you need help, see the list of ideas at the bottom of this post.) Our potential prayer lists are extensive. Some items are transitory. Some are less urgent than others. Some will be answered and our prayers will be modified because of new circumstances.
How does one organize it all? I've really been convicted about this lately, and have come up with
a plan to be more diligent in prayer. I have 3 main tools:
- A prayer schedule
- A prayer list
- A supplemental prayer list
The prayer schedule is just what it says: a schedule. Here's two days from my schedule:
Monday: Stephan, Me, mom, mother-in-law, couple #1 from bible study, my coworkers, my church, my pastor, the people I want to see saved, guidance for my nuclear family.
Tuesday: Stephan, Me, dad, father-in-law, couple #2 from bible study, my coworkers, my church, my pastor, the people I want to see saved, guidance for my nuclear family.
This divides up the long list of family members and friends, as well as other things I want to pray for regularly, into digestable bits. Now, instead of looking at an overwhelming list and saying "ug, this list is just too long... I'll leave it for the weekend," I'm praying regularly for my family and friends throughout the week.
The prayer list is childsplay. Mine is a journal. At the top of each page I have a name, and under that name I keep a list of prayer requests - quick bullets of all the things I want to pray for for that person. So when I see "Stephan" on my prayer schedule, I flip to Stephan's page and pray through his requests, then flip to my "Me" page and pray for those bullets, and so on for everything on that day's schedule. This way I'm praying specifically for people instead of just "God bless my brother, amen." This is invaluable when I've told someone I will pray for them - because if it's on the list I'll remember it. It will also help me to remember to follow up with them and ask how that area is coming along, and even draw their attention to their faithful God when that prayer is answered. On the very last page I also have listed the people I want to see come to Christ.
The supplemental prayer list isn't so structured. It's basically a piece of paper I keep in my pocket. When I walk to the bathroom, take a package to another office at work, start a load of laundry or wait at a stoplight I can glance at it and send up a quick prayer for just one bullet on that list. I have a friend who's mom has cancer - she's on there. There was a mudslide in the Phillippines a couple weeks ago - it's on there. The abortion debate is on there, as well as the war in Iraq. The persecuted church is on there too. One of my pastor's is in India - he's on there. Whenever I have a pocket of time in my day where my mind is idle, I pick a bullet and pray about that issue. It doesn't take long. Sometimes just a couple seconds - but that's better than never praying for these things at all. And, instead of letting my mind wander, I'm focusing my free time on God.
There are two other things I would advocate to make prayer a greater priority in your life: the first is have a regular quiet time. My husband and I get up in enough time to read the bible and pray while we eat breakfast every morning (yes, even on weekends). I don't mean to say it's easy, but If I didn't fiercely guard this time, I wouldn't pray. It's gotta be a priority. Second, is ask people how you can be praying for them. I have friends who, when I ask this, will rattle off 5 or 6 things, then check themselves and say 'well, I guess that's enough - sorry there's so many!' I always say to them "look, if I have things to pray for, I pray more!" Encourage people fill up their page in your prayer journal! That's just more time you spend with your heavenly father - and scripture is clear that God loves to answer our prayers. Everyone wins when we pray.
Prayer is an expression of dependence on God. It keeps us humble when we acknowledge that we can't brush our teeth without him, the only true and able Accomplisher. The more we pray, the more we'll realize this - and that will cultivate humility in our hearts. Let's not forget the timeless, sweet, sweet promise of James 4:6 - "...God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
So let me encourage you to start wearing some holes in your knees of your jeans and make prayer a priority.
Some ideas to generate a prayer list:
- unsaved people we want to see put faith in Christ
- ourselves
- immediate family
- extended family
- friends
- the outcome of trials (in our lives or the lives of others)
- wisdom and endurance through trials (in our lives or the lives of others)
- blessings on marriage (ours and others, where applicable)
- blessings on the maturation of the children (ours and others')
- wisdom for parents (ourselves and others, where applicable)
- a strong finish for the ederly we know
- guidance and growth for our church, to God's glory
- wisdom and discernment for our pastors and church staff
- blessings on our church's ministries
- overcoming our sin (or others overcoming theirs)
- guidance in current areas of uncertainty or discision making
- Persecuted christians around the world
- Major political issues (i.e. the war in Iraq, abortion)
- The leadership of our country
- Major headlines (i.e. Avian Flu, natural disasters)
- GIVE THANKS! Let's be careful not to only appeal to God when we want something.
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