December 28, 2007
Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples." Luke 11:1 NKJV
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How’s your prayer life? Is it an integral part of your faith walk, something that you are intentional and disciplined in? Is it hit and miss? Is it mostly miss, because you don‘t have time or don‘t make it a priority?
There are very few Christians who couldn’t use improvement in their prayer time. Even when we are diligent, our prayer falls into various patterns (and this is far from an exhaustive list).
911 Prayer: Even used by non-Christians, "Oh God I’m in trouble and I need your help." Often accompanied by a promise to go to church, give more and be a better person. All promises are forgotten when the crisis passes.
"I’ll pray for you" is often Christian code for "I don’t know what else to say." Please don’t take offence if you are one of the few who say I’ll pray for you and then actually pray, those prayers are of great comfort and value.
Superficial prayer (sometimes called shopping list prayer) is usually in the form of God I want; or God I need, followed by a list of demands.
Give us today our daily bread. Matthew 6:11 NIV
While in this verse our daily bread refers to much more than physical needs, it is commonly thought of as being simply those things.
Relational prayer is where we seek to know God better and enter into a deep relationship with Him. We seek to know where and how He has called us to serve
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33 NIV
Intercessory prayer is deep consistent prayer where we seek God’s will and intervention in the lives of others. Often practiced by those that are considered "prayer warriors".
"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Luke 11:9-10 NIV
Spirit prayer. When we don’t know what to pray and Holy Spirit does it for us.
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will Romans 8:26-27 NIV
There is nothing wrong with any of these last four forms of prayer. All have their place and all should form part of our daily prayer life.
You don’t have to wait until your act is all-together to pray. If that were the requirement for prayers being heard, no prayer would ever be heard.
If you have accepted Christ, you have Him dwelling in you, and are made righteous by His presence. God will hear your prayers.
Sometimes the answer we get is not what we want, but He has our best interests at heart and knows what is best for all of us. Sometimes we pray and someone still dies. Sometimes we pray and terrible things still happen. In those times we must remember that He is God and knows what is best.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 NIV
Which of these forms of prayer make up the bulk of your prayer life. If you could use some more consistency in your prayer life and a little more depth. Don’t wait to start, spend some time in prayer as soon as you’ve finished reading this.
Until next time, may you be richly blessed with an active life of prayer.
Over the next few days I will be giving you powerful proven examples of prayer to help you and get you started into some of the most important time you will ever spend. So for now,
God bless.
Darrel Mason