This blog post is brought to you today
by Sarah Boyer
A Daily Prayer Life/How Should We Pray?
I can certainly relate to Lynn when she says she struggled with praying purposeful prayers. I find that when I sit down in the evening and finally have some quiet time to myself, my mind wanders so easily. I start to pray for the people on my prayer list and I start to think of how that person is doing at that moment. Then my mind trails off to something totally unrelated. I try to get back on track, but I just can’t stay focused.
As I said in my post last week, I have changed the time of day I have my prayer time. I pray and read from the bible in the mornings now. I have found that by praying right away in the morning, my mind is free of the day’s worries because nothing has happened yet to worry or stress me out! Another benefit to praying in the morning is I am better prepared to handle anything that may come along to worry or stress me out!
Lynn also has a wonderful solution for staying focused. She suggests starting a prayer journal. She says that by writing her prayers out in long hand, it really brings her focus onto the paper and away from the distractions in the room. Another thing I think is neat is she is able to revisit her old prayers and look back on how God answered those prayers for her. Was it answered the way she wanted or did he have something else in mind for her? Usually we will find that God had his own plan to answer our prayers and it always turns out to be the best answer!
So how should we pray?
Matthew 6:6-8 reads: But when you pray, go into your private room, and closing the door, pray to your Father, Who is in secret; and your Father Who sees in secret, will reward you in the open. 7) And when you pray, do not heap up phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think they will be heard for their much speaking. 8) Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
I am guilty of trying to impress God with my prayers by adding excessive words and repeating myself over and over, making sure I thoroughly covered everything. But God already knows my needs without all my extra words and phrases. Try to pray like Matthew 6 suggests and meet with God in a quiet, private place. Then follow this simple “formula”:
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Give God thanks for all the blessings He has given you
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Confess all your transgressions and ask for His forgiveness
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Ask him for your needs in a clear and simple way (pray for your husband in secret and God will answer that prayer in the open!)
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End your prayer in love for Him
If you are having trouble finding the right words, like I do, pray from your bible. I recently bought myself an amplified bible with the concordance in the back, plus a daily devotional prayer book. I use them both to help me find exactly the right scriptures for when I need God’s help but don’t really know how to ask. I read those scriptures in first person, so as to turn them into a personal prayer. I cannot TELL you how much this has helped my prayer time. It has purpose and structure and guess what?
Praying from the bible has brought about tremendous blessings in my marriage! My husband has even noticed a significant change in me. He is the first one to point out the blessings that have come to us ever since I have started praying this way. Even though my husband is a believer, he isn’t into praying together and things like that. I wish he was! I keep thinking our marriage could really benefit from prayer time together, but he isn’t there yet and I won’t push him. We learned from earlier in this chapter, your husband’s salvation is in God’s hands, not yours.
I do believe that God is using me as an example to my husband. As I get deeper into my relationship with God and become more at peace in our circumstances, my husband does notice and hopefully soon he will want to be right by my side, praying with me. What a joyous day that will be!
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Let Us Pray:
Father God, please help us to have a more purposeful prayer time with you. Help us to be focused on your word and give us wisdom to understand what your word is telling us. Help us to keep our prayers simple and to the point. Continue to make us an example for our husbands and children to follow. In your precious name I pray, Amen.
Your Assignment:
Below, share with us what you currently do or what you are going to do to have a more purposeful prayer time.
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For those who are reading this blog and would like to join the Bible study, we would love to invite you to join us! Click here and follow the instructions, (you can also click the SIGN-UP link in the menu bar above to be taken to the form). It’s that simple! We hope to see you soon!
Godspeed,
Sarah
Beautiful blog post today Sarah!!! <3
Sarah I do use a prayer journal to write my thoughts and prayers in. I started doing this about 15 years ago and it has really brought my prayers in to focus. Plus every few months or so I get to go shopping for a new one and it's fun to choose! (I love paper and stationary and stuff!) thank you for the blog today, it was a blessing!!!
I find that I am having an extremely difficult time praying lately, I have been completely overwhelmed with life and downright angry at times. I know God is trying to get my attention but it has been so hard to focus and get back on track. I know I must make prayer a priority, I just don't know where to begin!
Thank you, Christi!
Donna, I love stationary too! And fancy pens!! 🙂 I am going to start a prayer journal soon! I'm excited to go shop for something pretty to write on and with!! 🙂
Melissa, not long ago I was where you are now. Life had me beat down, I was angry and discouraged. For a starting point, can I suggest you read from the Psalms. It is a beautiful chapter in the bible that will show you how much God loves you and will uplift you if you can sit quietly and really take it all in. When you read, change it to first person so it speaks directly to your heart. Praying for you!
Thanks Sarah 🙂
Great post Sarah! I was struck by your statement about changing the time of day that you have your prayer time. With my schedule, I really have only been able to read my Bible and pray in the evening. However, I totally agree with you that it can turn into a time when you are stressed about what happened throughout the day and end up praying mostly about those things and other events of the day. I do feel better though after getting those things out in the open with my prayers. I also think a prayer journal would be a great idea, so I'm definitely going to think about doing that.
Our church did a sermon series over the past few months about using the Lord's Prayer as a model for daily prayer. That is what I have been doing for a while and it really is helpful and very similar to the model in Matthew 6.
I feel like the most important thing is that we are spending time each day with our Lord to pray and converse with him. Even if it is short or we might feel it isn't as productive on some days, we have come into His presence and that is what we need to refresh us each and every day.
Thank you for this. I struggle in this area right now especially as he's not employed and he seems ok with this. Struggling today all the way around
Sherrie, what a wonderful way to use the Lord's Prayer! I like that! I also pray in the evening, my "bedtime" prayers just like when I was a child because I agree, it does feel good to get those worries off your chest and give them to God. It gives you a more restful sleep too! But I leave my deeper prayer time for the morning, when I can focus my whole self on Him. I have to wake up earlier, but it is worth it! 🙂
Kim, I understand financial stress. We've recently recovered from it. I run a daycare & it was not full for a very long time. Money was tight and if it wasn't for God stepping in, our bills were going to fall behind. But he answered my prayers at just the right time and brought new families to me to watch over. Before this happened, I prayed Psalm 23 (in first person) every night. I didn't ask for anything, I didn't cry or complain. I just said this prayer every single night. I pray that this verse, or one like it can help you. Keep your faith. God is Great and does not want you to suffer.
I really like the prayer journal suggestion. Sitting down with a purpose. Right now I pray throughout the day and do my Bible reading before bed. Bible study is first thing in the morning along with daily devotionals. My prayers sometimes seem disjointed and my mind wanders. I think I will switch my Bible reading to the morning & add the prayer journal before my Bible study. I will continue to pray during the day & maybe they will be more focused. Daily devotionals will be my bedtime reading. thanks for the reminder to keep it simple when praying 🙂
You bet, Cynder60! A thought just occured to me while I was reading your thoughts about the prayer journal. I wonder if making an outline, like we did in school for papers, would be of help in keeping things on track and to the point?
Great post Sarah! I, too, have a prayer journal and find that it not only keeps me focused but I love to go back and read thru my prayers. I especially am thankful for the previously written prayers when maybe that day I am having trouble getting my thoughts to come together or just too distracted. Mornings seem to be the best time for me as well, it sets the base for my God given day and reminds me to give God all the glory for every moment even when things aren't going the way I think they should. I am learning to lean more on Him than my own understanding of how my marriage should work, this includes my daily prayers, I am so thankful He is patient with me! 🙂
Amen, Jennifer! Learning to lean on God for everything is hard, but I am doing it as well and life is so much brighter! 🙂
Sarah, this was a great post. You really focused in what needed to be covered. As for me, I am an early morning person by nature. I love the early morning hours when all is quiet at my house. I still the journal is what helps me most to write it out my prayers, and stay focused. But, most of all, it serves as a reminder when I read back over them of the way God moved throughout the years. It is like it is all on record. Thank you for this post.
I love how you put that…"it's all on record." 🙂 Thank you for your compliments Martha!
My daughter and I just started the 40 day prayer dare. I pray all of the time, but since the problems in my marriage, that seems to be all that I pray about, and I would like to get my mind off of that and on to other things. We are going to accompany this with a Daniel fast. I am looking forward to what God will do in me through this. My Daughter lives 1500 miles away ~ so I am grateful for email, texting and phone calls so that we can keep each other updated!
What a wonderful challenge to do with your daughter, Mary. I wish you many blessings during your 40 days. I've read about this dare and think it is a wonderful idea! I pray God moves mountains for you!
I tend to fit in prayer where I can. I have taken time in the mornings to pray and I have said my prayers at the end of the day. Neither actually samed to make any difference in my practice because I was so inconsistent it never became habit. I am making moves toward working out a centered plan of prayer, but can't seem to get it up on its feet.
Sit down with your day Mandi, and look at your schedule. See what can be taken out of your schedule, OR what you need to add to your schedule, to make prayer a priority. When it becomes a priority, it's easy to fit it in. 🙂 Love ya Sis.
That's a good idea, Christi. I think I will give that a try. Love Ya Back, Sis! 🙂
Excellent advice, Christi. And I'd like to add to just keep at it. People are busy, so if at first you can only find 5 min., use those 5 min.! You will find that as your prayer life deepens, the time will be made more readily available to you. You give God the effort, He'll give you the time! 🙂
Thank you, Sarah! That's about what I am doing right now. When I find the time I make sure that I take the time.
I don't know how to say this . here it goes. I just got text on my phone so I could text with my granddaughter. I know that may sound silly. last night she texted me good night which we do most nights. She said" good night I love u don't for get to pray". she is 11.
Wow! out of the mouth of babes.
Today I saw my husband go off to serve on his 4th Via de Christo weekend.. My prayer is that he will be kept safe.and have the energy to serve.
My prayer for the other man in my life- My son is that he will one day return to Gods loving arms. he is 43 years old. That he will be Strong in his family, leading his wife and son to Jesus. I have seen my husband become strong through our 45 years together..
How precious!!! Out of the mouths of babes!!!
I stand with you in prayer, Beth. What a wonderful ritual to do with your granddaughter every evening!! I love it!
I usually do my study in the evening and that is when I do my prayer time too. I started the morning prayer time on my knees to turn my day over to God and give all the control over to Him. It has been amazing to see how my days go too. If definitely puts you in the right frame of mind for the day
I try to pray throughout my day, any time I think about it, I want God in every part of my day. Mornings are hard bc I start thinking if my huge list of to do's, evening are difficult bc I am exhausted and have a hard time not dozing during quiet time, so best just to chat throughout my day with my God 🙂