Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans 12:12 NIV The beginning of a new year, is the time for resolutions. I'd decided to make my "resolution" a little differently so as not to immediately abandon it. My real resolution, was to be intentional, especially in my relationship with the Lord and how I lived out my faith in Him.
One of the most important parts of our faith walk is our prayer life. So in an effort to be intentional about my relationship with Jesus that's where I started. Like any relationship, the frequency, depth, and attention devoted to our conversations with God directly affects our relationship with Him. The more frequently we pray then the deeper and more personal our prayers become and with it our attention to both our requests and His answers increase. The small step I took to improve my prayer life was starting a prayer journal. I knew that with persistence my prayer life would improve as will my attention to His presence. In the past I got overwhelmed at the need for prayer in every aspect of life (self, friends, community, world...), tapered off, stopped prayer journaling, and stopped intentionally praying ... This time was different. I wanted my prayer time to be special, a time set apart. Prayer Partner, I don't want to discourage you from praying before bed or doing prayer bursts throughout your day. The Bible tells us to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17) but we are also instructed to sit with and spend time with the Lord (Matthew 6:6). I started small: I used the PRAY acronym from KSBJ, a Christian radio station here in Houston, TX. P-praise, R-repent, A-ask, Y-yield. I bought a planner with room for daily scheduling, limited of course, but I write out P R A Y vertically and fill it out for the day in the morning. I write out my praises, my repentance, my needs and wants (ask), and a yield statement. Example: Today's Date P: (Today's praises) R: (Ways I know I've sinned and repent for. If you don't want a hard copy here, just spend some time in self-examination and repentant prayer.) A: (Wants and needs) Y: (Yield Statement--e.g. Lord I yield to your will and goodness. In Jesus' name, amen.) As I write it out I pray over each item. I'm not sure you'd find anything inspired in my prayer for today, but I started my day with Christ and focused, a least for 10 minutes, on just the Lord. How is your prayer life, Child of God? Are you intentionally praying? While I edit this post I realize I don't do this daily any more, a reminder to start again... or to do something more simple on the days I don't take as much time in intentional prayer. Even if we fail to pray deeply every day, if we make prayer a routine part of our life I wonder how much more we'll recognize the Lord's hand in everything. During our prayer time we can remember how desperately we need Christ's forgiveness, how thankful we are for all the big and little things in our lives, and how ultimately everything is in the Lord's hands. Let me know how your life changes and I'll keep you updated on my journey. * Report 1 year later: Though I like the ideas I wrote, I don't always hold to them, the PRAY model, anyway. I keep it posted in case it helps you start a new discipline of prayer. Now, after using the PRAY model for months I keep a prayer journal by turning a daily planner to write down the prayer requests of that & the previous day. It's not a structured prayer, just a list of people & requests to pray over. I tend to put names & the subject matter, if it's really sensitive sometimes just the prayer, no names. God knows who it is. I write this to encourage you to just pray! It'll become a habit and you'll see the Lord answer in remarkable ways. To God be the glory, Sarah Will you join me in prayer? Dear Lord, you know me completely. I want to know you. Give me endurance to be faithful in my prayer life. Let our time together fill the gaps in my heart and overflow to my interactions with others so that praying becomes as natural as breathing. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Reflection: If you keep a prayer journal: How has keeping a prayer journal affected my faith walk with the Lord? If you don't keep a prayer journal: Could the practice of writing out my prayers help me focus my prayers and help see God's hand in my life? Faith-In-Action: Carve out at least 10 minutes in your day for 3 days to practice the P-R-A-Y (or some other) type of prayer journaling. How does it affect your faith walk? If you have a prayer journal also go back and look at former prayers and think about how the Lord answered your requests. Copyright Jan 2016, Be Blessed Prayer. All rights reserved.
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