And When You Pray
In Jesus’ sermon on the Mount, Jesus twice says the words, “and when you pray.” It is clear that Jesus did not think prayer was optional. He spoke of prayer as an essential part of his followers’ lives. However, understanding the necessity of prayer is not enough. In order for prayer to become a part of our life, it needs to become something we look forward to. When we discover the beauty and delight of daily conversation with the Lord, we will experience the presence and power of God in our lives.
Today begins twenty one days of regularly entering God’s presence through prayer. This guide is to help you find a new level of purpose, effectiveness, and enjoyment in your prayer life. While prayer requires commitment and discipline to develop into a daily habit, we also want to remember that it’s a “get to” not a “got to.” It’s a privilege to be able to come to God in prayer. A privilege made possible by the death of Christ on the cross.
“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ.” - 1 Timothy 2:5
A Lifestyle of Prayer
Prayer is most effective when it’s a lifestyle we cultivate. To understand how to have a lifestyle of prayer, look at the example Jesus gave during His life on earth. HAVE A CERTAIN TIME Jesus got up early in the morning to spend time with His Heavenly Father. Make a daily appointment with God — whether it’s first thing in the morning, at lunch, or in the evening — and faithfully keep it. HAVE A CERTAIN PLACE Jesus had a specific place He went to pray. Having a designated place to pray helps us remove distractions and frees us to worship and pray out loud. The chapel is available for you throughout the week from 7:00am-6:00pm Monday- Friday if you’d like to come to the church. HAVE A CERTAIN PLAN When Jesus taught His disciples how to pray, He gave them an outline or example to follow. We call it “The Lord’s Prayer.” That doesn’t mean we should simply recite The Lord’s Prayer each day. No way! The Lord’s Prayer reminds us of who God is “hallowed be your name,” who we are “give us our daily bread and forgive us our debts,” and the mission God has called us to, “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
HAVE A CERTAIN STRATEGY
DRIVEN BY SCRIPTURE
It helps when we have a strategy for connecting regularly with God. The best way to enhance our prayer time is by reading scripture. Scripture helps us know God’s heart. By knowing God’s heart, we are better prepared to pray in tune with his will. Each day, we have selected a portion of scripture to read from John’s gospel with a couple of reflection questions to aid our time in prayer. The gospel of John is twenty one chapters long, which means by the end of our prayer guide we will have prayed through the entire book!
PRAY FOR YOURSELF
Make sure to spend time praying for yourself. Not because you think too highly of yourself, but because if God doesn’t awaken and strengthen and humble your own soul, then you can’t effectively pray for someone else.
PRAY FOR NEEDS CLOSE TO YOU
After praying for yourself, spend time praying for your family. Pray for each one by name pertaining to specific areas of their lives. Pray for your church family! Pray for pastors, deacons, community group leaders. Use your prayer list from the church to pray for specific needs within your congregation.
PRAY FOR NEEDS THAT SEEM DISTANT
Consider the needs of your community and country. The next page has a sample prayer that we adopted as a church a few years ago for our city.