Prayer List

When you Pray

Yesterday (5/5/2022) was the national day of prayer. This is a day that has been chosen to call believers from all over our country to pray for God to bring revival and awakening to our country. It is certainly a good thing when men and women pray together for the grace, glory, and guidance of God on our land.

In the Bible, God clearly expects us to pray. Prayer is both commanded and modeled in the Scriptures throughout both the Old and the New Testaments. Even in the life of Jesus in the gospels we see the prominent role of prayer. The reality of the importance of prayer could have no greater emphasis than Jesus’ personal practice of public and private prayer. 

The overwhelming reality is that God’s people are people who are communicating with God. Of course, a necessary part of this communication with God is the receiving which happens through general revelation in nature and the circumstances of our lives, and, to an even greater degree, through special revelation which is found ONLY in the Scriptures and illuminated by the Holy Spirit. We must be hearing from God and obeying what we are hearing. James exhorts us to be doers of the word and not only hearers (James 1:22-25). 

However, God also wants us to talk to Him. This communication is not because God needs the information. Obviously, He already knows all things. It is not so that He can learn something about us. Rather, it is so that we can grow in our experiential relationship with Him. Prayer is really doing something in and to us as we pray. God is truly relating to us and communing with His people when we bring our requests and petitions to Him (Philippians 4:4-7).

How you Pray

The internet is full of helpful and clever memes and acronyms about how to pray. I think that one of the best practices is to use scripture. This can be done in multiple ways. 
1) You can use scripture to bring to mind things or people that you should be praying for. Just start reading and when someone or something comes to mind pray for it/them. 
2) You can use texts, like the model prayer in Matthew 6:9-14 or the armor of God passage in Ephesians 6:10-20, to define the order and categories of your prayer. 
3) You can use the actual words to pray back to God when you are struggling to know what to pray. These are just a few ways to use the Bible to help you pray. If you want to know more, I would encourage you to read Dr. Don Whitney’s book “Praying the Bible.” You can find that here.

However, another helpful strategy is to use a prayer list. Notice, I didn’t say have a prayer list but to use a prayer list. I know people probably think won’t using a list make my prayers too repetitive? Well yes it can if you just read the list. But I mean taking your list and really making it your own. I do this every week. I take our church's prayer list and I highlight names and write in needs and personal requests that help me to remember and verbalize my prayer. The point is not just to read it, but to think about the people or ministries or events that you are praying for and the specific needs that they have. I was excited today when I was scrolling through facebook and saw a name that we once had on our prayer list. When I looked I realized that I knew the person as an acquaintance but not by name and so I put together that this person I had seen and spoke to many times was also someone I had the privilege of praying for many times. I’m not saying that you need to do it the way I do, but you do need to find practical ways to be more engaged in fervent and passionate prayer because it accomplishes more than we can imagine (James 5:13-18).

Why we Pray

I already mentioned the example that Jesus gives in His own life. It has been said that “if Jesus and the Apostles needed to pray so much, how much more do we need to pray?” But maybe we should instead notice not the need of Jesus’ prayers but the desire of His prayer life. Jesus didn’t go to the Father in prayer out of some sense of duty or some draw down of power and need for replenishment. Jesus wanted communion with the Father. They (the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit) had been in perfect unity and communication for all of eternity! One perfect and complete being of God shared fully without division or parts between three equal and eternal persons. This is the God who calls us to pray and welcomes us into perfect community and communication with Him!

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