Prayer

Today an InTouch Magazine showed up in our p.o. box and I found one of the articles very interesting. The article talked about making prayer a way of life. The author described how when he first heard about Martin Luther praying for three hours every morning, John Wesley getting up at 4 am every morning to pray, and David Brainerd praying for so long in the snow that he melted it, he would become discouraged. Boy have I felt the same way! Then the author describes how he discovered that the Bible “shed a different light on prayer.” Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to “pray without ceasing.” And suddenly he realized that this meant talking to God throughout the day even in small little way, always pray. And then he gave some tips that I think are great. How many times throughout the day do we waste when we could be praying to God, praising Him, and thanking Him!? I hope the author’s tips will help enrich your prayer time. I plan to try these out!

1. Put your downtime to use. Pray in traffic, in the waiting room at the doctor’s office, while cleaning up your house, taking a shower, exercising, etc.

2. Don’t just watch the news—do something about it. Pray for the needs you see, whether an earthquake just occurred, poverty in another country, or for the upcoming elections.

3. Respond to whatever comes at you. As soon as something occurs, such as a family member is in trouble, pray. And don’t forget to thank God for the little things, such as that great parking space so you don’t have to walk in the rain.

4. Make your own prayer cycle. Keep several prayer lists and rotate them so that you end up praying for a lot of different people. You can put celebrities on this list, sports figures, missionaries, musicians, etc.

5. Pick up a daily prayer shift. In the mornings on Monday, pray for your family. In the mornings on Tuesday, pray for your co-workers.

6. A-S-K: Ask, Seek, Knock. An example, the author prayed for a waitress at his favorite restaurant every time he would frequent there. Those prayers eventually led to an opportunity to witness to her and invite her to church.

This article was written by Mark Littleton for InTouch Magazine, October 2008. He has a book entitled, The Ten-Second Prayer Principle.