“Satan dreads nothing but prayer. The church that lost its Christ was full of good works. The one concern of the devil is to keep the saints from praying. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray.”Samuel Chadwick
This is a poignant explanation of one reason why “prayer is the most resisted activity on the planet": the enemy will do ALL he can to stop us; he will manipulate us with guilt feelings that we do not pray enough, that we lack the discipline to start and the commitment to pray regularly, and that our one little prayer will make no difference. These are just some of his lies in his ongoing effort to discourage us and ultimately stop us from praying.
I am still surprised that I am involved in Prayer Ministry because I held all those views (and more), and also had NO interest in prayer ministry. And yet it was with one step of obedience that it began to grow in me. That step was when the Lord told me to become part of the altar team at MRPA. I had more fear than interest in being part of the altar team: fear that I couldn’t pray well enough, fear that no one would come to me for prayer, and fear of looking silly - where would I look while I was up there?- most uncomfortable. But my heart’s desire was always to help people and it was this desire and the desire to be obedient that led me to the altar team, and my interest - no, love - for prayer has continuously grown since then.
I found that as I began to pray, at first for short times, my desire to pray grew and I began to pray more. I think it is important we realize that it is okay to pray for short periods of times and not allow the enemy to discourage us with guilt and thoughts of failure. But we must also realize that a powerful prayer life requires personal discipline; that we mustn’t sit around waiting for the “motivation” to pray, we must pray first. We can start with establishing a time of daily prayer that is compatible with our lifestyle. Just as important is to establish a place of prayer, free of interruptions, and, lastly, to establish a prayer plan or pattern we can use as a guideline when necessary.
"What, could ye not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray.” Matthew 26: 40&41
In “The Hour That Changes The World”, Dick Eastman gives his plan for an hour of guided prayer, which is as follows:
1.
PRAISE
Recognize God’s nature
(Psalm 63:3)
2.
WAITING
Silent Soul Surrender
(Psalm 46:10)
3.
CONFESSION
Temple Cleansing
(Psalm 139:23)
4.
SCRIPTURE
Word Enriched Prayer
(Jeremiah 23:29)
5.
WATCHING
Develop Holy Alertness
(Colossians 4:2)
6.
INTERCESSION
Remember The World
(1 Timothy 2:1&2)
7.
PETITION
Share Personal Needs
(Matthew 7:7)
8.
THANKSGIVING
Confess My Blessings
(1 Thessalonians 5:18)
9.
SINGING
Worship In Song
(Psalm 100:2)
10.
MEDITATION
Ponder Spiritual Themes
(Joshua 1:8)
11.
LISTENING
Receive Spiritual Instruction
(Ecclesiastes 5:2)
12.
PRAISE
Recognize God’s nature
(Psalm 52:9)
*PRAYER SHOULD BEGIN AND CONCLUDE AT THE LEVEL OF PRAISE.
Remember this is only a guide because our prayer time will not be the same every time, but should be led by the Holy Spirit as we learn and develop a discipline for prayer. It is through this discipline that we develop a habit of prayer that leads to more prayer as the hunger for prayer grows and as we begin to see results and changes because of our powerful prayer life!
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.
Pat Bryan