Methods of Prayer
In worship we have been talking about the importance of building prayer into our life. Through the sermon series “O Lord Help! Learning How to Pray”, we have talked about helpful attitudes for a life of prayer. Attitudes such as:
- A willingness to experience God.
- An openness to God.
- A willingness to let our lives be shaped by God and the scriptures.
We have talked about helpful practices for prayer. Practices such as:
- Find a time of day when you are at your best, each day, to meet God.
- Make this time with God a priority in your life.
- Find a consistent time and place to meet God.
Finally, this sermon series has been a “how-to” series on prayer as we have explored several methods for prayer. If you connect on the links below you will be introduced to each one.
The Hand Method for Prayer
Ten Steps to God (Learning How to Ask)
The ACTS Method for prayer
The SOAPY Method for prayer (Life Journal)
Linking Prayers to Activity Method
Meditation (Imagining)
Here’s a hand-y reminder of people to pray for:
- Put your hands together as you would for prayer. Look at your hands: the closest digit to you is your thumb. When you pray, let your thumb remind you to pray for the people who are closest to you: your spouse, your children, your parents, your grandchildren, your grandparents, your best friend, your co-workers.
- The pointer finger can remind you to pray for the people who point the way for you: parents, children, pastors, Bible study leaders, Sunday school teachers, mentors, employers, best friends … those who try to point you in the right direction.
- Let the middle finger, the tallest finger, represent those in leadership positions: government leaders, world leaders, church leaders, business leaders.
- Our ring finger is the weakest finger we have. It reminds us to pray for those we know who are weak or in need. This could include people we know who are sick, grieving, lost, addicted, emotionally drained, lonely.
- Our little finger represents ourselves.
Ten Steps to God : Learning How to Ask
“Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7)
“And in the morning, a great while before day, he rose and went out to a lonely place, and there he prayed.” (Mark 1:35)
Most people feel they should pray, but few know how. The following steps, if used 15 minutes daily, will enable you to experience God’s peace, joy and power in a way you have never known before.
As you begin this adventure, remember that prayer is an experience, not an idea. In some ways, prayer is like riding a bicycle. You only learn by doing it, never by thinking about doing it.
Commit yourself to methodically following these 10 steps for 14 consecutive days. Most people report they do not experience God’s presence as fully during their first three or four days as they do after several days of practice. Persist in your reaching out, and God will come to you. Like falling in love, the experience of God’s presence is impossible to define. But when it happens, you will understand why great Christian leaders of every century have so enthusiastically recommended and practiced prayer. And you will understand what Jeremiah meant when he said, “You will seek me and find me; when you seek me with all your heart…” (Jeremiah 29:13)
1. In preparation, set aside 15 minutes in a location where you can be physically relaxed and there is little likelihood of interruption. Read one or two chapters from the Bible, listening for what God says to you. This helps to erase distracting thoughts from the blackboard of your mind. The following passages are especially helpful in preparing for prayer: John 14, Psalm 23, Matthew 5:1-12, Romans 8:35-39, 1 Corinthians 3, Psalm 91, Matthew 6, John 3:1-17, Psalm 46, Romans 12, John 15, Psalm 27, 103, 121, 84, 90, 19, 139, 130, Isaiah 55, Luke 15, John 1:1-18, Luke 24, 1 John 4:7-21, Luke 18:1-17
2. Close your eyes and give thanks for three personal blessings of which you are especially conscious today. This helps you move toward God by moving away from a sense of your own self-sufficiency.
3. Ask God to help three other persons who you feel need God’s help today. Ask God to help your pastor. This helps you move toward God by moving away from self-centeredness.
4. Ask God to forgive your mistakes and sins and give you the strength to forgive others.
5. Ask God to help one person whom you find it hard to like. Ask God to give that person insights into his/her personal problems and ask for the power to let God’s love flow through you to him/her.
6. Ask that you will be sensitive to the needs of one person today with whom you can share God’s love in word or deed.
7. Ask for insights into your personal problems.
8. Ask for help in achieving your personal goals.
9. Ask that God will tell you the most important thing you need to do today in order to “seek first his kingdom”. (Matthew 6:33a)
10. Conclude by listening intently for three minutes to what God may say to you.
Herb Miller, Net Press, Lubbock, Texas, 1988, 1992
- Adoration
- Confession - Have I been arrogant or hurtful to any person? Have I been lazy and not done some of the things I know I should have done? Have I failed to follow Jesus in a focused way throughout the last 24 hours? Have I exaggerated something to make it sound better than it is? Have I been self-centered, insensitive, or uncaring to anyone, especially to my family?
- Thanksgiving
- Supplication - Help me to be a part of what God is blessing. Send people to our church, no one else wants. Prayers for the ministry of the church. For the staff. For the necessary funding for ministry for the week. That the church will draw people to God. Prayers for those who need to be lifted up in prayer. For family. For myself.
The SOAPY Method for prayer (Life Journal)
1. Find the scripture for today in the Bible reading program.
2. Read the passages slowly and with an open heart. Ask God to open your heart and mind to what you need to hear from the scriptures today.
3. Pick one of the scriptures that speak to your heart and turn to a fresh page in your notebook. Remember to number your pages in the upper, outside corner. At the top of the page, write today’s date. Remember to title your lesson. Use the following acronym.
S (Scripture) . . . record the scripture that speaks to you.
O (Observation) . . . Write your observation of the passage as the Lord leads you, keeping things in the larger context of the text.
A (Application) . . . Make an application of this passage to your life. How does this address/challenge you in an area that you are working on right now?
P (Prayer) . . . Write out your prayer to the Lord to ask for God’s help in applying what God has just revealed to you.
Y (Yield) . . . Write down one thing I need to yield to God, because of reading this passage.
4. Designate some pages as a Table of Contents and record your journal entry for quick recall. Write the date, scripture, topic, title, and page number.
5. Conclude your daily devotional time by turning to God in prayer. Pray for the church, for people from the church, for others you know in need of God’s touch, for your family and for yourself.
Remember!
This Life Journal is designed to serve you in your growth in faith. Use this to help you develop a healthy habit of spending time daily with God. Do these devotions when you are at your best.
Linking Prayers to Activity Method
This method simply links our daily prayers to one thing we do each day for one week. For example, if we link our prayers to brushing our teeth for one week – each time we brush, we pray.
The second week, we link our prayers to another task we do each day, for example driving in the car. What we discover is that on the second week, while we brush our teeth, we are still inclined to pray. But when we drive our car, we are also inclined to pray.
On the third week, we link our prayers to yet another task.
Through this intentional method of prayer, we will discover that we think of God more and more throughout the day and we will pray more and more throughout the day.
Meditation (Imagining)
A form of Meditation which uses imagining coming into the presence of Jesus and simply asking, “what do I need to hear from you today?”
To do this type of meditation, you will want to get comfortable in a chair. Put both feet on the floor. Rest your hands comfortably on your lap. Take several deep breaths to cleanse your mind, body and spirit. It usually helps me to imagine that I am breathing in God’s Spirit as I take these breaths.
Then I imagine walking over a hill and down a valley. I take my time in this. I take one step at a time, I notice what the hill looks like all around me. I imagine what smells I might smell and what the sky might look like.
As I cross over the crest of the hill and look into the valley below, I see a tree with a bench or a table, with someone waiting at it. As I get closer, I realize that it is Jesus, and he has been waiting just for me.
I imagine the joy of meeting Jesus, of sitting in the presence of my friend. When I sit down, I eventually ask, “What is it you want to tell me today?”, then I just listen.
To my amazement, so many times, I will actually hear a message on something that I have been thinking about or troubled by. This is a terrific method for prayer.