Plan to Pray

Before we get started on the method, I think we need to remember the heart of the matter. We can practice the discipline of prayer and never be conformed to the image of Jesus, which is our desire, if we merely pray for the sake of praying. We must examine what drives us to our knees. Are we coming to God because we need Him, desire Him, love Him, and fear Him? Do we pray because we pant for Him as a deer pants for streams of water? Or, are we hypocrites who pray to be heard and admired by others, as those trying to earn some sort of "in" with God? I know I am constantly examining if I have a heart for God in prayer so that my prayers are not ineffective cold mantras.

The heart matters, but having a plan or method helps in matters of the heart. Don Whitney said that sometimes our prayer life is hindered because our prayers get boring. "We pray the same old thing about the same old thing". So what method or plan does Don Whitney recommend to give our prayer life....life? What is the method that I have so benefited from? ..... Pray through Scripture! Pray God's word back to Him. He recommended starting with the Psalms. I can pray for myself, family, friends, finances, work, and church using God's Word. There are 150 Psalms and I have yet to pray through all of them. I have found my heart filled with praise and actually good words to speak it using what God inspired the psalmists to say about Him already. And I know that it is in line with the true character of God because it is God's word about Himself. I have experienced and heard from others how one line from a Psalm has inspired at times 30 minutes of prayer and there was no notice of time passing, so I have really found it helpful to start my day out looking at a Psalm and starting to pray through it. Even if I do not get to the rest of my Bible reading until later, this has been a sweet nourishment for my soul as I start my morning out reading and praying through a Psalm like this: Remember, O Lord, Your compassion and Your loving-kindnesses, for they have been from of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to Your loving-kindness remember me, for Your goodness' sake, O Lord.( Ps. 25:6-7) Bible reading, meditation, and prayer are taking place all at the same time! I love to pray through the book of Titus. Titus 2:3-5 is a favorite of mine for praying for myself and other women. Titus1 is great for praying for my elders. And who doesn't want to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and live sensibly, righteously and godly in this present age?( Titus2:12) Outside of the Psalms, this is the most prayed through book in the Bible for me. This book is short, simple, to the point and jammed full of practical stuff! Can you tell I love this book? I'm a simple person, what can I say. It is very helpful and dare I say necessary to pray with the Word of God in hand. John Piper said: "In the Bible, God speaks to us, and in prayer, we speak to him. And the two are interdependent in their effectiveness. The Scripture teaches us to pray and shows us what to pray and how to pray and tells us the basis for prayer and fills us with encouragement that God hears our prayers. And prayer applies the Scriptures to ourselves and others. It turns the word into prayer, and it pleads for help from God in understanding the meaning of the word and living the word. So prayer and the word are interdependent in the way they help us be conformed to the image of Christ." I believe this wholeheartedly!

I would add that I find it very helpful to journal at the same time. The best suggestion I have in order to keep the discipline of journaling consistent is to keep your journal with your Bible and write in conjunction with your Bible reading and prayer time. If you use your computer for journaling, keep your Bible by the computer. Frankly, many of the things that show up in my blogs are from my journals.

If you have read any of these blogs on prayer you have simply been given a glimpse of the meditations of my heart. You have come along with me as I have struggled through why I do not pray as I ought. I have found writing out these things absolutely necessary for my heart and mind to process these things. So, for me, reading, meditation, prayer and journaling are all very intricately connected. What I read, write, and think about set the tone of how I react and pray throughout the day, as I teach my children, fold the laundry, sweep my floors, talk on the phone and write my emails.

Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. (2 Thess.5:16-18)