Practical Prayer
Sometimes prayer can be difficult for a number of reasons, whether it’s figuring out a time and place to pray or what to say when praying or how to fight against distraction while praying. Below are three approaches to prayer that have helped me cultivate a more consistent prayer life:
Scripture: the one thing that has most positively affected my prayer life over the past couple of years is using the Bible to shape the content of my prayers. It provides me with words to use and also reminds me of what is most important. This morning I read from Psalm 3 and was struck by the idea of the Lord being my “shield,” one who protects me when I am afraid. Thus, my prayer for this morning focused on giving thanks to the Lord for his protection and asking him to help me look to him alone during moments of fear that I might face through the day
Family: though I am not as consistent as I want to be, I have found the evenings to be the best time to pray with my family. First, bedtime for the kids has worked out to be the most natural time for us to pray together. We thank God for the events of the day and ask that he would help us be a family that loves and honors him; this is also a time where I pray specifically that the Lord would draw the hearts of my kids toward him. Once the kids are in bed, Anna Grace and I pray for each other simply by asking, “How can I pray for you today?”
Church Family: there are a number of ways we can pray with one another and for another. On Sundays we have prayer teams at the end of the service who are available to pray. We also have two weekly times of prayer: men’s prayer on Fridays at 6:00AM and prayer on Sundays at 8:30AM. Furthermore, the elders are always available to pray with people, and we encourage all shepherding groups to include prayer for one another in their groups each week. Finally, we have an email address set up specifically set up to communicate prayer requests to the entire congregation (prayer@gracechurchtuscaloosa.com).
If you are struggling in your prayer life or in any area, consider being prayed over by the elders. We are always eager to pray for anyone in our congregation, so please don’t hesitate to ask!
Ben
Monthly Book Recommendation
One of the most helpful books I’ve come across on prayer is "A Praying Life" by Paul Miller. It not only helped me identify obstacles that keep me from prayer, but it also gave me some practical tools in how to approach prayer.