“But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.” Matthew 6:6 NLT)
Our faith in Jesus, while very personal, should never be private. Prayer on the other hand, while it certainly can and should be shared with others, should be birthed in private. What does that mean? It means we grow in our understanding of what prayer is, why and how it works, and develop our love for and devotion to our heavenly Father when we commune with Him in private. It’s also where we develop our “ear” to hear His voice and understand His commands, not just generally, but specifically for us.
In the context of a recent conversation the Lord and I were having, He asked me to share the following with you. He has taught me a lot in and about prayer, so, today, I’d like to pass on some of what He’s shared with me.
- Prayer is Private. That obviously doesn’t mean we only pray alone, what it means is the words and language of our prayers are God originated. We’re not simply reciting our own or someone else’s words, but relying on the Holy Spirit’s leadership to give us an ear to the Lord’s heart, enabling us to hear from Him what He would be pleased for us to speak with Him about, whether in public or private.
- Pray out loud. Yes, even in private, pray out loud, but why? Primarily to help you keep your focus. I’ve learned even if I pray in a whisper, it enables me to keep better focus and stay on track with my pattern of prayerful thought. The greatest spiritual battlefield is our mind, so, Satan rarely works harder than when we’re in thoughtful, meaningful, Christ-focused prayer. Unbelief, illustrated by questions like – “Is God even listening? Can He, WILL He do what I’m asking?” These and a thousand other issues crowd our mind, so we need all the help we can get to keep our focus on the Lord.
- Write your prayer list. At least initially and when someone gives you a new request, write them down. When I first got serious about prayer, I wrote everything down, even the countries of the world. I would prayer around the world every month. There are roughly 200 countries, so that’s about 7 a day. Today my primary focus is on countries that are suffering the greatest persecution. I pray for each country by name and if I know specific people in those countries, I pray for them by name. The more specific you can be, the more easily you’ll recognize answers.
- Pray Categorically. That just means, stay on the same topic. For example, I begin my prayer time with personal worship, thanking the Lord for who He is, what He’s doing in my life, for His bountiful provision, for health, strength to carry out His will for this day. Whatever He lays on my heart to share with Him. Then I move to Family: my wife, children and their spouses and families, grandchild, nieces, nephews and their families. My extended family around the world, especially those who are without a saving-knowledge of the Lord. I pray the Lord will put someone in their lives who knows and loves Him and to whom my lost family member would relate and would listen.
Then I extend my “family” to my Spiritual family. That’s when I begin to pray especially for my brothers and sisters in other countries. Then I pray locally, beginning with my local church family. I pray specifically, by name for each of my Pastors and their family members, if I know their names. I pray for the leaders of our church and their families, each child, each teen, young adult, middle adult, and senior adult. Obviously, in a church of 5,000 people I don’t know everyone’s names, but I do pray by name for many with whom I serve and have or do share in groups. Then I close my time in prayer by praying for my neighbors, including the surrounding four neighborhoods. Again, I don’t know many of their names, but I do pray specifically for those who are lost and those who do know Him that they would live like it and share His love fruitfully and effectively.
I’m hopeful that’s helpful in guiding you, especially if prayer is a new adventure for you. I’m happy for you to reach out to me at walkingwithjesus@gmail.com. I also pray for YOU each day, thanking the Lord for allowing me the privilege of being a very small part of your life.
Blessings, Ed 😃
P. S. I typically spend an hour to an hour and a half in the morning, but pray throughout the day as the Lord prompts me. If prayer is new to you, begin with 15-20 minutes, then work in more time as you can.
Prayer must never be seen as an obligation, but a privilege. To that end our hearts will overflow with joy in Jesus.
Walking With Jesus 