It’s Practical Matters day so I wanted to give a couple of practical suggestions for prayer. One tip from my own personal experience is that I have found (after years of fits and starts) that my best time to pray is in the evening before bed. My morning quiet times are best reserved for aligning my heart and thoughts with God’s word and the hope of the Gospel. At night I can cast my burdens on the Lord. I have more control over how I end my day than how I start it, which means interruptions to the routine are easier to overcome. The discipline of prayer is much more consistently maintained in my life since I began to go down into my basement to meet with God at the end of my day.
Deb Demi offers this other creative strategy. While it’s geared toward women, I think it might work for a lot of us.
Like most women I know, I usually have two goals in the beginning of each new year – to grow in my relationship with the Lord and to get into better physical shape. Like the verse in 1 Cor. 9:24 says, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize," I've discovered that I actually go after both prizes – the benefits of physical and spiritual discipline – at one time.
Curious?
Each morning, equipped with an i-pod and a daily prayer list, I hop onto my treadmill. For the first 10 minutes I listen to worship and scripture memory songs. Then, for the next 20 minutes I use a 5-day rotating prayer list which includes (at this time) - my husband, two of my children, one our pastors and his family, a church ministry (like Alpha), three teens from our youth community group, a neighbor, an extended family member, and a good friend. The Lord always prompts me in how to pray as I begin each time asking Him to fill me with His Holy Spirit, confessing my sin, basking in the gospel, and asking Him to help me pray. It never fails that time flies by and I feel the Holy Spirit's presence and power.
It's been about 3 years now since I began this discipline. The time has only grown sweeter and sweeter. Not only has this practice helped me to be consistent in praying, but the Lord has used the time to speak to my heart, to bring encouragement to my soul and to give me direction for the day. After that extended time in prayer, it's easier for me to be aware of the Lord's presence reminding me to pray more throughout the day.
Not only am I getting into better shape physically, I'm growing – by His grace – in my relationship with Him. You may not have a treadmill or an i-pod, but ask the Lord how you can creatively run the race for His glory!
Information about the Week of Prayer can be found at here.
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