After my post on Progressing in Prayer, PD reader, Missy in Texarkana emailed me a practical practice that is an awesome suggestion. With her permission I am passing along this excerpt:
“One thing I wanted to pass on that I have found a good thing in my prayer life is that I have studied the prayers of Paul in the Bible and he asks for things like the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him and not just for a car and a house. I have all the prayers of Paul typed out in a book and I use those as a guide in my praying. God will honor those prayers because it is what He wants for us , too. Of course I still ask for other things like cars and houses, but praying the prayers of Paul has helped deepen my prayer life and I’ve seen growth in the lives of those for whom I pray . Often challenges come first as a means to display God’s glory and guidance, but He is faithful to answer those prayers I pray “
Thank you Missy for sharing this practice. I have not done a study of Paul’s prayer, but sitting with one of his prayers opened my eyes to the need for me to be praying regularly for other people’s spiritual well-being. I am frequently in prayer for physical needs of healing, but Paul’s great concern for bringing people to spiritual maturity really challenged me to pray for people to know the breadth and depth of God’s love for them.
Speaking of breadth and depth, praying or emulating the prayers of others is a great way to broaden and deepen your prayer life. Praying the psalms by meditatively reading through them or lifting them up to God in song has increased my prayer vocabulary. Also, reading the classic prayers of a believer like, John Baillie, in his book A Diary of Private Prayer
I would also like to point out that Missy took Paul’s prayers and compiled them into a book. Consider compiling a scrap book of prayers or perhaps more appropriately a treasure book of prayers. Whenever you find a prayer that touches you significantly, place it in a binder. You will find that prayers kept like this have a habit of speaking to you later just when you need them the most. A prayer treasury is an awesome resource for you to browse; particularly, during times when you feel at a loss for words. A prayer treasury can also be an amazing and thoughtful gift.
Again, thank you to Missy for sharing. Blessings from The Practical Disciple
I would love to have a deeper, closer, more intimate relationship with God but I find myself praying about it in a very cautious way. My relationship grew a ton over the past 4 years due to going through a tough, tough trial. I know God uses things like that for good. I fear going through more hell to bring me closer to God. So because of this, I find I play word games while I pray. I say things like “through your loving kindness” fearing that God will take me back to a tough place to help me grow. I don’t know if that is a trust issue or it is just that, from my experience, I know God’s ways are not my ways and I prefer my way….through God’s loving kindness. I feel like I have to be careful with what I pray for with this type of thing. What’s your take on this?
I can understand your fear and trepidation. Paul’s words to the Philippian’s come to mind, “…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” Facing sin and dying to it can be overwhelming, but trust that God is with you in that process of transformation.
Since you know that you are playing word games with God, consider letting go of the game and having a very honest heart to heart with God about your fear around growth and change. One time I entered into an intensive time of prayer knowing that it was going to be very difficult. I knew I would be facing my limitations and that it would be painful. As I entered into that time of prayer I remember saying to God, “Lord please only kick my butt as hard as you have to.” It was a bit irreverent but about as honest and candid as I knew to voice it at the time. I am almost embarrassed to admit it now, but in retrospect, I am also at a loss for what could have been anymore honest before God.
Lastly, just keep an eye on yourself as you move forward. Sometimes we do begin to move forward so quickly that the change is overwhelming to us. I have seen people go through massive growth very rapidly and actually leave the church or flee from God because it was too much for them to handle. In most of those cases, a good support structure or mentor who could have walked with them through the pain of growth was missing. That difference could have been a defining difference. Know your limits and have some people praying for you and holding on to you as you travel through them.
I do know this one thing for certain, dodging growth no matter how difficult it may be is ultimately more costly than moving forward. Come before God trembling for God is holy, omnipotent and abundance of life now and life eternal are in His hands. Yet, also come before God rejoicing for all of the same reasons.
Those are my immediate thoughts. I hope God speaks through them to you in some way. If I need to clarify something I have written don’t hesitate to ask. Blessings to you from The Practical Disciple.