Stronger Every Day

I hope that this Blog will make you laugh, cry, and pray. I am not any stronger by my own power. I am not stronger by my own experiences. I am stronger every day that I lean on Jesus, My Savior, My Strength, My Friend.

12 February 2010

My thoughts on Prayer


Ephesians 6:18-20 (KJV) 18Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; 19And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.


Praying is not easy!

Everybody tells you a different way to pray, and if you are new to praying, you might not know what to say. Some people have memorized prayers that they say regularly. Other people pray in their own prayer language. Still others sing their prayers. I do not believe that any of these are wrong. I do believe that our “beliefs” make prayer very confusing.

I want to start off by saying that I am not a Biblical scholar. I am just an ordinary woman. I was brought up knowing who Jesus was, and going to various churches every week, but I did not really accept Jesus as my personal Savior until the Saturday before 9/11. God’s timing is perfect.

I prayed a prayer that invited the Holy Spirit into my heart, a prayer that marked me forever. I started my new life as a Christian with a very simple prayer, and it felt so good, I wanted to keep praying, but I wasn’t sure how to do it. Like I said, I wasn’t a Biblical scholar, so I couldn’t quite understand what the Bible teaches about prayer, so I headed to the library. I started looking for books and articles about prayer, but the more I read, the more confused I got. There were so many opinions about which way is the right way to pray! There are even more books and articles now, so I am not really going to talk about the “how” here.

Jump ahead a few months… I started to work my new faith into my job as a children’s entertainer. It was pretty easy. I remember talking to the ministry clowns about this “Armor of God” thing they used to teach the kids. I found the section in Ephesians, and read, and read. I started practicing it, and the first time I went to perform it in church, something wonderful happened. I read the few verses after the Armor of God passage, and was floored. Paul wrote exactly what I needed to pray before I started my lesson.

Ephesians 6:18-20 (KJV) 18Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; 19And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

WOW! This is what I had been looking for! It had it all!

I have read this scripture over and over many times throughout the past few years. I learned how to pray it and make it my own prayer request, but it really didn’t become clear until tonight when I was thinking about a conversation I had with a friend, about making a list of the different places you can fit prayer into your day, that it all clicked. This passage really does have it all! The Holy Spirit had stirred it up in my soul, and just waited until my imperfect human brain could begin to comprehend it! God is Good!



Pray Constantly -

18Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints

We are supposed to be doing it all the time?!? How are we supposed to function and be in constant prayer?!?

Well, I haven’t figured out how to not stop praying, but I have gotten some advice from a few different places that I have made my own, and I hope you do, too.

Find triggers for your prayer. We have all kinds of things that trigger other behaviors, and we are certainly smarter that Pavlov’s dog, so why can’t we choose our own bell? That way when the bell rings, our natural response is to pray. It doesn’t have to be a long prayer… just a sentence or two, but if we can train ourselves to think of God, and his people, when certain everyday things occur… wouldn’t that be AWE-some?



Remember others in your prayers. -

19And for me,

Paul specifically asked other Christians to pray for him! That means that it is expected that we pray for other people… in a way, it also shows us that it is ok to ask other people to pray for us, too.



Pray out loud.

…that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.





Ok, there is a time when silent prayer is a good thing, but in this part of this scripture, it shows that we need to be bold. Do you grace the food as a family in a restaurant… aloud? Do you say, “Thank you, God!” and give Him the praise when something goes right during your day? Do you talk to other people about Jesus at all? (That is really a time that you want to be asking God to take over the conversation, right?)

Paul is showing us how to speak up and witness. He is showing us that we might not like the consequences of being bold in our faith, but that the right thing to do is to speak with the words that God wants us to use.

There are a lot of books that show the power of the spoken word. It helps people remember things, too. So maybe if you pray, out loud, for other people, all the time, you will remember to pray for other people all the time… no? Well, it sounded good the first time.



Pray wherever you are.


Top 10 Easy Places to Say a Quick Prayer



1. Before you get out of bed

and before you go to sleep

2. In the shower

3. While reading e-mail

4. While fixing a meal

5. While getting dressed

6. As you walk out the door and return home

7. At every stop light or stop sign

8. When you pay for something

9. When you answer the phone or door

10. When you hear someone call your name.


 Before you get out of bed and before you go to sleep

This one has been talked about by just about every Christian woman I know. Most of the strong Titus 2 role models, I look to for good example say that it is important to pray before your feet even touch the floor in the morning. It only stands to reason that you would want to thank God for helping you through your day before you go to sleep; I have heard these prayers called the bookends of your day.

An example for your morning prayer might be:

Dear Lord,

So far today, I am doing all right. I have not gossiped, lost my temper, been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, or self indulgent.
However, I am going to get out of bed in a few minutes, and I will need a lot more help after that.
Amen.

It sounds like a joke, but I know that’s how I feel every morning!

Then at the end of the day, as I am finally going to bed, I thank God that my family is home, safe, and sleeping.

 In the shower

This is a favorite place to pray for many of the mother’s I know. I usually don’t take a lot of time in the shower, so most of the time I just thank God that I live in a place that clean, running water is a normal condition. Sometimes, I pray for the women I know that are battling breast cancer when I do my monthly check, and I thank God for blessing me with the long hair that he has provided me with, as my covering.

 While reading e-mail

During the ’06-’08 deployment I prayed that my e-mails didn’t contain bad news, and that the spam would be blocked. Now I have started to pray for each person that sends me e-mail.

 While fixing a meal

This is one of my favorite times to praise God and give thanks for Him providing me with a husband, and for His providing my husband with a job that allows us to eat well balanced meals every day. I thank God for the food, and I ask Him to bless all the people that allowed the food to get to our kitchen.

 While getting dressed

Again, I thank God for providing me with a husband, and for His providing my husband with a job that allows us to have the clothes we need. I also thank Him for the home that He has provided for us.

 As you walk out the door and return home.

I read The Power of the Praying Wife a few years ago, and I keep the list of things to pray each day, for your husband, by the door. There is a different area to pray about each day, and the list is numbered, so I look at the number for that date, and say that prayer as I head to the car.

When I return home, I thank God for carrying me safely to and from wherever we went. I thank Him for keeping the house safe while we were gone, and ask Him to bless our home and keep us safe within it.

 At every stop light or stop sign

I use this time to pray for my husband. I started this after reading Created to Be His Help Meet a few years back. Not only does it dispel any chance of road rage or frantic feeling when I am running late, it also blesses my husband.

 When you pay for something

This is another time I Thank God for giving us the money to purchase all of the things we need and some of the things we want.

 When you answer the phone or door

Here, I pray that I only get good news, and that God would bless whomever is trying to reach me.

 When you hear someone call your name

Here again, I pray that I only get good news, and that God would bless whomever is trying to get my attention.



Ephesians 6:18-20 (KJV) 18Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; 19And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

1 comment:

  1. I do want to thank my friend, Janel, for helping me to focus on this... I don't think she even knows how much she guides me & shows me how to pray. She is a true Titus 2 mother to me.

    ReplyDelete