Fire Up Your Prayer Life
This "booklet" will be posted here weekly and paper copies will be placed in the library/prayer room in the sanctuary building. If you would like a copy to take home either copy and paste this to print it or ask the secretary to make you a copy each week. This will be a four week prayer guide.
IGNITE YOUR PRAYER LIFE THROUGH INTIMACY WITH GOD
Living in intimacy with God—open to us all
We are strongest in prayer and ministry when we are living in a close, personal relationship with God. This relationship is the heart of our Christian Walk from which we develop a meaningful and effective prayer life.
Every Christian is meant to have the same personal closeness with God that John and the other apostles experienced.
…that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. (1 JOHN 1:3-4, italics added)
The word “fellowship” that John used refers to spiritual intimacy, to a close personal walk with the Lord.
The blessing of relationship—knowing God personally
Throughout His ministry, Jesus (whom we are to imitate) demonstrated with His daily life the kind of relationship we’re to have with the Father. He knew the Father. He prayed to the Father. He was dependent upon the Father. That’s how we are to live as well:
“And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ whom you have sent.” (JOHN 17:3, italics added)
The Amplified Bible gives us the full meaning of this word “know”:
[For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him….] (PHILIPPIANS 3:10, italics added) …
How amazing that we can know God this way! This is much more than just understanding facts about Him. It is knowing God Himself—from the day we receive Christ and throughout eternity. This is essential if we want to ignite our prayer lives to set us ablaze for Him as we minister, serve and live day by day.
This is the same personal relationship Jesus declared He will have with us:
“I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me [they will progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Me]….” (JOHN 10:14, emphasis and definition of “know” added)
Prayer is how we live in this relationship—and walk with God
When we spend time alone with God in prayer, He welcomes us into a personal relationship of growing spiritual intimacy. In this relationship we not only sense His presence and speak to Him as we move through our days, but also learn to hear His voice: ...the sheep follow [the shepherd], for they know his voice.
(JOHN 10:4-5, italics added)
Daily consistency is the important thing. It does not have to be a long period of time, but it is not an option if we want to know God in a personal way. God will honor even a few minutes a day if we devote them to Him, reading His Word and praying as Jesus taught.
Beginning and continuing—igniting—such a relationship is the focus of this week’s devotionals. As we begin, let us recognize that active service for God is not the same thing as spiritual intimacy. Empowered service that bears fruit is the result of an intimate walk with God, not the cause.
Service can be effective and bear fruit, but without the relationship we may not experience the fullness of God’s will. We may be out of step with His timing or working in our own strength instead of His. Without the relationship, we may succeed in our own plans but not fully succeed in His, settling for the good and missing the best.
Where do we begin? —let Jesus teach us
In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus laid out fundamental principles of prayer that will help us ignite and maintain personal fellowship with God and develop a meaningful and effective prayer life.
Jesus taught that we must spend time alone with God every day (MATTHEW 6:6). Everything else He taught about prayer and spiritual intimacy rests on this requirement. Jesus followed this revelation with principles for effective daily prayer, which we refer to as the “Lord’s Prayer” or the “Our Father” (MATTHEW 6:9-13).
This week, we begin applying these fundamental prayer principles. We’ll see why these principles help us ignite our prayer lives that we may grow deeper in our relationship with God and more effective in prayer.
Pause now to ask God to help you to apply these principles of prayer….
TIME WITH GOD
“But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your
Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
(MATTHEW 6:6)
Jesus didn’t mean that we must go into a room and shut the door. He did not do that when He prayed. But He did find ways to be alone with God, and that’s what He is telling us to do today. To know God personally, we must spend time alone with Him every day, time that is devoted to Him and free of distractions.
Jesus said when we pray, not if. And we know He meant every day because in the model prayer that follows, we’re told to ask “this day” for our “daily” bread. In this model prayer He provides a pattern for our daily prayer lives.
Time alone with God is essential for everything else Jesus taught about prayer. It all rests on this principle. Fortunately, Jesus did not say we have to spend a long time every day, just consistent time. It is amazing what God can and will do if we’ll devote a few minutes to Him every morning.
Why do you think it would be important to spend at least a few minutes alone with God every day?... Perhaps you should ask Him what He thinks….
- What does my heart sense God is saying to me?
- My Impression of what God wants me to do.
- My prayer response.
RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR FATHER
“Our Father in heaven….” (MATTHEW 6:9A)
This is the beginning of Jesus’ teaching for our daily prayer lives. Many of us don’t immediately grasp the importance of the simple salutation, “Our Father.”
But it was revolutionary to those Jesus was teaching. In the Old Testament, God was rarely addressed as Father and then it referred to His being the Father of His people.
“Father” is a family term, a word indicating the relationship we are privileged to have as God’s children—for eternity! —if we believe and receive Jesus (JOHN 1:12). This relationship can never be broken. No one can separate us from His love (ROMANS 8:35-39). Because we have been made alive through Christ (EPHESIANS 2:5) and saved through faith (EPHESIANS 2:8), we are confident that we have been adopted into His family (ROMANS 8:15). (If you have questions about this, turn to the inside back cover of this journal, “Are You a Child of God?”) What a great privilege is ours, to be children of God (1 JOHN 3:1)!
Now pause to thank God that you can call Him Father.... Take a moment to reflect on what an amazing truth this is....Pause and ask Him what He thinks of
you as His child….
- What does my heart sense God is saying to me?
- My Impression of what God wants me to do.
- My prayer response.
WORSHIP
“...hallowed be your name.” (MATTHEW 6:9B)
Jesus teaches us to begin our prayers with worship. After coming to God like a child to a loving Father, we worship Him for who He is. We are to “hallow” Him, to set Him apart in our heart and mind as holy.
We are to spend a few moments in personal worship before we ask Him to meet our needs. Jesus teaches us to worship Him by name because His names reveal who He is. He is our Creator, our Savior, our Shepherd and King (PSALM 139:13; JUDE 25; HEBREWS 13:20B; 1 TIMOTHY 1:17) and more!
When we begin each day by honoring God with our personal worship, our minds turn from our problems and concerns to focus on Him, the One who can help. We need this encouragement to strengthen us for the day.
How do you think worshiping God might help build our faith?
Are there ways in which you could make your daily time of personal worship more meaningful for you and for God?
Ask God what He thinks....
- What does my heart sense God is saying to me?
- My Impression of what God wants me to do.
- My prayer response.
SURRENDER
“ Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
( MATTHEW 6:10)
In this model prayer, Jesus speaks in the plural (our Father). Yet it is still very personal and individual in its focus. We each have a personal relationship with our Father, and we worship Him from hearts filled with a growing personal love for Him as our close relationship with Him develops.
This then becomes our personal prayer of surrender: “May Your kingdom come in me today; may Your will be done in my life right now.” When we give God our lives, we ask Him to take control and to work His will in and through us for His kingdom purpose and glory every day. The kingdom is wherever the King resides [“the kingdom of God is within you” (LUKE 17:21)] and where He resides, He must reign.
Is this the desire of your heart?
Is your life a demonstration of this truth?
Ask God if there is anything in your life that you have not fully surrendered….
- What does my heart sense God is saying to me?
- My Impression of what God wants me to do.
- My prayer response.
ASK
“Give us this day our daily bread.” (MATTHEW 6:11)
With this simple instruction, Jesus teaches several key points about prayer. First, we are to pray every day.
Second, we should pray early in the day—it doesn’t make much sense to ask for this day’s bread at the end of the day. We must always think in terms of giving God the first and best of what we have. And time is our most precious commodity.
Third and most important: when Jesus taught the steps of prayer, He didn’t put asking first. Yet asking typically makes up the biggest share of our daily prayers. Perhaps that is why Jesus made such a point to teach us His pattern for prayer, making clear that we’re to begin our prayers with at least a few moments of personal worship and surrender. Such worship is our way of expressing our love and appreciation to our heavenly Father who is so willing and able to give. Only then do we ask.
Think about your prayers of the last few days. What has the pattern of your prayer life been?
If you find it difficult to pray every day, or early in the day, ask God to help you....
- What does my heart sense God is saying to me?
- My Impression of what God wants me to do.
- My prayer response.