I love learning. For me learning will be a life long journey. No matter how long I’ve been a follower of Jesus there are always new things I’m shown, areas I discover I desire to improve and topics I yearn to record and make sure I share with my children and their children. Prayer is one of these precious areas.
As a child of God prayer is something that brings me much comfort, healing and cleansing, as well as draws me into the presence of my Father, my Abba, my daddy quicker than any other discipline…well…worship music is neck and neck. As a mother of 4 children and 2 grandchildren, with other babies in the future, I feel it’s one of my highest callings to be entrenched in the battle of intercessory prayer for them. Something I have fallen way short in my earliest mothering years, however I am diligently striving to increase in my faithfulness. Baby steps.
Throughout my prayer life, I’ve really practiced more what’s referred to as “popcorn” prayer. As I journey through my daily meanderings, I’m praying and chatting with God shooting up prayers as thoughts pop into my head. Being in continual conversation with God is extremely important. However, I’ve never really practiced a consistent, time scheduled meeting with Him. I don’t think this is bad, but I believe by not doing this I have missed out on being more intentional with interceding for others. My desire is to create a special area, a private time, an intimate setting where I can encounter God, listen for His voice, be less distracted, journal my heartfelt requests and record His specific answers.
I’ve learned to pray from a vast array of many mentors. I’ve studied many of the disciples important prayers through the books of the Bible and I’ve been collecting them under Prayers in the menu. I’ve also studied how to pray Scripture back to God by reading books listed under Prayer on my Resources. One of the most influential books I used in the beginning is Praying God’s Word: Breaking Free from Spiritual Strongholds by Beth Moore.
Many scattered teachings have helped shape my prayer life. In a women’s study group called Stepping Stones, I was introduced to using the acronyms A.C.T.S. (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) and P.R.A.Y. (Praise, Repent, Ask, Yield.) These have helped me remember the important aspects to include while praying to our Heavenly Father. In 2011 at a Women’s Retreat in Zephyr Cove, I gained a couple other tools that helped deepen my prayer life. I was introduced to a book called How to Pray by R.A. Torrey and shown a list of the Hindrances to Prayer. Prayer is like a life line artery to God. Making sure to clean out all the plaque and debris within the artery that blocks the flow of blood is extremely important. By addressing the hindrances to prayer we clear the pathway for our prayers to reach God and for God to respond back to us. I also received an evaluation sheet, Prayer Life Assessment, which helped assess the health of my prayer life and gave me starting points where I could make effective changes. Below I’m including links to some of these important teachings so that they can be downloaded to add to your tool belt and help develop a beautiful healthy prayer life.
A.C.T.S.
P.R.A.Y.
Hindrances to Prayer
Prayer Life Assessment
Prayer Full of Power & Authority