So I am seeking the Communion the relationship with JESUS CHRIST[the master the King the only True God the Light the Rock of our salvation the Holy One of Israel the Man God the Truth the Answer to Your hearts desire.....(If I would give his full name I would have to write forever.]Question: How do You Personally Pray?
While i cannot speak for everyone, I have learned the importance of praying the Lords Prayer as Jesus taught his disciple in the book of matthew (6:9-13)While i don't always pray it "word for word" i do use it as a template. It emcompasses everything. It is the prefect prayer to begin with. There is not 'i, me or my' in it--you can pray it personally there is no harm in it, but with the absence of "i, me and my' it helps you to keep God's glory at the forefront. i encourage you to study it and use it as a model for you own prayers. Hope this helps.
I would like to share with you something that I have found to be a wonderful way to begin my time in the prayer closet.What I do is visualize my self entering into the Old Testament tabernacle. I enter the gate with thanksgiving and praise. I pass by the bronze altar and thank God for the sacrifice of the Cross, the blood that removes my sin. I pass by the bronze laver and thank God for the washing of regeneration, new life in Christ Jesus. I then enter the holy place and thank God for the lamp of the Holy Spirit, outpoured and indwelling in His saints. I thank God for the bread of communion we can eat together, sweet time spent together. As I smell the incense I thank God for the righteousness of Jesus Christ by whom I come boldly before the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.These steps help prepare my heart to focus on God, on His will, on His heart. It puts me in the right position to just wait upon Him in silence, or to pour out supplication, or just to glory in his presence. Try it sometime, you may find it helpful.In Christ,Ron
I began this morning by singing 'Jesus Lover of my soul' to do the same as brother Ron invisualizes himself entering the Tabernacle, to help me get my eyes off of me and onto Him, the One I am desiring to spend time with. Then I might end up reading/praying through a couple more hymns.Return, my roving heart, return,And life's vain shadows chase no more,Seek out some solitude to mourn,And thy forsaken God implore.O thou great God, whose piercing eyedistinctly marks each deep retreatin these sequestered hours draw nighand let me here thy presence meetThrough all the windings of my heartmy search let heav'nly wisdom guideand still it's radiant beams imparttill all be known and purifiedThen let the visits of Thy lovemy inmost soul be made to sharetill ev'ry grace combin'd to provethat God has fixed His dwelling there.I read a couple of those and they flow from my heart as prayer, as a calling out to God. Now I am before Him. Now I am mindful of why I am there before Him...not to get anything, just to simply adore, to share, to 'be'.Then I pick up reading in the word where I left off yesterday.
It would be interesting to hear other brothers and sisters comment on this topic. Don't want to lose it in the mix of so many other good threads...
Here is my response to a similar question posted on SI before. It is also very similar to Mike's response about "Practicing The Presence Of God". :-) -----"Prayer is not so much what we ask as what we are. God responds to our prayers based on our lives. In John 15:7, Jesus says, "If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you." Prayer is a lifestyle. It is spending time with God and spending time in the Word of God. Redemption has two sides... the legal side and the reality side. You can be legally saved but still never have a single prayer answered." -Charles CowanI have such a hard time with people saying that they need to learn to pray more. It frustrates me a bit. I guess because I feel it should come so naturally and I don't think it is all done in a prayer closet when we are just sitting still and quiet (even though this is good too). If we are living "in Christ" and He is living "in us" then it should be so natural to be in constant communication with Him. Every thought I have is His.I am constantly "talking " with Him in my mind. "Oh, sorry for that, please forgive me". "Please be with that person I see right there". It's just like I am talking to someone ( a person) who is right there with me and can hear all my thoughts.Maybe this is what is called walking in the spirit. I am never away from Him or out from under His leading or watchful eyes. It is just a way of life. Yes, there are times when I must do some "petitioning" for others; or I need to take some extra quiet time to receive instruction or direction. This is important too. I think I am in one constant long conversation with Him all day long though. I suppose this is "praying without ceasing". Most often I pray according to the Lord's prayer- as Jesus taught us as an example, not word for word but as a format. He obviously knows best what to pray- I trust Him and His direction more than anyone else. I pray for the Lord's will to be done; in people's lives, in my own life, in this world. Nothing is apart from His will. I only want to pray what the Lord wants not what I want or anyone else. I think if we pray according to what the Lord wants then there is no stopping Him from answering. But if it is not His will then I am not going to go against that and try to pray for it anyway. He knows best, not me. If my life is blessed at all it is not because I have prayed for it. I hardly ever ask anything for myself. Almost never. If I am blessed at all it is because of my obedience and my surrender to Him. I know that as long as I live in obedience to Him- everything in my life will be taken care of. I can trust in that. My praying is very trusting and childlike. I talk about things and He listens- what He chooses to answer and when and in what way- is not my right to say. He speaks and I listen. He speaks when we are quiet but also when we are observant. It can be anywhere through any situation. If prayer is communication then it is a 24 hour thing with me. I'm available anytime and so is He. He knows that's where I am. I suppose it is easier for me because I don't have a job where I have to be somewhere else and put my whole mind and efforts into that job (where I can't take time to think thoughts to the Lord). I think this is why there are probably many women (who stay at home more) and many older men (who don't work as much any more), who have this prayer lifestyle, or this totally immersed life in the Lord. Prayer to me is definitely a lifestyle and not an event. It is important to have discipline enough to be with Him in the quiet- and we should all have the sensativity in our spirits to know when that is. But as mature christians- it should just be a given that it is a 24 hour thing. Our mind belongs to Him, our body belongs to Him, our mouth belongs to Him, our hearts belong to Him, our time belongs to Him, our daily lives belong to Him. added note: i think taking time to listen to Him and minister to Him is just as important.In Him, Chanin
At 4 A.M. I start my Prayer like...."Good Morning Father! I love you and thank you for allowing me to bend your ear this morning. First, I want to bring to you Jerusalem, Israel, the Citadels and my brothers and sisters in Christ; please bring Peace, security to Jerusalem and Israel and the Citadels. Keep my siblings in Christ blameless in your eyes and grant them utterance to the mysterious of the gospel of Christ. Prepare the hearts of those that each one will witness too by pouring your Holy Spirit out on each person...make them know vividly their sins and need for you...open their hearts to your children as they witness to them so that salvation will prevail keeping them out of hell and bringing glory to you forever. For your son desires this for his reward for dying such an awful death for our sins. You are merciful and your arms have always wanted to bring them home to you. Bind up the Devil and all his forces from having their will and may your will prosper. Have your will through the each leader great and small. Bring salvation to each and their families. Now I bring to you our Leaders here from the President down to the smallest position in the township. I pray your Will, will be done through each one. Bring this nation within your will Father. Bring salvation to each leader and their families. Move mightily through each leader in accordance with your will.Now, I bring to you every brother and sister in Christ throughout the entire world, including the leaders in the churches, the janitors, the teachers, missionaries, Wycliffe bible translators...everyone Father....help each of us to be blameless before your eyes. Help each one of us to have the utterance of the mysteries of the gospel of Christ. Place on our hearts to be burden to pray for your will in our lives. Teach us to love one another and hold each other up instead of tearing at each other. Help to desire to have fellowship with you for the reason to which we are created. Place in our hearts the desire to pray for the safety of our siblings on the front lines in the foreign fields and the dangerous lines here and abroad...keep them each safe from harm and the Devil's desires...guard them with your Angels both invisible and visible as needed to bring glory to your name. Give wisdom and knowledge to those who are translating the bible into a language for the first time...so the darkness will end and help them to not make a single mistake...give them the Wisdom in accordance with your promises in James 1. Give each of us who are struggling with loving someone that we cannot love on our own in accordance with Romans 5:5...help us to love them through the Holy Spirit as you promise. Help us all to let others see Christ through us on the earth. Burden our hearts to pray for the lost souls. Burden us to pray for a world wide revival to bring the lost to the saving knowledge of Christ.Now I bring to you my neighbors, my roommate, my family, my coworkers, my boss.....each person Father whom I have mentioned....I ask that you would move your Holy Spirit on each one and convict them of their sins and need for you. Bring salvation into their lives. Let them see you in me and give each one the opportunity to hear more about you and your love for them through me or others....bring salvation to them all. Remember the unanswered prayers of my Mother, Father, Grandparents who died not seeing the salvation of each family member they prayed for...and now I add my prayers for them. Please Father let your mercy be seen so that praises will be hear not only here but in Heaven. You saved me....please save each one of these and their families. Help me to love and pray even better for those I have a hard time to love. Please Father....bring each soul home.Now I bring to you the prayers that I have listed....Search my heart Father and bring me into daily fellowship with you walking and talking with me like you did with Enoch and Jesus. I offer you, myself and everything I have...it means nothing without you. Take everything I have, bring me homeless again, send me to do whatever for I trust you will give me everything I need and strength to do it. Let me be obscure if that is what you want...whatever you desire...I offer up everything to you. Teach me to love you more each day. Grant unto me Compassion, Love, Wisdom and knowledge to walk worthy to be in your presence without sin throughout the day. But especially give me more compassion and love towards others. Teach me more about you and your ways personally. Take my sleep time and use it for spiritual things/communion and let nothing carnal envelope me during this time. Let me see that I am nothing without you and not worthy to be in your presence so the sin of pride like that of the Devil's does not hold me. Take me through the road map of Ephesians to make me pure in your eyes always. May I be in your temple forever worshiping you.........that is an example of some of my prayer time....it's very personal and I always close my prayer like.........I ask all these things in my Lord Yeshua's name. I love you Father. Thank you for giving me your ear. Amen.Then I await to see if God, Jesus and/or the Holy Spirit wants to talk to me. I never make it a one way communication and shut the window...I open the door to see if there is anything to receive....and seldom am I left alone!You asked for an example....I have put myself out bare naked on this....what kind of spirit will you have on this? Did you really want to learn? It might help to ask the Holy Spirit to teach you to pray. Ask God for the Wisdom promised in James 1 and you will receive it. Prayer is a personal thing and will be suited to your needs and God's glory!PJ
Well, I do not know how old this thread is, but I shall reply to it anyways... I personally like the Lord's Prayer as someone else said earlier. I do not pray it legalistically though. I use it as a guide in how we should pray, which is what Jesus Himself said to do... "After this mannertherefore pray ye." So the way I start my prayer is with praise and thanksgiving unto God. "Our Father which art in Heaven Hallowed(honored, blessed, worthy) be thy name..." He wants us to enter His gates with Thanksgiving and into His courts with Praise. That is really worshipping Him. I spend several minutes thanking Him and praising Him and worhipping Him and really getting into His presence. Then in verse 10 Jesus says, "Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in Heaven." Whatever we ask of God should be asked in accordance to His will. Ask for His kingdom to be shown in your life, ask that every part of your life line up with His words, and that every part of your heart would be overcome with His kingdom. Most of all God is looking for people who will agree with Him and ask Him to do what He really wants to do.Then verse 11 says, " Give us this day our daily bread..."Here is where you ask God to provide your needs. You are not praying selfishly, the Bible says that God will supply all of our needs according to His riches in Glory in Christ Jesus.Then you need to make sure that you have forgiveness in your heart. Because when you pray according to this prayer Jesus says, "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors."That means when you begin this prayer you should have already forgiven them. Or at least that is what I interpret it to mean, and I have done my best to live up to that! lol Besides that it is always good to have forgiveness in your heart as Jesus says in verses 14 and 15, "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses!" DON'T HOLD GRUDGES! Those last three words were not scripture quotations! lolThen verse 13 says, "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen"This is ending the prayer with a request for God's devine protection as you go through the coming day. That He would give you the wisdom to make the right choices, and not act foolishly. And it also ends the prayer with more praise unto the Father. I hope this helps the person who started this thread... it has helped me to follow this and I hope it helps you just as much! God Bless!
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